Treatment of Rendering Wastewater in Microbial Fuel Cells with Nitrogen Recovery and Peroxide Production

Date: February 16, 2018

Principal Investigators: David A. Ladner and YI Zheng, Clemson University

Keywords: Wastewater, Membrane, Bioreactor/Separator

Summary:

We built a field-deployable system for testing membrane separations in rendering plant wastewater treatment processes. This grew out of the rapid development of membrane bioreactors being deployed around the country in municipal wastewater treatment. It also builds on recent ACREC-funded work at Clemson showing that membrane processes are viable, especially for accomplishing separations without the addition of polymers or other coagulants/additives that can affect the rendering plant product. The next crucial step in bringing membrane technologies into practice was long-term (several months) testing using live wastewater in continuous operation. This usually necessitates pilot tests with fairly expensive equipment and on-site operators. Our goal was to develop small systems (one pallet or smaller) that can be deployed at the rendering plant, but operated autonomously, with occasional remote control by university researchers. We have gained expertise in building autonomous and remotely controlled membrane systems at Clemson over the past several years. These “lab-on-apallet” systems will enable experiments that bridge the gap between the university lab and the real world.

Objective (s):

1. Create a prototype field-deployable semi-autonomous membrane separation unit (SAMSU).1
2. Operate the SAMSU continuously at Clemson University for three months with no maintenance visits during the final month.
3. Deploy the SAMSU to a rendering facility and test its performance during a three-month trial.