Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Biochar Filter for Philadelphia Water Pb Removal
EPA Grant Number: SU840168Title: Biochar Filter for Philadelphia Water Pb Removal
Investigators: McKenzie, Erica , Attenborough, Ivy , Nataraj, Susha , Tran, Katherine , Wasch, Michael , Boyce-Davis, Nassier , Rodriguez, Gabrielle , Thomas, Sarah , Zenonos, Alexander , Al-Amin, Abdullah
Institution: Temple University
EPA Project Officer: Spatz, Kyle
Phase: I
Project Period: December 1, 2020 through November 30, 2021 (Extended to November 30, 2022)
Project Amount: $18,705
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Awards
Objective:
This project was implemented as combined efforts among one graduate student and eight undergraduate students, with the overarching goal to develop and evaluate a sustainable water filter for the removal of lead that considers the people, prosperity, and the planet. The water filter materials should be selected for sustainability, the filter media produced from spent coffee grounds (a waste material).
The project consisted of the following key components:
- Production of biochar from waste materials under a range of pyrolysis conditions.
- Evaluation of the biochar to remove lead from drinking water considering sorption kinetics and thermodynamics.
- Selection of water filter housing material considering both durability and sustainability.
- Calculation of life cycle assessment considering energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Biochar was made from waste materials to improve the sustainability of the sorbent materials. In the proposed concept, common water hyacinth was selected as an intended component of the biochar based on the concept that it was an invasive species and would be readily available. However, it was challenging to procure, and when it was found, it was expensive. This meant that it was no longer considered a waste material and was eliminated from consideration. Spent coffee grounds were abundantly available (e.g., from local coffee houses or personal use). Biochar from spent coffee grounds was created at three temperatures (300, 500, and 700 oC) with three baking durations (30, 60, 120 min). The created biochar were evaluated for lead removal in batch systems, considering sorption kinetics and equilibrium. Biochar produced at 500 and 700 oC exhibited faster sorption kinetics and greater sorption capacity than did biochar produced at 300 oC, however the baking duration did not notably influence sorption. Sorption capacity was slightly impacted by pH for biochar produced at 300 oC, where removal was reduced at pH 5 compared to pH 7 or 9; pH had limited impact of the sorption capacity of biochars produced at higher temperatures. When dissolved organic carbon was included in the batch system, the biochar capacity was reduced (particularly for biochar created at 500 and 700 oC). By contrast, elevate sodium chloride concentrations did not notably impact the sorption capacity for biochars produced at elevated temperatures, but for biochar created at 300 oC, the sorption capacity declined with salt concentrations of 50 mM or greater. Taken together, spend coffee biochar produced at elevated temperatures has the capability to remove lead across a range of solutions chemistries.
Conclusions:
Experimental and computational efforts were applied to assess and improve sustainability of a water filter that could be produced using a spent coffee ground sorbent media. Plastic housing is commonly used in commercially available water filters, and this project explored other materials. Molded mycelium, a baked fungi material, was experimentally evaluated as a sorbent housing material option. This approach was temperamental, and several batches were not successful, however ultimately a mycelium cartridge prototype was produced. The approach requires refinement to be viable on a larger scale. Life cycle assessment was explored using OpenLCA to evaluate glass housing compared to plastic, and to compare spent coffee ground biochar to activated carbon. The preliminary LCA findings suggest that the proposed filter (glass container, baked mycelium cartridge, spend coffee ground biochar) had modestly lower lifecycle energy (~10%) and greenhouse gas emissions (~20%) than an equivalent commercial water filter transportation. Economic analysis was conducted to estimate the cost of a filter unit produced at a commercial scale, and under optimized conditions the cost of the filter was estimated to be $30.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
upcycle, sorption, drinking water, biochar, LCAProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.