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Researcher

Marc Spiller

  • Research Expertise:New technologies cannot function in isolation. Any innovation must be viewed in its context, that is in the system in which it eventually will have to function. It is only when technologies are evaluated in their context that one can understand externalities and unexpected consequences they may cause. These items may include, but are not limited to: pollution swapping (reducing one type of pollution while increasing another), changes over time as the context changes, opportunity costs (e.g. monetary as well as environmentally or technologically) and feasibility in practice. With the above systems perspective I investigate socio-technical system focused on water and nutrient recovery from liquid streams (e.g. municipal wastewater, food and beverage wastewater, rainwater and drinking water). Products that are investigated include are organic and inorganic fertilisers, microbial biomass as an alternative protein source or other biobased materials relevant for the agri-food value chain. The methodologies I am using seek to provide evidence for environmental, economic and legal performance of technologies. Key methods used are: - Life cycle assessment with specific interest in the consequential methodology - Multi criteria assessments of different technological scenarios - Computational modelling of material and substance flows - Techno-economic assessment of technologies under uncertainty over time and phased expansion - Physicochemical analysis of recovered materials and their benchmark against feed and fertilizer legislation
  • Keywords:NUTRIENTS, FLOW ANALYSIS, FERTILIZER, NOVEL PROTEIN, SUSTAINABILITY, WASTEWATER TREATMENT, LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS, Applied biological sciences, biotechnology
  • Disciplines:(Waste)water treatment processes, Recycling, Sustainable and environmental engineering not elsewhere classified
  • Research techniques:The following research methods used are: - Life cycle assessment with specific interest in the consequential methodology - Multi criteria assessments of different technological scenarios - Computational modelling of material and substance flows - Techno-economic assessment of technologies under uncertainty over time and phased expansion - Physico-chemcial analysis of recovered materials and their benchmark against feed and fertilizer legislation
  • Users of research expertise:- Municipalities and governments - Waste and wastewater treatment companies - Food and beverage companies - Everyone interested in sustainability assessments related to water - Fertilizer producers - Feed producers - Farmers