MagnEDAR

Use of magnesium co-products to facilitate circularEconomics in urban wastewater treatment plants through phosphorus recovery in the form of struvite, biogas upgrading and fertilizer production.

The current status of scarcity of raw materials requires implementing strategies for efficient use and manager of natural resources, but also implementing technologies for resource recovery from waste streams and revaluation of by-products or co-products.

MagnEDAR will evaluate the upgrading of biogas, the recovery of phosphorus as struvite and the valorization of struvite as fertilizer. These new technological solutions will advance the modern conception of WWTPs as resource recovery and revaluation stations, both from wastewater and industrial co-products. .

main goal

NEW TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
 

The main goal of this project is to design, develop and validate in a real environment new technological solutions that allow the use of magnesium oxide co-products for different applications in a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), facilitating circular Economics .

Specific objectives

Principal Investigators

BIOMA Institute researcher team

core topic

WHY IS THIS project NECESSARY?
 

MagnEDAR proposes measures to adapt to climate change; achieve climate neutrality and reduce environmental degradation and pollution. It seeks to support the transition towards a more competitive, circular and bio-based, energy neutral, resilient and environmentally friendly Economics , in line with the Paris Agreements, the Sustainable development Goals and the European Green Pact.
At the environmental level, it improves phosphorus management in WWTPs, recovering it as a slow-release fertilizer, and promotes the production of green biomethane to replace fossil gas, thus reducing the carbon footprint. Furthermore, by reducing phosphorus and nitrogen in discharges, it improves water quality and reduces the risk of eutrophication, benefiting aquatic ecosystems, especially in a country as vulnerable to climate change as Spain.

WHAT SOLUTIONS IS project MAGNEDAR STUDYING?
 

Innovative technological solutions are proposed on a semi-industrial scale, validated in a real environment of a WWTP of 600,000 equivalent inhabitants that will allow the revalorization of co-products of the magnesite industry for the recovery of phosphorus from WWTPs. This process will contribute to progress in closing the cycle of both magnesium and phosphorus, favoring the implementation of more sustainable waste management models based on the guidelines of circular Economics , first in Navarra and then in the rest of Spain. The agricultural valorization of the products obtained during the project is aligned with the priorities of circular Economics . The upgrading of biogas to biomethane allows obtaining biogas as a renewable energy source to be injected into the network. Obtaining a fertilizer from WWTPs improves agricultural sustainability by using recycled raw materials and producing effective and environmentally friendly fertilizers.

how does this project affect society?
 

The requested MagnEDAR project is aligned with the Sustainable development Goals set by the United Nations. It has a direct impact on the goals of industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG9), ensures water availability and sustainable water management (SDG6), affordable and clean energy (SDG7) and contributes to the goals of health and well-being (SDG3), gender equality (SDG5), decent work and economic growth (SDG8), sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and climate action (SDG13). In addition, there will be direct employment creation in the different participating entities.

Participating partners