Ammonia Recovery from Livestock Manure Using Membrane and Electrochemical Systems

media release: New this semester: Wisconsin Energy Institute Sustainable Energy Seminar Series for spring 2025 is now only offered online via Zoom webinar (i.e. there is no in-person option). Registration is required for online attendance. You can register once and receive access to all seven Spring 2025 seminars using this registration link:  https://uwmadison.zoom.us/webinar/register/4917374980306/WN_hfFavCVsQ_umZeC2zaH1tg

Feb. 10: Mohan Qin, assistant professor, civil and environmental engineering

Abstract:

Livestock systems face a challenging future with increasing conflict between food production and the environment. Many of the environmental issues stem from livestock manure as it can lose manure constituents, including nutrients, pathogens, and organic matter, to the environment, degrading both surface and ground water quality, contributing to climate change, causing nuisance odors, and creating human health issues. Processing manure to recover embedded nutrients such as ammonium, nitrogen, and phosphorus can mitigate these impacts by increasing nutrient density, making a more manageable fertilizer that has a greater economically feasible transport distance. My research focuses on the development of membrane and electrochemical systems to separate ammonium ions from ammonia-rich waste streams towards recovery. First, I will discuss the previously overlooked organic nitrogen mineralization kinetics during biodegradation of animal manure. This discovery leads to effective ammonia recovery from manure using bioelectrochemical systems. Next, I will introduce the mechanisms of ammonia transport across cation exchange membranes to enhance their selectivity for ammonium ions. Additionally, I will discuss other membrane and electrochemical processes and our insights into the critical factors influencing ammonia recovery from livestock manure. 

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