Toward Sustainable Urban Stormwater Management with New, Green, Low-Cost Sorbent-Coated Wood Mulch

The primary objective of this Phase II proposal is to enable pilotscale design capable of demonstrating long-term performance of the coated mulch-based filtration systems in the alleviation of urban stormwater pollution. Besides the traditional benefits of mulch (e.g. erosion control, moisture retention, and weed control), wood mulches serve as an inert supporter for active adsorbent coatings. Our Phase I studies demonstrate that the two lowcost adsorbent coatings, i.e. WTRs and oak-based biochar, provide complimentary adsorption capabilities. In Phase II, we will test oak-based biochar used in Phase I and also municipal sewage sludge derived biochar (SSDB) in order to pursue a more sustainable urban water management system. Particularly, a whole or part of energy for the SSDB synthesis will derive from anaerobic digestion of municipal sewage sludge. A student team composed of four students from different disciplines, of whom two participated in the Phase I study, will be assembled. To achieve the goal, three specific objectives will be pursued. Objective 1. to synthesize and characterize SSDB and to analyze energy for anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and for the SSDB pyrolysis. Objective 2. to optimize pilot-scale coated much-based filtration design and evaluate the long-term performance. Objective 3. to characterize spent coated mulch and establish mathematic modeling.