Public Funding for Living Water Ecosystems LTD.

Ammonia / ammonium ions, red-listed priority substances found in high quantities in many effluents (e.g. landfill leachate, sewage, liquid manure, fish farm waste, anaerobic digestate and other organic waste streams) are particularly harmful to the aquatic environment. We want to turn this ‘harm’ into hydrogen, a safe, clean energy source, through a process that also removes pollutants and protects watercourses. The project focusses on the production of hydrogen through electrolysis of ammonia-rich waste water. Hydrogen is a carbon-free fuel source that can either be compressed for transport or used in a fuel cell to generate electricity. We will develop robust, efficient materials for the electrodes to be used in the electrochemical cells. Both simulated and real wastewater will be tested to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology, and the quality and quantity of hydrogen generated will be measured. This technology has the potential to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and energy costs while providing security of supply. As a bonus it will produce water suitable for final treatment in natural wetland systems that discharge high quality water to the environment.

The aim of this Shanghai-UK industrial challenge programme is to develop a proto-type electrochemical device which can efficiently remove ammonia from ammonia-rich effluents and recover the energy from ammonia during the wastewater treatment process through electrochemical and ecological processes. The project is led by UK and Shanghai wastewater treatment companies. The two academic partners from UK and Shanghai will work closely with the companies to develop the relevant technologies to be demonstrated, combining the expertise of the ammonia concentrating technology from Shanghai and the ammonia fuel cell technology at University of Warwick. Ecological treatment systems designed by Living Water will be used to treat the wastewater after ammonia has been recovered as fuel for ammonia fuel cells to generate electricity for further treatment or for local use. This technology will significantly reduce the energy comsumption of the wastewater treatment industry, leading to economic and environmental benefits. The success of this project will not only benefit the two partner industries, but will be beneficial to all industries that produce ammonia-rich effluents in both the UK, China and worldwide. The combined processes and technologies of our UK and Chinese Partners will provide a safe, clean, low-energy, cost-effective method of wastewater treatment and sustainable electricity production that will benefit society.