BlueTech News

On September 29^th 2011, the eleventh webinar in the BueTech Tracker Webinar Series covered the topic of Nutrient Recovery from Agricultural, Industrial and Municipal Wastewaters. Some of the key highlights of the webinar are summarized here:

The following nutrient recovery companies were discussed in terms of technology development stage and size of the company to give an overall sense of the stage of companies involved in nutrient removal

• Struvite recovery technology companies included Ostara, Multiform Harvest, DHV Water and Procorp
• Ammonia recovery technology companies included Thermoenergy Corp and Ammongas

Other points raised include the following:

• Sweden has set an obligation to recycle P in wastewater with other European Countries such as Germany, set to follow.
• Using traditional methods of nutrient removal the costs associated were presented.
• The Struvite Commodity Nutrient Value is $200 – $400 based on current market prices.
• Struvite pellets outperform commodity fertilizer.
• For every 1,000 pounds of phosphorus recovered there are 428 tons of CO₂ emissions are eliminated.
• The amount of sustainable fertilizer produced, electricity saved, and Chloride/Sulfates saved for every 1,000lb. of phosphorous recovered was specified by Mr. Fessler.
• The reasons for source separation becoming increasingly common in the developing world were discussed, such as lack of finances and human resources available to upgrade entire sewer system

The webinar was moderated by Dr. Eimear Ruane, Water Technology Market Analyst with O2 Environmental. Three experts took part in the webinar:

• Dr. Tim Evans of Tim Evan Consulting and a member of the O2 Environmental TAG team;
• Mr. Eric Fessler, President of Procorp Enterprises; and
• Dr. Kai Udert, a Senior Scientist in the Process Engineering Department of EAWAG, Switzerland.

To purchase access to the webinar recording, please go to the BlueTech Tracker Webinar page.