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EPA announces Nutrient Recycling Challenge winners

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the winners of Phase I of the Nutrient Recycling Challenge, a competition to develop affordable technologies to recycle nutrients from livestock manure.

In November 2015, EPA launched the Nutrient Recycling Challenge in partnership with pork and dairy producers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and environmental and scientific experts. The goal of the challenge is to find affordable technologies that can help farmers manage nutrients, create valuable products and protect the environment.

The EPA received 75 concept papers from around the world and selected 34 submissions to continue on to Phase II of the challenge. EPA is awarding a total of $30,000 in cash prizes to the top 10 submissions (four winners and six honorable mentions).

The following are descriptions of the four winning concepts:

• Slurry Separation with Coanda Effect Separator (by Ahimbisibwe Micheal of Bravespec Systems Ltd.) – Using centrifuge technology to separate smaller nutrient particles from manure, with fewer energy inputs and lower costs.
• Manure Convertor (by Ilan Levy of Paulee Cleantec Ltd.) – Using chemical processes to rapidly turn manure into a non-toxic, fertile ash fertilizer.
• Producing Nutrients Concentrated Bio-solids via AnSBEARs (by Bo Hu, Hongjian Lin, and Xin Zhang of the University of Minnesota) – Creating a dry biosolids fertilizer by using a novel anaerobic digestion and solid-liquid separation system.
• Removal of Dissolved N and P from Livestock Manure by Air Stripping (by Hiroko Yoshida of Centrisys Corporation) – Using CO2 stripping and other processes to create a range of fertilizers from anaerobically digested manure.
• The six honorable mentions included:
• Ammonia + Recovery (by Mark Capron and Rakesh Govind of Ocean Foresters and PRD Tech, Inc.)
• Azolla – Biological Way of Nutrient Recovery (by Tulika Arora of Wallenberg Laboratory)
• DVO, Inc. Advanced Phosphorus Recovery System (by Doug VanOrnum of DVO, Inc.)
• Nutrient Recycling by Lime Treatment and Precipitation of Inorganic Salts (by Jordan Phasey, Howard Fallowfield, and Dries Vandamme with Power and Water Corporation, Flinders University of South Australia, and KU Leuven – Belgium)
• Recycle Nutrients from Livestock Manure and Create Valuable Products (by Kerry Doyle, Tracey Mrak, Dr. Roa-Espinosa, and Richard Shatto with Trident Processes, LLC and Soil Net LLC)
• Production of Renewable Low Carbon Transportation Fuels and Nutrient Concentrated By-Products Through the AWS System (by Michael Bagtang, Bruce Scott, and Steve McCorkle with Agricultural Waste Solutions, Inc. and Scott Bros. Dairy Farms)

Partners in the Nutrient Recycling Challenge include the American Biogas Council, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Ben & Jerry’s, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Cooper Farms, CowPots, Dairy Farmers of America, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, Iowa State University, Marquette University, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers Council, Newtrient, LLC, Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, Water Environment Research Federation, and the World Wildlife Fund.

For more information, visit nutrientrecyclingchallenge.org.