Green ammonia recovery from manure digester and lagoon by electrodialysis
PI: Phillip Barak

Human expansion and intervention in the nitrogen cycle has led to a “lossy” system, particularly in manure handling. The ammonium ion is moveable using electrical fields similar to electrodialysis. This technology uses an array of selective membranes and flow paths under an electric field. This project is testing a two-chamber, monovalent-selective cation exchange membrane in tandem with a water splitting bipolar membrane as a way of producing ammonia from feed streams containing ammonium such as manure digesters, manure lagoons, and similar wastewater sources that may have recoverable ammonium or other cations of interest. Potential benefits of this technology include development of sustainable and locally produced ammonia for agriculture, an additional marketable product from farm and treatment plants, truly “green” ammonium if the electrodialysis energy is sourced from biogas, photovoltaic or wind as opposed to the “gray” ammonia from Haber-Bosch fixation, and reduction of on farm emissions of ammonia.These innovations have potential to contribute to the priorities of sustainable ag systems, production, energy, and sustainability of natural resources.