International study to reuse ammonia from wastewater

Department of Chemistry professor François Perreault and his team have obtained a grant of $225,000 for three years from the CRSNT-FRQ research collaboration program to improve processes for capturing ammonia from wastewater. A team of researchers from Mohamed VI Polytechnic University, in Morocco, obtained a similar amount to work on this project.

Ammonia is a significant contaminant that must be removed from wastewater before returning it to the environment. Currently, most water treatment systems remove ammonia from water by converting it to nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere. “Losing ammonia into the atmosphere appears to be a major missed opportunity,” says François Perreault. Ammonia is the second most synthesized chemical compound in industry due to its numerous applications in the manufacture of fertilizers, refrigerants or as a fuel source.

The traditional approach to synthesizing ammonia, however, is very energy-intensive, making it the most important chemical process in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, adds the professor. His team's project involves improving ammonia capture technologies through the development of a separation process called membrane distillation. This process captures ammonia gas that evaporates from high pH water. “We will develop new membranes with increased permeability for ammonia and test them in different types of wastewater collected in Morocco or Quebec,” mentions the professor. We will also explore the use of deep eutectic solvents [une nouvelle classe de solvants utilisés en chimie verte] to capture ammonia and preserve it in its NH3 form, allowing a wider range of applications.”

The researchers will then compare the environmental footprint of the new approach compared to the traditional approach in order to identify the best strategy.

In addition to François Perreault, professors Georgios Kolliopoulos (Laval University), Anne-Marie Boulay (Polytechnique) and Saifur Rahaman (Polytechnique) form the Quebec team. In Morocco, professors from the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University Otman Abida, Mohamed Essalhi and Yahya Agzenai Ben Salem are working on improving processes.