Sustainable wastewater management. This project aims to extract high-value liquid products (medium-chain fatty acids) from wastewater with minimised greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, in addition to clean water. Traditional wastewater treatment removes organic carbon and nutrients by using vast amounts of energy and releasing greenhouse gas. However, wastewater is a substantial but largely untapped renewable resource. The intended outcome is to transform wastewater from a troubleso ....Sustainable wastewater management. This project aims to extract high-value liquid products (medium-chain fatty acids) from wastewater with minimised greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, in addition to clean water. Traditional wastewater treatment removes organic carbon and nutrients by using vast amounts of energy and releasing greenhouse gas. However, wastewater is a substantial but largely untapped renewable resource. The intended outcome is to transform wastewater from a troublesome pollutant to a valuable resource and reduce carbon footprints.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100497
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Maximising waste-to-energy technologies by overcoming microbial inhibition. This project aims to understand microbial inhibition and acclimation mechanisms that limit anaerobic digestion. 30% of waste in Australia is organic, and most is sent to landfills. Anaerobic digestion is a low-cost treatment technology that diverts organic waste to renewable energy production, but is under-used due to inhibitory compounds (e.g. ammonia, salts and heavy metals) and limited knowledge of microbiology. Under ....Maximising waste-to-energy technologies by overcoming microbial inhibition. This project aims to understand microbial inhibition and acclimation mechanisms that limit anaerobic digestion. 30% of waste in Australia is organic, and most is sent to landfills. Anaerobic digestion is a low-cost treatment technology that diverts organic waste to renewable energy production, but is under-used due to inhibitory compounds (e.g. ammonia, salts and heavy metals) and limited knowledge of microbiology. Understanding microbial capacity and inhibition/acclimatisation mechanisms is expected to drive greater application of anaerobic technology by enabling new processes and super-charging energy production from existing infrastructure. This would support Australia’s transition to a reliable, low-cost, low-emission and secure energy future.Read moreRead less