Recycling ammonia from animal manure is a good idea
Mahinder Ramdin, researcher at the Department of Process & Energy, has been granted 50,000 euros from NWO’s ‘Idea Generator’ programme for his out-of-the-box research idea ‘Recycling of ammonia from animal manure’. Ramdin’s idea is to capture the ammonia released by companies that process animal manure and reuse it by applying biobased materials such as biochar. The aim of this research is to ensure a closed loop in the agricultural sector and reduce emissions of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia. Ramdin will be given one year to further research his idea.
The emission of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia (NH3) by the agricultural sector are a massive threat to biodiversity, especially in Natura 2000 areas. Most of the emissions come from (animal) manure. Currently, ammonia is often converted in a scrubber to less useable waste streams such as salts or nitrates, which are in fact extremely polluting.
Ramdin wants to tackle this problem by developing a technology that can capture this ammonia in biochar, which is a waste product created by the thermal conversion of biomass, and subsequently make it available for reuse to produce new fertiliser.
Mahinder Ramdin: ‘In the coming year, I will use the funding from the Idea Generator to examine, together with a manure processing company, whether my idea can be more broadly applied and scaled up. It could be an incredible game changer for animal manure processors in the Netherlands and substantially reduce the emission of ammonia in the agricultural sector.’
The NWO Idea Generator
The projects in this NWO programme are characterised by their innovative nature and their potential impact on society. This year, researchers from 40 projects received a grant of 50,000 euros for the duration of one year to further investigate their idea. Read more here.
