Office: Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office
Available Funding: $27.8 million
FOA Number: DE-FOA-0002855
Description
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) announced $27.8 million for 10 projects that will drive innovation to decarbonize the entire life cycle of Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRF). The selected projects will accelerate research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of technologies to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from WRRFs and move the U.S. closer to a net-zero economy by 2050. IEDO selected projects across two topic areas, described in more detail below.
Selected Projects
Award and cost share amounts are subject to change pending negotiations.
Topic Area 1: Decarbonization of WRRF Unit Processes
This topic will focus on projects to reduce GHG emissions from various unit processes within WRRFs while maintaining or decreasing operating costs. Proposed projects must achieve a 50% reduction in emissions from key processes without increasing total WRRF operating costs.
Project 1
Project Title: Next-Gen Nitrogen Removal Process for Low-Energy, Low-GHG Emission Nutrient Removal
Institution: Black and Veatch Special Projects Group
Location: Overland Park, KS
Federal Funding: $2,353,133
Project Description: Black & Veatch, in partnership with HACH, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Fairfield Suisun Sanitary District, and the City of Hayward, aims to scale up a novel next-generation nitrogen removal process, addressing the critical challenges associated with nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions when implementing sustainable nitrogen removal. Nitrous oxide emissions from WRRFs are critical to address due to their powerful greenhouse effect, 273 times that of carbon dioxide. This project will use two sequential sequencing batch reactors (SBR) operated under different process conditions to replace the traditional complex, multi-step nitrification/denitrification process for nitrogen removal, a significant source of scope one, two, and three emissions. The team seeks to achieve a 50% reduction in GHG emissions, which will be verified through lifecycle analysis.
Project 2
Project Title: Develop a Carbon-Negative Biosolids Treatment Process via CO2 Upcycling to Enhance Sustainable Water Resource Recovery Facilities
Institution: Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
Location: Laurel, MD
Federal Funding: $2,496,636
Project Description: Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), in partnership with Brown and Caldwell, Argonne National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland, College Park, seeks to develop an integrated solution for enhancing biogas production through a novel pretreatment process and upcycling the biogas from biosolids treatment. This project targets a 50% reduction in GHG emissions from WSSC’s biosolids treatment process. The project will focus on developing and demonstrating carbon dioxide separation from biogas and CHP off-gas using carbon molecular sieve membranes, electrochemical upcycling of the separated carbon dioxide into methanol, and on-site replacement of fossil-generated methanol to support denitrification. This process would significantly reduce scope two emissions (emissions that result from producing the energy consumed in processes) and scope three emissions (emissions associated with producing things that are consumed other than energy, such as chemicals).
Project 3
Project Title: Decarbonization of Water Resource Recovery Facilities through Nitrous Oxide Recovery from Anaerobic Digestion Effluent
Institution: Kennedy Jenks Consultants
Location: San Francisco, CA
Federal Funding: $1,994,225
Project Description: Kennedy Jenks Consultants, in partnership with the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, will develop a new technology to reduce the GHG emissions of traditional nitrogen removal processes. Their “Coupled Aerobic-anoxic Nitrous Decomposition Operation (CANDO)” process aims to biologically convert ammonia present in the waste stream to N2O, which is then co-combusted with biogas to improve overall efficiency. If successful, the project will meet the FOA objective of reducing GHG emissions by 50% or more from the nitrogen removal processes.
Project 4
Project Title: Sustainable Treatment Train for Wastewater Sludge
Institution: J-TECH LLC
Location: Lakewood, CO
Federal Funding: $2,499,854
Project Description: J-TECH LLC, in partnership with the University of Alabama, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Water Tower, seeks to develop an innovative treatment train for sludge produced from WRRFs. Their technology is based on electrochemically enhanced anaerobic digestion and will be tested on real-world sludge from urban and rural facilities. The new approach is expected to increase methane production by 45% over conventional digesters, displacing natural gas that otherwise would have been utilized in electricity generation, while also recovering phosphorus for use in fertilizer applications, thereby avoiding the emissions associated with mining and processing of phosphorus-bearing ores. This project will also aim to substantially reduce the consumption of externally sourced sodium hydroxide, a significant source of scope three emissions.
Project 5
Project Title: Developing a Digitalization and Automation Platform for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Biological Nutrient Removal Unit Processes in Water Resource Recovery Facilities
Institution: University of Connecticut
Location: Storrs, CT
Federal Funding: $2,000,000
Project Description: The University of Connecticut, in partnership with the UConn Water Pollution Control Facility, aims to identify GHG emission locations within treatment trains precisely and quickly, enabling them to optimize WRRF performance much quicker than conventional monitoring and control techniques. If successful, this process would mitigate GHG emissions by 50% and improve system resilience and efficiency. To achieve this, the team plans to deploy multiple inexpensive sensors throughout the treatment process to acquire comprehensive information on the state of treatment conditions and feed that data into predictive models, which will allow dramatic reduction of the need for aeration throughout the treatment train. It would not only significantly reduce direct and indirect GHG emissions but would also cut operating costs for WRRFs, improving the probability of technology adoption.
Project 6
Project Title: Mainstream Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Using Process-Produced Hydrogen Peroxide
Institution: Carollo Engineers, Inc.
Location: Broomfield, CO
Federal Funding: $2,314,000
Project Description: Carollo Engineers, Inc., in partnership with the City of Mesa, AZ, the Water Research Foundation, the University of California, Irvine, and Arizona State University, seeks to significantly reduce N2O and CH4 emissions while reducing electricity associated with aeration. The technology is designed to switch the oxygen delivery method from aeration with blowers to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The H2O2 is planned to be produced onsite from the wastewater stream using innovative microbial electrochemistry. Offsetting the oxygen demand with this method would immediately impact the energy usage and create a closed loop system that would eliminate the scope two emissions from aeration in this unit process, which is generally the largest electricity consumer in a WRRF.
Project 7
Project Title: Integrating reverse A2O and anammox with arrested anaerobic digestion to reduce greenhouse emission from water resource recovery facilities
Institution: Quasar Energy Group, LLC
Location: Independence, OH
Federal Funding: $2,500,000
Project Description: Quasar Energy Group, LLC, in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Missouri, Columbia, Virginia Tech, the Upper Occoquan Service Authority, and Hazen & Sawyer, seeks to upgrade the five-stage Bardenpho wastewater treatment process with easy-to-apply technologies to achieve GHG emissions reduction by 50% without increasing the total WRRF operating costs. The project has two goals: to combine a modified A2O process that largely eliminates N2O emissions (scope one) with a novel partial denitrification and anammox unit to efficiently remove nitrogen and phosphorus while decreasing aeration, thereby cutting scope two emissions, and to produce Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs), which can reduce the scope three emissions by replacing fossil-based methanol addition in the nitrogen removal processes.
Topic Area 2: Reducing Overall GHG Emissions from WRRFs
This topic will focus on projects to reduce GHG emissions and treatment costs for WRRFs at larger scales and higher levels of technological readiness. Proposed projects must achieve a 25% reduction in emissions without increasing operating costs beyond baseline operations of an entire facility.
Project 1
Project Title: Technological Upscaling of the Partial Denitrification-Anammox Process for Decarbonization with Mainstream Deammonification
Institution: AECOM Technical Services, Inc.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Federal Funding: $4,000,000
Project Description: AECOM Technical Services, Inc., in partnership with Cornell University, Northwestern University, World Water Works, Tomorrow Water, Caliskaner Water Technologies, the University of Nevada, Reno, Princeton University, the Water Research Foundation, NEWhub, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the Linda County Water District, the Prince William County Service Authority, Hampton Road Sanitation District, and DC Water, aims to simplify treatment processes by developing the partial denitrification anammox (PdNA) process in different treatment configurations, which should involve far fewer process steps than conventional technologies. Using five different types of biofilm media and five different supplemental carbon sources, this process will expedite the commercialization of PdNA, reducing energy and supplemental carbon demands for nitrogen removal without increasing operational costs or greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal integrates PdNA with several different treatment configurations to replace traditional nitrogen removal, a known source of scope one (emissions from typically industrial processes), two, and three emissions.
Project 2
Project Title: Primary Filtration as a Replacement for Conventional State-of-the-Art Primary Clarification for Improved Carbon Diversion and Biogas Production, Downstream Energy Efficiency, and Plant GHG Emissions Reductions
Institution: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Federal Funding: $3,920,000
Project Description: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, in partnership with Black and Veatch and the Water Research Foundation, aims to test two different primary filtration systems to divert carbon away from the downstream activated sludge processes. These innovations offer the opportunity to decrease sludge production by 43%, significantly reducing greenhouse grass emissions in downstream disposal processes. Additionally, the project will achieve a 33% decrease in aeration costs, reducing the scope two emissions, and a 13% increase in biogas production.
Project 3
Project Title: Cost-effective Integration of Green Hydrogen Production into the Resource Recovery and Renewable Energy Management Systems of WRRFs
Institution: City of St. Cloud
Location: St. Cloud, MN
Federal Funding: $3,675,000
Project Description: The City of St. Cloud, Minnesota, in partnership with the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), Clarke Energy, the Minnesota Technical Assistant Program, St Cloud Metropolitan Transit Commission (Metro Bus), Standby Systems, the Water Environment Federation, the Water Research Foundation, New Flyer, MCI, Colorado School of Mines, St. Cloud State University, and Carollo Engineers, aims to integrate a water electrolyzer powered with renewable energy into a WRRF to provide green hydrogen, green oxygen, and thermal energy. Using these three products generated onsite can offset process energy that typically would have been generated by fossil fuel combustion, particularly electricity for aeration requirements, thereby reducing scope two emissions at the WRRF. The project will also explore the integration of potential customers for the clean hydrogen produced, including a bus fleet interested in exploring hydrogen fuel cells to power their vehicles, and a local bus manufacturer that is also considering manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell buses.
More Information
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