사스캐툰(Saskatoon)시와 Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies 사는 최근 캐나다 최초로 시립 하수처리 플랜트에 설치된 상업적 영양 복원 시설의 성공적인 협력사업 성과를 축하하는 자리를 가졌다.

위 프로젝트는 Ostara 사의 Pearl 영양 복원 공정을 통해 인, 질소 등의 영양소를 시설 하수저류장에서 복원하고 그것들을 완용성, 환경친화적 개량 비료인 Crystal Green으로 전환시키는 절차에 사용되는 캐나다 최초의 상업적 시설 건설을 주요 내용으로 하고 있다.

"도시 자원의 체계적인 관리의 모범사례는 우리 도시에서부터 직접 시작한다."라고 사스캐툰 시장 도날드 앳친슨(Donald Atchinson)은 전했다. "Ostara 사의 기술을 하수처리 플랜트에 설치함과 동시에 우리는 지역 수로에 쌓여있는 영양소들의 문제를 저비용, 주도적으로 해결하였다. 그리고 그것은 납세자들의 편의와 환경을 위한 증진된 플랜트 신뢰도의 사례이다."

SASKATOON, SK, and VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 19, 2013 -- The city of Saskatoon and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. recently celebrated their successful collaboration with the official opening of Canada's first commercial nutrient recovery facility at the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

The project is the first commercial plant of its kind in Canada to use Ostara's Pearl® nutrient recovery process to recover phosphorus and nitrogen from the facility's wastewater stream and transform them into Crystal Green®, a slow-release and environmentally responsible enhanced efficiency fertilizer.

"The example of responsible stewardship of our resources begins at home," said Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison. "With the installation of Ostara's technology at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, we are proactively and cost-effectively, tackling the growing issue of nutrient overload in our regional waterways. And that's good for taxpayers and good for the environment."Enhanced Plant Reliability".

By removing potentially polluting nutrients from the treatment facility's wastewater stream, Ostara's technology helps the city meet nutrient discharge limits and overcome operational issues caused by the unintentional build-up of struvite scale in plant equipment.

Struvite is a concrete-like mineral deposit that chokes process equipment, increases operating and maintenance costs, and undermines plant reliability. The formation of struvite is a common challenge in plants that practice biological nutrient removal and anaerobic digestion.

In Saskatoon, the sludge is handled at a biosolid facility, which is twelve kilometers from the treatment plant where it is stored. The struvite problems are exacerbated as the sludge must travel this distance through pipes from the treatment plant to this facility and then pump decant water back to the treatment plant. Keeping the pipes clear of struvite is a significant operational challenge, especially in the winter. Chemical additives can sometimes be used to mitigate struvite problems; however, they are costly and result in a higher volume of sludge waste requiring disposal.The Ostara system will help the city overcome these challenges by recovering 75 percent of the phosphorus and 10 percent of the nitrogen from the wastewater stream before they accumulate in the equipment.

Using Ostara's Pearl 2000 system, Saskatoon's new nutrient recovery facility has an annual production capacity of 730 metric tons of Crystal Green fertilizer using the nutrients recovered by the process, for which the city receives revenue.

This is also Ostara's first commercial implementation of WASSTRIP®, a process that increases the amount of phosphorus available for recovery by up to 40 percent, enhancing the efficacy of the Pearl process and controlling struvite scale formations throughout the sludge treatment stream.

The nutrient recovery system installed at the plant will result in significant annual cost savings and provide a revenue stream earned from the fertilizer produced. The system installed at the Saskatoon WWTP cost CA$4.7 million ($4.5 million).

Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer

Ostara's nutrient recovery process helps to address one of the planet's most critical environmental challenges: the proliferation of algae blooms that impair waterways and destroy aquatic life. Ostara's technology recovers excess nutrients before they have an opportunity to accumulate and transforms them into an environmentally responsible, slow-release fertilizer called Crystal Green.

A blend of phosphorus, nitrogen and magnesium, Crystal Green is the first nutrient technology to offer a plant-activated, slow-release fertilizer sustainably made from renewable sources. Unlike conventional water-soluble fertilizers, Crystal Green responds to plant demand, releasing nutrients only when the roots need them, resulting in greater fertilizer efficiency, lower application rates, and reduced nutrient loss through leaching and runoff. It is used by growers in the agriculture, turf and ornamental sectors throughout North America and in Europe.

"We have the opportunity to transform a water challenge common throughout North America into a sustainable solution," said Mr. Abrary. "Removing nutrients from where they shouldn’t be -- in our waterways -- and using them to create a new generation of eco-friendly, enhanced efficiency fertilizer is the smart thing to do agriculturally and the right thing to do environmentally."

[출처: Waterworld / 2013년 8월 19일]