Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this reporting period includes members of the environmental engineering scientific community, wastewater treatment facility operators, dairy farmers, produce growers, and policymakers at both the state and national levels. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In this reporting period, three PhD students (thesis work), and 3 undergraduate students have been trained and involved in the project. Existing and new lab protocols have been developed and modified. Participating students have been trained and their efforts resulted in several journal research publication and presentations which have been valuable in their professional development. Following is the list of research articles and presentations (the names of the students are underlined): Peer-reviewed Journal article Tran, N.Q., Oak, J.J., Kim, J. and Jin, X.*, Enhancing nutrient water recovery: An integrated electrodialysis - Forward osmosis approach for reduced energy consumption and membrane fouling. Separation and Purification Technology, 2025. 357: p. 130164 Peer-reviewed Conference Presentation Tran, N.Q. and Jin, X., Advancing Sustainable Agriculture: Nutrient and Water Recovery Using a Hybrid Electrodialysis-Forward Osmosis Process. The AEESP Research and Education Conference, Durham, NC, 20-22 May 2025 Tran, N.Q. and Jin, X., Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Electrodialysis (ED) - Forward Osmosis (FO) Process for Agricultural Application. 2024 Onsite Wastewater Mega-Conference, Spokane, WA, 20-23 October 2024 Tran, Q., Oak, J.J., Kim, J. and Jin, X., Nutrient Water Recovery from Anaerobic Effluent through the Integration of Electrodialysis (ED) with Forward Osmosis (FO): Process Optimization and Configuration Improvement. 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, Toronto, Canada, 11-15 August 2024 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The proposed technology will provide waste management solutions by converting waste into safe irrigation water and fertilizer streams free of pathogens and other contaminants of concern. The primary stakeholders include (1) growers producing high-value fruits and vegetables with fertigation and (2) operators of anaerobic digesters that process municipal and food waste. Over the past year, we have made efforts to disseminate the results to communities of interest through the following activities: Organized an advisory board meeting on April 4, 2025 to receive feedback on project outputs and input on future directions. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we plan to build on the promising results of the integrated electrodialysis-forward osmosis (iEDFO) system by focusing on two key objectives: Investigate the removal mechanisms of emerging contaminants: We will conduct targeted experiments to evaluate the fate and transport of emerging contaminants during the iEDFO treatment of liquid digestate. These studies will provide insights into the potential of the iEDFO system to safeguard water quality beyond nutrient recovery and assess its suitability for safe agricultural reuse. Evaluate the agronomic performance of treated water: Treated water from the iEDFO system will be used in controlled greenhouse experiments to irrigate lettuce and blueberry plants. These studies aim to assess the impact of recovered nutrient water on plant growth, nutrient uptake, and potential accumulation of residual contaminants. This will provide critical validation of the system's performance from a food safety and crop productivity perspective. Together, these planned activities will help to further demonstrate the efficacy, safety, and practical utility of the iEDFO process for sustainable agriculture and resource recovery.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the reporting period, substantial progress was made through the development, optimization, and evaluation of an innovative integrated EDFO (iEDFO) configuration. The iEDFO system was designed to address key limitations in conventional ED processes, such as high energy consumption, ion back diffusion, and membrane fouling. By coupling the ED diluate with the FO feed and the ED concentrate with the FO draw solution, the integrated configuration facilitated simultaneous nutrient concentration and water recovery. This integration resulted in a dynamic equilibrium that maintained high current density and improved system stability. Key accomplishments include: Process Optimization: Optimal operating parameters for the ED unit were identified using both synthetic and real anaerobic digestate. These included an applied voltage of 20 V and a flow rate of 20 L/h, which provided a balance between ion transport rate and energy efficiency. Performance Enhancement: The iEDFO configuration achieved up to 54% reduction in operation time and up to 25% energy savings compared to the conventional ED → FO configuration. The process enabled continuous and stable operation with reduced ion back diffusion and increased nutrient extraction efficiency. Fouling Mitigation: Experimental results showed significantly reduced fouling on anion exchange membranes in the iEDFO system. This was attributed to a shorter exposure time to contaminants and enhanced ion competition, which limited the transport of dissolved organic matter. Characterization analyses using FTIR, SEM-EDS, and zeta potential confirmed less organic fouling and better membrane integrity retention. Water and Nutrient Recovery: The system effectively recovered clean water and concentrated nutrient solutions suitable for fertigation or hydroponic applications. Up to 96% rejection of dissolved organic carbon and high retention of heavy metals and other contaminants was achieved, ensuring product water quality for agricultural reuse. Overall, this research provides a strong technological foundation for sustainable nutrient and water recovery from waste streams and supports circular approaches to agricultural production.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Quang Tran, Jordan J. Oak, Jemin Kim, Xue Jin,
Enhancing nutrient water recovery: An integrated electrodialysis Forward osmosis approach for reduced energy consumption and membrane fouling,
Separation and Purification Technology,
Volume 357, Part B,
2025,
130164,
ISSN 1383-5866,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2024.130164.
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Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this reporting period includes the environmental engineering scientific community, wastewater treatment facility operators, dairy farmers, produce growers, and policymakers at both state and national levels. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In this reporting period, two PhD students (thesis work), one Master student (research for credits), and 3 undergraduate students have been trained and involved in the project. Existing and new lab protocols have been developed and modified. Participating students have been trained and their efforts resulted in several journal research publication and presentations which have been valuable in their professional development. Following is the list of research articles and presentations (the names of the students are underlined): Peer-reviewed Journal article Tran, N.Q., Garcia-Jaramillo, M., Schindler, J., Eness, A., Bryla, D., Patel, H., Navab-Daneshmand, T. and Jin, X.*, Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Electrodialysis (ED) - Forward Osmosis (FO) Process for Agricultural Application. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2024. 12: p. 112091 Peer-reviewed Conference Presentation Tran, N.Q., Oak, J. and Jin, X.*, Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Process for Hydroponic Production. Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition, West Palm Beach, FL, 4-7 March 2024 Garcia-Jaramillo, M., Tran, Q.N., Fender, C., Schindler, J.A., Patel, H.S. and Jin, X., Using LCMS Analysis and Suspect and Non-target Screening to Assess the Efficiency of Hybrid Electrodialysis-Forward Osmosis (ED-FO) in Water Reuse. The 41st International Conference on Environmental & Food Monitoring, Amsterdam, Netherland, 20-24 November 2023 Other poster presentations Oak, J., Tran, N.Q., and Jin, X.*,. (2023) Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Electrodialysis (ED) - Forward Osmosis (FO) Process for Agricultural Application, Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, Oregon State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The proposed technology will provide waste management solutions by converting waste into safe irrigation water and fertilizer streams free of pathogens and other contaminants of concern. The primary stakeholders include (1) growers producing high-value fruits and vegetables with fertigation and (2) operators of anaerobic digesters that process municipal and food waste. Over the past year, we have made efforts to disseminate the results to communities of interest through the following activities: Organized an advisory board meeting on February 23, 2024 to receive feedback on project outputs and input on future directions. PI Dr. Xue Jin gave a talk, "Nutrient Water Recovery from Anaerobic Effluent through the Integration of Electrodialysis (ED) with Forward Osmosis (FO)," at the 2024 PNWS-AWWA/PNCWA Cascade to Coast Subsection Short School. Most of the audience consisted of wastewater treatment plant operators. PI Dr. Xue Jin gave a talk, "Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Electrodialysis (ED) - Forward Osmosis (FO) Process for Agricultural Application," at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Permitting Management Team Meeting on January 4, 2024 (approximately 180 participants). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to optimize the EDFO operating conditions and configuration to further enhance its efficiency
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We investigated the feasibility of a novel hybrid electrodialysis-forward osmosis (ED-FO) process designed to recover nutrients and clean water from anaerobic digester effluent to produce food crops safely. The final product water from the process was tested and evaluated for hydroponic production of lettuce and kale. The ED treatment demonstrated an impressive nutrient recovery rate: 84% for ammonium, 86% for potassium, 98% for ortho-phosphate, and 97% for nitrate from the anaerobic effluent. The nutrient-rich concentrate from the ED process reclaimed up to 74% of clean water from the ion-stripped diluate through the FO process. The hybrid ED-FO process also retained 62-98% of heavy metals and 83% of total organic carbon (TOC) in the residual waste stream, consistent with non-target analysis. Both ED and FO demonstrated low-fouling potential. According to our economic analysis, the hybrid ED-FO process is promising for scalable implementation, making the process highly attractive in terms of resource recovery, waste footprint reduction, and water quality enhancement.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Quang Tran, Manuel Garcia-Jaramillo, Jason Schindler, Amanda Eness, David R. Bryla, Harshil Patel, Tala Navab-Daneshmand, Xue Jin,
Sustainable nutrient water recovery by a hybrid electrodialysis (ED) - forward osmosis (FO) process for agricultural application,
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering,
Volume 12, Issue 2,
2024,
112091,
ISSN 2213-3437,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2024.112091.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Tran, N.Q., Oak, J. and Jin, X.*, Sustainable Nutrient Water Recovery by a Hybrid Process for Hydroponic Production. Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition, West Palm Beach, FL, 4-7 March 2024
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Garcia-Jaramillo, M., Tran, Q.N., Fender, C., Schindler, J.A., Patel, H.S. and Jin, X., Using LCMS Analysis and Suspect and Non-target Screening to Assess the Efficiency of Hybrid Electrodialysis-Forward Osmosis (ED-FO) in Water Reuse. The 41st International Conference on Environmental & Food Monitoring, Amsterdam, Netherland, 20-24 November 2023
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
2024 Oregon State University College of Engineering (COE) Faculty Lecture Series, "Advancements in Membrane-Based Technologies for Addressing the Challenge of Water Scarcity", 12 March 2024
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