Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

The company Anaergia (ON, CA) has developed a process that allows to produce a nitrogen-rich mineralx000D
fertilizer from organic wastes. However, several bottlenecks currently hinder further widespreadx000D
implementation of the technology. First, the process consumes significant amounts of sulfuric acid, which isx000D
not attractive from an economic, environmental and social (safety) perspective. Second, waste characteristicsx000D
are highly variable in time and space. Hence, designing and operating the process to produce a consistentx000D
fertilizer and effluent quality at low cost from such dynamic complex waste matrix is challenging. Tox000D
overcome these bottlenecks, two work packages will be executed in this project. First, an innovative method tox000D
capture the ammonia in a more sustainable way without the use of sulfuric acid will be developed, therebyx000D
expanding the marketing potential of the company's technology. To this end, sustainable substitutes for the usex000D
of sulfuric will be tested at lab-scale. Second, the project will develop a simulation model that will allowx000D
optimal design and control of the process for each specific case without the need for extensive experimentation.x000D
The model will also allow to optimize the operational settings of the process at variable feed conditions. Asx000D
such, Anaergia will be able to reduce the investment and operational costs of its technology, increase thex000D
operational performance and flexibility, and hence to become more competitive in the market place. At the endx000D
of the project, recommendations for a pilot-scale set-up will be provided to the company, and additionalx000D
funding will be purchased for joint implementation of the pilot. On top of the economic benefits to Anaergia,x000D
the availability of a sustainable process for nitrogen recovery from organic wastes will result in significantx000D
economic, environmental and social benefits to Canada by facilitating the transition to a sustainable bio-basedx000D
economy.