Author: Prithvi Simha

Our BSF project “5 ton grön fisk i disk” featured in Dagens nyheter

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FrĂ„n februari till maj 2021 producerade projektet “5 ton grön fisk i disk” (delfinansierat av Vinnova) 1,7 ton larvar pĂ„ en blandning av 10 ton grönsaks- och brödavfall. Grönsakerna kom frĂ„n  Sorunda Grönsakshallen medan brödet var Ă„tertaget bröd frĂ„n Fazer . Larverna producerades inte bara pĂ„ SLU campus utan blev Ă€ven vidareförĂ€dlade hĂ€r: efter torkning vid 60°C i 48 timmar pressades den torra larvar i en skruvpress för att separera frĂ„n proteinet frĂ„n fettet. Det avfettade proteinmjölet förvandlades sedan till fiskfoder till regnbĂ„gslax, som föddes upp av Älvdalslax i Dalarna.

Behandlingsresten, det sÄ kallade frasset, anvÀndes som jordförbÀttring pÄ en nÀrliggande studentledd permakulturodling.

 

Dagens nyheter hörde talas om projektet och kom och besökte oss. Jessica Ritzen följde Cecilia Lalander och Anders Kiessling genom de olika stadierna av proteinproduktionen till fem-ton-fisk-i-disk projektet. Följ lÀnken för att lÀsa hela artikeln hÀr.

Our BSF project “5 ton grön fisk i disk” featured in Dagens nyheter

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From February to May 2021, the project “5 ton grön fisk i disk” (partly financed by Vinnova) produced 1,7 tons of larvae on a mix of 10 tonnes vegetable and bread waste. The vegetables were discarded vegetable cuttings from

Sorunda Grönsakshallen and the bread was out-of-date Fazer bread from local supermarkets. The larv ae were not only produced at SLU campus but they were also further processed here: after drying at 60°C for 48 h, the dry larva were pressed in a screw press to separate the protein from the fat. The defatted protein meal was then turned into fish feed, containing many other locally sourced ingredients, for rainbow trout. The trout were grown by Älvdalslax in Dalarna.

The residue from the treatment, the frass, was used as soil amendment on the nearby student run permaculture garden. Dagens nyheter found out about this cool project and came to visit us. Jessica Ritzen followed Cecilia Lalander and Anders Kiessling through the different stages of the protein production for the 5 ton fish on the counter project. Read the full article here.

New publication from the urine dying group on the use of magnesium-doped alkaline substrates in the Chemical Engineering Journal

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In our latest paper, published in the Chemical Engineering Journal, we show how all the nitrogen in fresh human urine can be captured in the form of solid urine-based fertilisers.

Abstract: Recycling urine can reduce the flux of reactive nitrogen in the environment. This paper presents a novel approach to recover all N (Ntot) from urine, including ammonia (TAN; about 5% of Ntot), which is usually volatilised when alkalised urine is dehydrated. As analytical methods for measuring N have a standard deviation of at least 5%, real fresh urine was fortified with ammonia (urineN) or ammonia and phosphate (urineNP) so that TAN comprised 10% of Ntot. The urine was then added to different magnesium-based alkaline substrates (MgO, Mg(OH)2, MgCl2 + Mg(OH)2) and dried at 38 ˚C. Chemical speciation modelling suggested that, irrespective of the substrate, >98% of Ntot in urineNP was recovered and 86% of TAN was precipitated as struvite. Experimental results showed that < 90% of Ntot was recovered when urineNP was dried in MgO and Mg(OH)2, suggesting that no TAN was captured. However, all phosphorus and potassium and 93% (±5%) of Ntot and 30% of TAN were recovered when urineNP was dried in MgCl2 + Mg(OH)2, as the [Mg]:[NH4]:[PO4] molar ratio of 1.69:1.14:1.0 in urine favoured formation of struvite. Overall, this study demonstrated that all ammonia excreted in real fresh urine (unfortified, TAN < 5% Ntot) can be captured if urine is dried in substrates containing 3.7 g MgCl2·6H2O L−1 or 2.2 g MgSO4 L−1, but no calcium. Ammonia can also be captured if fresh urine is saturated with MgO or Mg(OH)2 with high reactivity (<60 s citric acid test). If the drying substrate has pH > 10 throughout the treatment, urease enzyme-catalysed degradation of urea to ammonia is prevented, resulting in complete recovery of all nutrients. The end-product is a solid fertiliser containing 10–11% nitrogen, 1–2% phosphorus and 2–3% potassium.

Continue reading New publication from the urine dying group on the use of magnesium-doped alkaline substrates in the Chemical Engineering Journal

Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China’s Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

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Check out our new publication following up on China’s nationwide sanitation campaign, “the toilet revolution” in the journal, Science of the Total Environment.

Abstract: The ongoing Toilet Revolution in China offers an opportunity to improve sanitation in rural areas by introducing new approaches, such as urine source separation, that can contribute to achieving SDG6. However, few studies have systematically assessed the social acceptability of managing human excreta collected in new sanitation systems. Therefore, in this study we performed face-to-face interviews with 414 local residents from 13 villages across three provinces in western China, to analyze the current situation and attitudes to possible changes in the rural sanitation service chain. We found that the sanitation chain was predominantly pit latrine-based, with 86.2% of households surveyed collecting their excreta in a simple pit, 82% manually emptying their pits, and 80.2% reusing excreta in agriculture without adequate pre-treatment. A majority (72%) of the households had a generally positive attitude to production of human excreta-derived fertilizer, but only 24% agreed that urine and feces should be collected separately. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that three factors (level of education, number of permanent household residents, perceived social acceptability) significantly influenced respondents’ attitudes to reuse of excreta, although only perceived social acceptability had a high strength of association. Overall, our survey revealed that rural households often misuse toilet systems, fail to comply with government-specified sanitation guidelines, have low awareness of alternative solutions, and are over-reliant on the government to fix problems in the service chain. Thus while new sanitation technologies should be developed and implemented, information campaigns that encourage rural households to manage their excreta safely are also important.

Continue reading Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China’s Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

Advertisement for MSc thesis: To source separate or to annamox? Can we mainstream two disruptive innovations in wastewater treatment in parallel?

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Proposed Title: To source separate or to annamox? Can we mainstream two disruptive innovations in wastewater treatment in parallel?

Credits: 30 credits; Level: Advanced
Subject: Technology, Environmental Science or Sustainable Development
Start: January 2022 or later

Two of the most exciting and potentially disruptive innovations that are being tested in the field of wastewater treatment are:

  • Source Separation, where different fractions of household wastewater (urine, faeces/brownwater, greywater) are separately collected at source and treated differently to recover and recycle resources (fertilizers like urea and struvite, water, energy, 
)
  • Annamox, oranaerobic ammonium oxidation, a naturally occurring microbial process which can be applied to remove nitrogen at centralised wastewater treatment plants by directly converting ammonia and nitrite to nitrogen gas.

Source-separation calls for distributed/decentralized treatment of wastewater and emphasizes the recovery of nutrients and resources. Annamox on the other hand calls for an upgrade on the existing biological nitrogen removal processes at centralized wastewater treatment plants. Both these innovations are currently being mainstreamed but little is known about –

  1. Whether these processes can complement each other, and if so, when? at what scale?
  2. In which context and settings are each of these innovations better suited?
  3. The overall energy requirements for treating wastewater through both processes, especially from a life-cycle perspective. e.g., annamox reduces the energy demand for aeration and nitrogen removal but source separation and nutrient recycling reduces the need to manufacture synthetic ammonia-based fertilizers (Haber Bosch nitrogen)
Continue reading Advertisement for MSc thesis: To source separate or to annamox? Can we mainstream two disruptive innovations in wastewater treatment in parallel?

Nytt Formas-projekt inom utlysningen FrÄn forskning till implementering för ett hÄllbart samhÀlle 2021

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Cecilia Lalander frÄn energi och teknik och Anders Kiessling frÄn husdjurens utfodring och vÄrd Àr med i ett samarbetsprojekt med partners frÄn hela Sverige som just har beviljats 3,8 miljoner kr frÄn FORMAS för ett pilotprojekt dÀr artificiell intelligens ska stötta utvecklingen till ett hÄllbart urbant livsmedelsproduktionssystem.

Norra Sverige har pĂ„ senare tiden attraherat stora industrier och serverhallar liksom nĂ€sta generations fossilfria stĂ„lindustri (H2 Green Steel), p.g.a. stora tillgĂ„ng till förnyelsebar energi och naturresurser, samt svala klimat. Boden kommun har som mĂ„lsĂ€ttning att till 2025 blir Europas mest resurseffektiva och koldioxidneutrala kommun. Faktum Ă€r att Boden sedan 2020 har initierat ett storskaligt symbiosprojekt kallat Energisymbiosen Boden, som Ă€r en del av Boden Business Park. Ett av initiativen syftar till att skapa en kompetensplattform för urban livsmedelsproduktion som ska anvĂ€ndas som en nationell tillgĂ„ng för att implementera och testa innovativa lösningar för livsmedelsproduktionssystem. Projektet AI för förbĂ€ttrad effektivitet och hĂ„llbarhet hos slutna landbaserade integrerade livsmedelsproduktionssystem – en fallstudie i Boden : iCFPS (intelligent Circular Food Production Systems) kommer att vara en del i den satsningen.

Projektet har som mÄlsÀttning att avgrÀnsa och modellera de olika energiflödena inom ett hypotetiskt akvaponiskt-agrokultur-produktionssystem för livsmedel, och ska utgöras av ett slutet system bestÄnden av fyra trofiska lager: insekter, alger, fisk, och vÀxter. Det slutna produktionssystemet som ska vara grunden för modelleringen antas ligga nedströms H2 Green Steel industrin, serverhallar och battericentraler. FrÄn dessa slÀpps vatten som hÄller lÄg vÀrme ut, och kan, om strategiskt kanaliserade, utgöra en vÀrdefull energikÀlla i det föreslagna slutna livsmedelsproduktionssystemet. De fyra trofiska lagren i det hÀr systemet (insekter, alger, fisk och vÀxter), kan ses som biologiska batterier, med olika lagringskapacitet, som tillsammans buffrar för de stÀndiga fluktuationerna i systemet. Det övergripande mÄlet med detta projekt Àr att med hjÀlp artificiell intelligens (AI) förstÄ sÄvÀl energiflödena som nÀringsströmmarna i detta system, dÀr spillvÀrme och biologiskt nedbrytbart avfall för att skapa ett slutet, cirkulÀrt och hÄllbart livsmedelsproduktionssystem.

Projektet Àr ett samarbete mellan Bodens kommun, SWECO, H2GreenSteel, Ragn-Sells, Ecoloop, ONar AB, Johannas Stadsodlingar, Agtira och Tebrito, samt  ett konsortium av akademiker frÄn LuleÄ tekniska universitet, SLU och UmeÄ universitet.

Det akademiska konsortiet:

  • LuleĂ„ tekniska universitet (LTU) driver projektet och kommer att utveckla en AI-baserad modell för det föreslagna l I gruppen ingĂ„r:
    • Ulrika Rova, Prof. Paul Christakopoulos, Prof Marcus Liwicki, Dr Ali Usman och Michael Nilsson som Ă€r projektledare.
  • UmeĂ„ University (UmU), kommer att ansvara för vĂ€xtdelen av projektet och leds av:
    • Docent Olivier Keech.
  • Sveriges lantbruksuniversitets (SLU) del i projektet Ă€r att producera data för modelleringen rörande de trofiska lagren insekter (ET) och fisk (HUV), samt leda arbetet i referensgruppen bestĂ„nden av representanter för Svenska industriprojekt (HUV). Gruppen utgörs av:
    • Prof Anders Kiessling (HUV) och Docent Cecilia Lalander (ET).

New Formas project in the call From research to implementation for a sustainable society 2021

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Cecilia Lalander from the Department of Energy and Technology and Anders Kiessling from the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management are part of a project with partners from all over Sweden who have just been granted SEK 3.8 million from FORMAS for a pilot project in which artificial intelligence (AI) will support the development of a sustainable urban food production system.

Northern Sweden has recently attracted large industries and server halls as well as the next generation fossil-free steel industry (H2GreenSteel), due to its easy access to renewable energy and natural resources, as well as a cool climate. Boden municipality aims to be Europe’s most resource-efficient and carbon-neutral municipality by 2025. In fact, since 2020, Boden has initiated a large-scale symbiosis project called the Boden Energy Symbiosis, part of the Boden Business Park. In fact, since 2020 Boden has initiated a large-scale symbiosis project called the Boden Symbiosis Cluster, part of the Boden Business Park. One of the initiatives aim at creating an urban food competence platform of commercial size to be used as a national asset for implementing and testing innovative solutions for food production systems.

Continue reading New Formas project in the call From research to implementation for a sustainable society 2021

VĂ„r senaste publikation om fluglarvskompostering

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Kolla in vÄr senaste publikation i Waste Management Process efficiency in relation to enzyme pre-treatment duration in black soldier fly larvae composting. I denna studie undersökte vi pÄverkan av enzymförbehandlingstid pÄ effektiviteten, gÀllande biomassaomvandlingseffektivitet och materialreduktion, vid fluglarvskompostering av sallad och kÄl (grönsaksavskÀr  frÄn Grönsakshallen Sorunda). Vi fann att direkttillsats av enzym (d.v.s. ingen förbehandlingstid, utan tillsats av enzymerna samtidigt som larverna) var den enda behandlingen som signifikant förbÀttrade processeffektiviteten.

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