Algal Treatment Systems: Recovering Nutrients and Producing High-Value Products

Over the past 7 years, Dr. Sturm has collaborated with Dr. Susan Williams in Chemical Engineering to grow algae to recover biofuel and nutrients from municipal wastewater. Algae remove nitrogen and phosphorus from the wastewater as they assimilate the nutrients into new biomass growth. Using thermochemical conversion of the algae, the group has demonstrated the formation of a highly crystalline and well-ordered hydroxyapatite (stoichiometric HAp: Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) product that recovers 95% of the P in algae. Potential applications for this recovered material include solid fertilizers, heterogeneous catalysts, and biomaterials for biomedical engineering. Ongoing research seeks to maximize phosphorus recovery from wastewater while generating high-value compounds.

Research Team

Funding