ECO-CBET: Collaborative Research: Towards a Circular Nitrogen Bioeconomy: Tandem Bio- and Chemocatalysis for Sustainable Nitrogen Recovery and Nitrous Oxide Mitigation

ECO-CBET：合作研究：迈向循环氮生物经济：串联生物催化和化学催化实现可持续氮回收和一氧化二氮减排

基本信息

批准号：
2033822
负责人：
William Tarpeh
金额：
$ 33.78万
依托单位：
Stanford University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-11-01 至 2024-10-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2033822&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
ECO CBET Collaborative Research Towards

项目摘要

Cities and farms discharge nitrogen-rich compounds into receiving waters, resulting in pollution of the environment. Current technologies to remove nitrogen-rich compounds from water are costly and energy intensive, resulting in great economic and environmental costs to society. The difficulty in addressing this waste problem is why the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls managing the nitrogen cycle one of the “Grand Challenges” of engineering. The goal of this project is to develop new scientific knowledge about how to concentrate, separate, and transform waste nitrogen-rich compounds into animal feed and beneficial products. This outcome will be achieved through cross-disciplinary biology and chemistry research to remove nitrogen-rich compounds from waste streams and to transform them into chemicals that can be used for the production of useful products. The environmental impact and potential for new businesses based on these new technologies will be evaluated. Successful completion of this work will prevent nitrogen pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a new sustainable feedstock for chemicals. Other benefits from this project will include workforce development and educational outreach to underrepresented grade-school students. These efforts will promote increased diversity in STEM fields and improve scientific literacy of the general public.Nitrogen-rich waste streams are produced in large quantities from urban and agricultural settings and impose severe environmental burdens to human and ecological health. Conventional nitrogen management treats nitrogen-rich compounds as waste rather than as a recoverable resource. This approach is costly, energy intensive, and results in the release of large amounts of the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O). The goal of this research project is to develop novel technological approaches to convert nitrogen-rich waste into high-value products beyond fertilizers. This research project has the objectives to: (1) Engineer bacteria to bioconcentrate dilute waste nitrogen, which then can be used as animal feed or for bio-based chemical production; (2) Develop a microbial bioprocess for simultaneous nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide recovery for use as a green oxidant; (3) Design catalytic processes to capture and activate dilute nitrous oxide streams for the selective oxidation of methane; and (4) Identify optimal products, feedstocks, and technology combinations to satisfy diverse stakeholder needs and cost and sustainability objectives. The novelty of the approach lies in the energy-efficient recovery of nitrogen as a building block for bio-based chemicals and animal feed. This approach integrates expertise across chemical, biological, and environmental engineering disciplines. Successful completion of this research will benefit society through sustainable waste nitrogen management and the mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions. Additional benefits will result from educational and industrial outreach. Such efforts include outreach to underrepresented grade-school students in a climate action project. Integrative learning experiences with industrial partners and graduate student exchanges between research groups will enhance the development of a future workforce to address grand challenges in sustainability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

城市和农场向受纳水域排放富氮化合物，导致环境污染，目前从水中去除富氮化合物的技术成本高昂且能源密集，给社会带来巨大的经济和环境成本，解决这一问题很困难。废物问题是美国国家科学院、工程院和医学院将氮循环称为工程“重大挑战”之一的原因。该项目的目标是开发有关如何浓缩、分离和转化废氮的新科学知识。 -将丰富的化合物转化为动物饲料和有益产品。通过跨学科的生物学和化学研究，从化合物废物流中去除富氮并将其转化为可用于生产有用产品的化学品，将实现基于这些新技术的新业务的环境影响和潜力。这项工作的成功完成将减少氮污染，减少温室气体排放，并为化学品提供新的可持续原料。该项目的其他好处将包括劳动力发展和教育推广，以防止小学学生人数不足。增加 STEM 领域的多样性并提高公众的科学素养城市和农业环境中大量产生富氮废物流，对人类和生态健康造成严重的环境负担。传统的氮管理将富氮化合物视为废物，而不是可回收的资源。这种方法成本高昂。该研究项目的目标是开发新的技术方法，将富氮废物转化为肥料以外的高价值产品。研究项目有目标(1) 改造细菌对稀释的废氮进行生物浓缩，然后将其用作动物饲料或用于生物基化学品生产；(2) 开发同时去除氮和回收一氧化二氮的微生物生物工艺，以用作绿色氧化剂(3) 设计催化工艺来捕获和活化稀一氧化二氮流，用于甲烷的选择性氧化；以及 (4) 确定最佳产品、原料和技术组合，以满足多样化的需求；该方法的新颖之处在于氮的节能回收作为生物基化学品和动物饲料的基础知识，该方法成功地整合了化学、生物和环境工程学科的专业知识。这项研究的完成将通过可持续的废氮管理和减少一氧化二氮的排放来造福社会，这些努力包括在气候行动项目中向代表性不足的小学生进行宣传。工业合作伙伴和研究生研究小组之间的交流将促进未来劳动力的发展，以应对可持续发展方面的巨大挑战。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。