Project description
Micro-aeration: breathing new life into sewage sludge
During wastewater treatment, almost all the water is purified and discharged. The residual semi-solid material that remains (i.e. sludge) is primarily non-toxic organic matter that can be used for the production of chemicals and energy carriers. Macronutrients and micronutrients in the sludge including nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and iron also make sludge an excellent eco-friendly fertiliser. However, valorisation of sludge is complicated by the growing list and quantity of contaminants it contains – and our inability to remove them. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the OXYCON project will use micro-aeration prior to conventional anaerobic fermentation/digestion to improve the degradation of selected organic micropollutants, removal of heavy metals and biotransformation of organic matter.
Objective
Industrial and municipal biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) generate vast amounts of sludge (SS) as a by-product. The total annual production of sludge currently surpasses 13 million tonnes of dry solids (DS) in the EU, even excluding sludge production from industrial on-site WWTP. Sewage sludge (SS) mainly contains non-toxic organic matter that can be converted to value-added compounds such as carboxylic acids, alcohols, and energy carriers. Furthermore, macronutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and micronutrients (e.g. potassium and iron) that are essential for crop growth are present as well, making sludge an interesting organic fertiliser. However, mainly depending on the composition of the wastewater and the pollutant’s biodegradability, SS typically contains various potential hazardous contaminants (OMP) such as adsorbable halogenated organic compounds (e.g. PFAS, AOX), phenols, sulfates, aromatics, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) (e.g. antibiotics, endocrine disruptors), pathogens (viruses, bacteria, etc.), microplastics and heavy metals (HM). It is clear that there is an urgent need for technological strategies that tackle both the increasing presence of contaminants in sludge and allow efficient resource recovery from sludge. However, current alternative sludge management strategies fall short to properly respond to the growing demands of a sustainable society and unfortunately, a significant amount of sludge is incinerated or (even worse) landfilled.OXYCON will therefore explore the use of micro-aeration as an innovative technique to simultaneously (i) degrade selected OMP, (ii) remove HMs, and (iii) enhance carboxylic acid production as biobased chemical building block during (subsequent) anaerobic fermentation of the treated sludge. The potential of air will be researched via two different techniques: air-assisted ultrasonication and micro-aeration-based anaerobic fermentation.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.