Sustainable nutrient recovery for management of nitrogen rich residue streams: Sustainable Nitrogen will investigate development of a sustainable system to improve bioenergy and nutrient recovery from ammoniacal wastes/residues.

The project is investigating how pressures on water and air quality arise from current disposal practices in respect of ammoniacal wastes and residues such as livestock slurries, anaerobic digestion digestates, wastewater treatment sludge and landfill leachates. We will leverage results from previous research to identify how technologies can be integrated into an energy and nutrient recovery system to mitigate the environmental impact arising from disposal of these streams. It will scale up technologies for efficient separation of solids clarifying liquor effluents to enable downstream processes to recover N. De-watering facilitates cost-effective aggregation of solids for optimal (centralised) energy/nutrient recovery. We are investigating technology adaptations required to optimise energy recovery from N-charged solids via anaerobic digestion (AD) or advanced thermal technologies (ATT). It will investigate methods for recovery of N and P from both solid and liquor fractions, converting nutrients into safe saleable fertiliser forms that minimise loss and mitigate environmental impact when recycled back to land. It will outline the business models and commercial frameworks required to underpin wide deployment, reducing the cost and mitigating environmental impact of waste/ residue management, to make measurable contributions to Water Quality Framework, Air Quality Framework and 2030 Energy and Climate Change Framework objectives.