IChemE Water Special Interest Group’s Young Process Engineer Prize 2017

CDT Bioenergy students Oliver Grasham and Robert White won first prize at the thirtieth Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) water special interest group video competition. The competition is sponsored by ARUP and is aimed at encouraging young minds in the water chemical engineering community.

The project focuses on the removal of nitrogen from wastewater - a necessary but laborious task for treatment plants. Nitrogen mostly exists as ammonia in wastewater, and is traditionally removed by pumping air for bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrogen gas which is highly energy and greenhouse gas emission intensive. Their video entry describes a process developed by Oliver in his PhD whereby ammonia in the treatment facility’s waste streams is diverted, recovered and converted (along with biomethane) into hydrogen. The hydrogen is then used in fuel cells which provides renewable heat and power for the waste water treatment plant, reducing both dependence on grid electricity and emissions of greenhouse gases. The video entry displays footage of the Esholt wastewater treatment plant in W.Yorkshire, animated explanations of the process as well as interviews with Oliver Grasham and Dr Valerie Dupont.

Here is the link to the IChemE’s news article: http://www.icheme.org/media_centre/news/2017/energy-efficient-waste-water-project-wins-young-engineering-prize.aspx#.WjeSEVVl_RY

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bZ8B3iPRw0&t=177s