Treatment of Livestock and Agri-Food Industry Waste, led by researcher María Cruz García González, in which Berta Riaño and Beatriz Molinuevom also work, have won the FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer 2020, granted by the FLC (Southeast Region of the Federal Laboratory Consortium) of the United States.
The FLC Committee has awarded the quality of the study and the technology developed, as well as the ability to transfer this technology to companies in sectors as diverse as livestock, wastewater treatment, leachate and other industrial streams with high load in nitrogen.
The work consists of capturing the ammonia that can be stored in both wastewater and slurry. Through breathable tubular membranes, made with materials similar to Teflon or goretex, a dilute acid is responsible for trapping this ammonia and transforming it into a conventional liquid fertilizer of high agronomic and economic value.
In addition to the technological advance that this study represents for the field of agricultural research, it is necessary to highlight the environmental benefits that it can generate in the future, given that large amounts of ammonia emissions into the atmosphere can be avoided, once the Nitrogen contained in these wastes for use in agriculture. A clear example of the so-called circular economy.
