FARO Advies

Recovery of macro- and micronutrients from waste water

European Matchmaking and Networking Event

Design for Recycling and Resource Efficiency

8 December 2016

EIT Raw Materials / Radboud University

Dr. Peter E.J. Laan

FARO Consultancy associated with Research Centre B-ware Nijmegen
Contact data: p.laan@b-ware.eu; tel. +316 422 88 961
Critical Raw materials: focus on phosphate,
heavy metals and light rare earth metals
 FARO Advies

Biological solutions for recycling critical raw materials

 Waste water purification treatment: adding production to water purification
 Recovery of high-value rest products using biological processes

Using biological processes and selected plant and animal species for:
• producing biomass that can be utilized in agriculture as green fertilizer
• production of biomass for high value new products like fibers, proteins, fatty acids
• the recovery of macro- and micronutrients like phosphate and light rare earth metals that
are foreseen to be limited in the near future
• the utilization of organic matter from sewage sludge
Closing cycles according to the Biobased Economy Agenda preferably on the
regional scale
 Waste water treatment: combined approaches for biomass
production, nutrient recovery and water purification
Sewage Sludge Waste water influent Effluent

Cleaning sludge for
application as bulk
product
Aquafarm
Biomass production
Processing of sludge Nutrient recovery
for nutrient recovery
Water purification

Upgrading and
marketing of products
Organic matter Physical or biological
(>70%) and macro- processing Recovery of phosphate
nutrient supply
WFD water/
ecological water quality

Agricultural use Recurring light earth Building materials

metals and phosphate Fertilizers
Peter Laan, B-ware, November 2016
High-value products Agricultural use
Organisations involved and research team
Aquafarm project
Research team
Prof. Dr. Leon Lamers (RUN, B-ware)
Prof. Dr. Fons Smolders (RUN, B-ware)
Prof. Dr. Piet Verdonschot (Alterra/WUR)
Tamara van Bergen MSc (RUN)
Lara Schuijt MSc (WUR)
Dr. Peter Laan (B-ware/FARO Consult)
 Project Aquafarm: experimental set up
Waste water influent Effluent

Growth and survival of

Upgrading and Azolla waterfern
selected plant and
marketing of products
animal species
Biomass production,
-Azolla
-Lemna recovery of phosphate
Floating water Optimal growth
-Thread algae
plants conditions Duckweed (Lemna gibba)
-Other species
Combined growth of
-Sponges species and cascading
-Mussels
-Worms
(Tubifex, Dero)
WFD water/ecological
Thread algae (“flab”)
water quality
 Plant growth in different Biological
Mechanical Aeration
stages of water purification purification
purification
treatment
treatment treatment

Plant biomass production Influent

1
2

3 4
1
Influent &
2
Effluent
Nutrient concentration Effluent
4 4 3
1
2 Clean water =
3 ecological quality
4
Dirty waste water Effluent Purified
= influent clean water
 Project Aquafarm: first results
• Floating water plants thrive best in nutrient rich conditions –>
influent/effluent -> High biomass production -> bulk production as
agricultural fertilizer

• Especially Azolla is promising as it shows

- high P-uptake rates [ up to 25 mg P.m-2.d-1 ]
- a linear increase of P-uptake with increasing external concentrations
- equal N and P-uptake rates because of N-fixation

• Worms and mussels (filter feeders) seem to function especially for sludge
cleaning and in the last phase of final effluent purification
 Further research and future perspective:
Bio-cascade or combined growth of plant and animal species
Biomass
production

Lemna
Helophytes
Azolla
Mussels,
worms etc.
1
Nutrient
2
concentration
3
4

Influent Effluent Purified water (WFD quality)

 FARO Advies Sewage sludge treatment
Dehydration (physical process)
and fermentation (bacteria)

Degradation of sludge to
increase bio-availability

Purification of sludge

Nutrient recovery Utilization of rest product

Recurring light earth Organic matter (>70%) and

metals and phosphate macro-nutrient supply

Agricultural use and Agricultural use

Hi-Tech industry
Peter Laan, November 2016
 Sewage sludge project: potential research team

Research team
FARO Advies
Dr. Peter Laan (FARO Consultancy)
Prof. Dr. Fons Smolders (RUN, B-ware)
Prof. Dr. Violette Geissen (WUR, SPLM)
Job Claushuis MSc (WUR)
Dr. Esther Lucassen (B-ware)
FARO Advies

Bio-accumulation of toxic agents by selected plant

and animal species to clean sewage sludge
1. Bio-degradation of fermented and non-fermented sewage sludge
and metal uptake by Dendrobena worms (Peter Laan, FARO
Consultancy) and bio-granulate by Eisenia worms (Job Claushuis,
WUR) Dendrobena worm

Conclusions: no direct biodegradation because of high salt

concentrations, pH or physical appearance of the sludge

Eisenia worm
FARO Advies

Bio-accumulation of toxic agents by selected plant

and animal species to clean sewage sludge (2)

2. Growth and uptake of contaminants of higher plant species

from metal-rich sites on fermented and non-fermented sludge:
Thlaspi caerulescens var. calaminare

Conclusions:
- processing of substrate is needed to lower high ammonia
contents and to enable homogenisation
- growth and metal uptake unknown yet
Thlaspi
caerulescens
 Sewage sludge treatment (3)
3. Growth and uptake of contaminants of metal accumulating plant species from
across the world on bio-granulate (3 months): Nicotiana tabacum (GMO) 35S-
ZNT1; Gomphren claussenii, Arabidopsis thaliana, Aeolanthus parvifolius,
Eleocharis acicularis and Sedum alfredii (WUR)

Conclusions:
- significant growth found for all species except for
Arabidopsis
- metal accumulation was especially high in Sedum
- copper is not accumulated from sludge
- bio-availability of metals is very low (< 1% for Zn and Cu)
- pH was lowered in rhizosphere during prolonged growth,
hence increased bio-availability of metals
FARO Advies

First conclusions
a) Sewage sludge treatment should focus on a combined approach of:
a) plant growth of selected species for uptake and extraction of toxic metals
and other contaminents
b) biodegradation and increased bio-availability by prolonged growth of
species and by adding micro-organisms in rhizosphere (Mycorrhizae)
c) further bio-degradation and purification by selected worm species

b) Extraction of valuable rare earth metals from sewage sludge by

hyper-accumulating plants, i.e. perennial ferns, Equisetum spec.
 FARO Advies Sewage sludge treatment
Dehydration (physical process)
and fermentation (bacteria)

Degradation of sludge to Smart approach with plants,

increase bio-availability micro-organisms and worms

Uptake of contamination Purification of sludge

by metallophytes
Uptake of P by Azolla Nutrient recovery Utilization of rest product
or helophytes
Uptake by hyper- Recurring light earth Organic matter (>70%) and
acccumulators metals and phosphate macro-nutrient supply

Agricultural use and Agricultural use

Hi-Tech industry
Peter Laan, November 2016
FARO Advies

Future research perspectives

-> Call resourcing water (Wetsus/EIT Raw materials)

-> additional to GMB/KWR project

-> EU project