Phosphorous and Solids Removal from Anaerobic Digestion Effluent Through Electrochemical Technology

The purpose of this award is for the grantee to develop and demonstrate an innovative technology for recovering phosphorus (P) and fiber solids from anaerobically digested dairy manure.Anaerobic digester offers a great potential for harvesting renewable Energy and reduce greenhouse gas emission from animal manures. Farmers, especially large animal feeding operations (CAFOs), will be much more motivated to adopt the technology if anaerobic digesters can also help with nutrient management to address the water quality regulation concerns. Unfortunately, nutrient recovery is a major missing component from the current anaerobic digesters marketed by the major technology providers. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop and demonstrate the necessary nutrient recovery process to fill this technology gap. The specific objectives are to: (1) design a new process for P recovery and solids removal from dairy manure, (2) demonstrate the process and technologies at a pilot scale (3) conduct market and cost/benefit analysis of the process and resulting rich-P fertilizer, and (4) disseminate the technology and information. The project results will be disseminated to various audiences through publishing fact sheets, process illustration on the web and DVD, site visits, and workshops. The measurable project impacts include the technology adoption, publications of refereed and extension materials, the number of people connected by the project, and an increased number of anaerobic digesters built because the results of the project will make it possible for the anaerobic digesters to address nutrient and water quality problems in addition to harvesting bioEnergy.