Source: ILLINOIS STATE UNIV submitted to
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS RECOVERY FROM VEGETABLE FARM WASTES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030971
Grant No.
2023-70001-40991
Project No.
ILLW-2023-01524
Proposal No.
2023-01524
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
NLGCA
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2023
Project Director
Yang, L.
Recipient Organization
ILLINOIS STATE UNIV
(N/A)
NORMAL,IL 61790
Performing Department
Agriculture & Environmental Health and Sustainability
Non Technical Summary
Food waste and loss at the farm level is significant, representing a waste of 15.3% of food produced globally with a total value of $370 billion in 2021. The team conducted a survey in 2017, which revealed that growers look for better management of vegetable wastes and crop residues. The Illinois State University Agriculture Department undergraduate program currently consists of one B.S. degree in Agriculture with ten sequences and is expanding the curriculum to include three new sequences in Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Production, Regenerative Agriculture, and Precision Agriculture. However, currently, the Agriculture Department is lacking analytical instruments for student education and training. Capacity building of analytical instrumentation is urgent and much needed.This project aims to address the aforementioned issues. We will develop a new anaerobic digestion technology for the treatment of vegetable wastes to produce energy and capture nutrients in the vegetable wastes, and then reuse the nutrients in a hydroponic production system. We will purchase a piece of analytical equipment, Gas Chromatography, for research and education activities. This equipment acquisition will be co-sponsored by an industry partner. Teaching and learning materials will be developed and used to educate STEM major students in multiple courses with a total annual enrollment of 200. Tours and workshops will be provided to community college and K-12 students. We will also disseminate the project results to farmers and agriculture professionals through field day and conference presentations. Successful project completion will promote sustainable agriculture, increase the quality of the future agricultural workforce, and advance the anaerobic digestion technology.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
35%
Applied
35%
Developmental
30%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
4031499202060%
1021499100040%
Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1000 - Biochemistry and biophysics;
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goals of this research and education integrated project are to: 1) promote sustainable agriculture and foster a circular economy by recovering energy and nutrients from vegetable farm wastes; 2) improve teaching and learning capacity at Illinois State University (ISU) and provide a quality workforce to the U.S. agricultural industries, and 3) further develop and get closer to commercialization of a novel anaerobic digestion (AD) technology.This project aims to enhance the research and teaching capacity in Environmental Sciences/Management and Agricultural/Biological Engineering at ISU to strengthen the institution's ability to sustainably provide quality and innovative research and teaching in this field. Our research focus will be on further developing the novel cartridge AD system and a better understanding of the enhanced management practices needed for sustainable vegetable farm waste management, including the use of AD for energy recovery and biochar for nutrient recovery. This focus is aligned with the USDA Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026 goal of "Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities." Our educational focus will be developing new teaching materials and providing learning and training opportunities to ISU undergraduate students, community college, and K12 students, and regional crops growers. Research objectives are to: 1) optimize and demonstrate a pilot-scale cartridge anaerobic digester for energy recovery from vegetable farm wastes; 2) examine the effects of biochar addition on cartridge digester performance, and 3) evaluate the benefits of digested biochar for providing essential nutrients to vegetable crops. Teaching objectives are to: 1) develop four new labs and two new teaching modules that will contribute to newly established undergraduate academic sequences; 2) increase undergraduate participation and training in sustainable agriculture research; and 3) enhance the teaching of laboratory-based hands-on skills and analytical techniques.
Project Methods
The research tasks will be conducted via benchtop experiments and small pilot-scale tests. All experiments will be carried out in Dr. Yang's research lab and the ROPP greenhouse facility. Activities include system setup, system operation, sample collection and analysis, data analysis and verification, and troubleshooting. Biosafety rules will be followed. Statistical methods will be used to analyze data. Data gathered from the experiments will be discussed, including limitations, strengths, weaknesses, and potential applications.The educational tasks will be conducted following the procedure of learning module development- formal lab and classroom instruction- evaluation for ISU students. We will provide tours and informal classroom instruction to community college and K12 students. We will also present at the field days and conferences. Feedback from students, farmers, and other audiences will be discussed with the evaluation team.The evaluation team is composed of one internal evaluator and one external evaluator. The two evaluators will meet with the PIs quarterly. The evaluation will include: 1) Record the number of students participating in research activities and the students taking the courses in which the developed labs and learning modules are used. 2) Evaluate the teaching effectiveness of the courses and research training. This may be done by proctoring surveys and adding survey questions to the regular course evaluation forms. 3) Monitor the progress of the research and education tasks and assess the quality of outcomes. 4) Evaluate the broad impacts of this project, including how it may affect K12 and community college students and growers. 5) Advise project PIs in disseminating project outcomes to agricultural industries, local organizations, and other stakeholders. 6) Provide comments and suggestions to improve the value of this project and future research plans. 7) Propose ideas about how to make this project more cost-effective. The evaluation team will provide annual and final evaluation reports.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:On Oct 4, 2023, the PIs presented this project to Illinois State University "Water Wednesday". About 25 people attended this event. Audiences include Illinois State University students and faculty members. On Oct 27, 2023, the PIs visited the Spence Farm, the oldest family farm in Livingston County, IL, and discussed with Mr. Marty Travis and his son Will Travis on partnership and cartridge digestion demonstration. On Nov 16, 2023, 7 Illinois State University students toured the research lab and learned about anaerobic digestion. On Nov 6, 2023, 17 Illinois State University students toured the research lab and learned about anaerobic digestion. On Mar 1, 2024, PI Dr. Yang presented this projectat the College Research and Innovation Networking Event. About 30 faculty and staff attended this event. On Apr 15, 2024: The PIs showed the cartridge digester to Dr. Theoneste Nzaramyimana, Assistant Professor for Urban Agriculture from Kentucky State University, and his graduate students. On Jun 21, 2024, Co-PIDr. Kopsell presented this project at the Spence Farm Down to Earth workshop, about 50 growers attended this workshop. On July 31, 2024, PI Dr. Yang presented "Energy and nutrient recovery from vegetable farm wastes using a cartridge anaerobic digester" at the 2024 ASABE annual international meeting, at Anaheim, CA. About 20 people attended this session. They are professionals in Agricultural and Biological Engineering areas. A webpage was created to share the project activities: https://about.illinoisstate.edu/lyang/project-updates/. The webpage is public. Changes/Problems:We do not foresee any major changes to the project. We faced a challenge with the acquisition of the gas chromatography system in 2023, as the purchasing process took longer than expected. Part of the delay was due to the need to coordinate with another funding source to cover some of the costs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The PIs and two graduate students received training from thegas chromatographyvendor. In Spring 2024, we conducted one lab session to teach undergraduate students how to use gas chromatography to analyze volatile fatty acids in liquid samples. Additionally, tours have been provided to three groups of students and faculty members. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project outcomes have been presented in the following events. More information can be found on the "Target audience" page. 1. Dr. Yang presented this project at the College Research and Innovation Networking Event. 2. Dr. Kopsell presented this project at the Spence Farm Down to Earth workshop in Illinois. 3. Dr. Yang presented "Energy and nutrient recovery from vegetable farm wastes using a cartridge anaerobic digester" at the 2024 ASABE annual international meeting, at Anaheim, CA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research tasks: we plan to continue operating the cartridge digester with biochar and conduct the vegetable growing experiment with the recycled nutrients. Teaching Tasks: We plan to conduct additional lab sessions for various student groups to learn about gas chromatography, the cartridge digester, and the hydroponic system for vegetable production. Outreach: we plan to disseminate the results to more communities of interest, including vegetable growers and other Ag professionals. Evaluation: we will continue to meet with our evaluation team and make improvements/adjustments based on their suggestions.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research tasks: The cartridge anaerobic digester was fabricated in February 2024. We completed the initial tests in March. Since then, it has been used for the digestion of vegetable waste for several months. A semi-continuous operation with four cartridges was started on April 12, 2024, and is currently in its 19th week. Every week, 2.8 kg of mixed vegetable wastes, mainly lettuce, cabbage, and celery, are added to one cartridge. Each week, one cartridge is rotated out. No biochar was added for the first 12 weeks. Since week 13, 80 g of biochar powder has been added to control the ammonia nitrogen level in the liquid and to recycle NPK nutrients. Spent biochar is collected with the spent vegetables after 4 weeks in the digester. Biogas is collected in bags and analyzed daily for composition and volume measurement. Liquid samples are collected and analyzed weekly for pH, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. So far, we have observed a stable biogas yield and it appears that biochar can effectively control ammonia nitrogen in the reactor. Biochar leachate tests have been conducted to evaluate the availability of NPK nutrients. A greenhouse hydroponic test system has been built and will be used to assess the effects of the recycled biochar nutrients on vegetables grown this fall. Additionally, anaerobic digestion of vegetable waste in small 0.5-liter reactors has begun. This test will be completed in three weeks, and the results will be compared to those from the cartridge digester. The gas chromatography system was installed in December 2023. It took us a few weeks to pass the initial quality test due to a malfunctioning part, which was identified and resolved in January 2024. Calibration curves for five short-chain fatty acids were created using a series of standard solutions. Since then, the gas chromatography system has been used intensively for teaching and research projects to measure volatile fatty acids. Educational Tasks Learning modules, including slides and lab handouts, for the gas chromatography lab and the cartridge digester lab have been developed. In spring 2024, we conducted a lab session to teach undergraduate students how to use gas chromatography to analyze volatile fatty acids in liquid samples. This is one semester ahead of our planned schedule. Student evaluations were administered before and after the lab. Additional lab sessions are planned for fall 2024 and spring 2025. Evaluations We held two meetings with the evaluation teams, consisting of Dr. Rob Rhykerd and Mr. Michale Brown--one in January 2024 and another in July 2024. The evaluation teams have provided reports for both evaluations. We are on schedule with the first year's activities.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: L. Yang, D. Kopsell, and T. Yasmin. 2024. Energy and nutrient recovery from vegetable farm wastes using a cartridge anaerobic digester. ASABE Annual International Meeting. 7/29-7/31. Anaheim, CA.