Date of Award

Spring 2024

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

James P Malley Jr.

Second Advisor

James P Malley Jr.

Third Advisor

Weiwei Mo

Abstract

In recent years, high concentrations of anthropogenic ammonia have been measured in surface and groundwaters in Europe which can devastate ecosystems due to eutrophication. Sources of this excess ammonia are fertilizers used in the agricultural industry and municipal wastewater discharge. Stricter regulations limiting the amount of ammonia a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can discharge may be enacted soon to prevent ammonia’s negative effects. A major issue facing WWTPs in the Netherlands is that conventional biological treatment processes used by these facilities are not able to meet the proposed ammonia discharge regulations. These facilities must soon turn to chemical solutions and away from conventional biological solutions to meet the proposed regulations. One such chemical solution that shows promise is ion exchange. In this research, the Suspended Ion Exchange (SIX®) system developed by the Dutch water treatment research and development company PWNT is investigated as an alternative for ammonia removal from wastewater. This system was previously proven, at lab scale, to remove enough ammonia from wastewater to meet the proposed ammonia discharge regulations. During the lab scale study, the spent brine produced by the SIX® system was shown to have an ammonia concentration too high to be discharged. A literature review of all ammonia recovery technologies that could be paired with the SIX® system was conducted in this research to determine which technologies could allow the brine to be safely discharged. The results of this effort were used to create a decision matrix comparing each of the treatment technologies to one another and air strippers were chosen as the technology that would be investigated further. Finally, a life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate the environmental impact of conventional biological treatment systems compared with a treatment pathway employing the SIX® system.

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