GRK 2908:  Valuable Wastewater (WERA) - Recovery of Critical Raw Materials by the Example of Phosphorus

• Subject Area: Process Engineering, Technical Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 503479768

The establishment of a circular economy in which raw materials are recovered is essential for sustainable economic development. Therefore, research into the corresponding physicochemical and technical processes in close cooperation between engineers and natural scientists is of central importance. Using the example of phosphorus as a critical raw material, the Research training group WERA is investigating methods and processes for recovering raw materials from wastewater. In WERA, a fundamentals-based approach is pursued in which various process components, such as the synthesis of tailor-made adsorber-materials and innovative separation processes for elimination and recovery of phosphorus, are combined into process chains and studied at a jointly operated wastewater treatment and recycling plant in a half-technical scale. The development of methods for process analysis and characterization as well as molecular and thermodynamic simulations contributes to a better understanding of the complex processes in the heterogeneous, only partially defined wastewater system and lays the foundations for efficient processes for phosphorus recovery. The experience and knowledge gained can be transferred to many other fields of the circular economy. The WERA research training group is dedicated to the interdisciplinary education of young researchers in this important field. WERA is based on a long-established, close collaboration between engineers and natural scientists at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau in the field of sustainability, which is the focus of the university's development strategy in research and teaching. The PhD students from WERA will have mastered the scientific and engineering fundamentals of the circular economy in a holistic manner and will have learned to put them into practice while implementing novel solutions. In keeping with the social and economic importance of the field, WERA PhD graduates will have the best opportunities in the job market.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Sergiy Antonyuk
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Sabine Becker; Professor Dr.-Ing. Erik von Harbou; Professor Dr.-Ing. Fabian Jirasek; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Kleist; Professor Dr. Stefan Kubik; Professor Dr. Volker Schünemann; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Heidrun Steinmetz; Professor Dr.-Ing. Simon Stephan; Professor Dr. Werner R. Thiel; Professor Dr. Roland Ulber