· web viewwastewater treatment plants are currently facing a number of challenges to make water...
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Msc. Literature thesis topic:
From poo to perfume:Biological water treatment coupled to the the production of
high value biomass
Background
Wastewater treatment plants are currently facing a number of challenges to make water treatment future-proof. First of all, treated wastewater still contains high concentrations of nutrients and (an)organic pollutants. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in this water are often so high that this can cause algal blooms in receiving water bodies. Adding to that, phosporus is a non-renewable resource, used for the production of artificial fertilizer. To ensure that phosphorus will still be available in the future, it is important to recover this substance from our waste water.
Aquafarm is a project that aims to contribute to a more sustainable, circular waste water treatment. In short, the idea behind Aquafarm is to combine biological wastewater treatment with the production of high-value substances from harvested biomass. So, instead of seeing wastewater as a waste product, it can also be regarded as a rich source of nutrients.
In nature, nutrient-rich water is purified by a combination of uptake by plants and animals, and physical and chemical processes. This is called the self-purification capacity of water. At Aquafarm, this principle will be translated into a cascade of monocultures that will purify waste water step by step (complementary treatment). The advantage of this set-up is that the growth and harvest of the cultivated species can be optimized more easily. But a first step is to indentify which are the right plants to use...
Thesis contentThe goal of this thesis is to identify plants that can efficiently remove nutrients from wastewater and can yield an interesting product, such as bio-composites, green fertilizer or essential oils. Or in other words, that can tranform poo into perfume. For inspiration you can also look into other types of biological treatment systems, such as constructed wetlands, living machines, and wet crop production (paludiculture).
Contact : [email protected], [email protected] info : www.aquafarm.nl