PhD Studentship: Development and evaluation of novel nitrogen removal strategies for animal slurries and anaerobic digestates for precision fertiliser application in a global context

Harper Adams
April 30, 2023
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Offerd Salary:£17,668
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Contract Type:Fixed Term - 36 Mont
Working Time:Full time
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PhD Studentship: Development and evaluation of novel nitrogen removal

strategies for animal slurries and anaerobic digestates for precision fertiliser application in a global context

Research Office Location: Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB

Salary: As per advert Post Type: Full Time Contract Type: Fixed Term - 36 Months - Up to 36 months Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 30 April 2023 Reference: RD-PHD-01-MK-DVC-MH

Project Title: Development and evaluation of novel nitrogen removal strategies for animal slurries and anaerobic digestates for precision fertiliser application in a global context

Director of Studies: Dr Marie Kirby

36 month funded studentship.

The expected start date for the studentship will be the beginning of October 2023. The student will be registered for a PhD at Harper Adams University and based at Harper Adams University, Edgmond, Shropshire, UK. The studentship will cover the current Home tuition fee rate plus a yearly stipend set at the UKRI figure – currently £17,668 per year (2022/23 academic year) with an expected small increase from September 2023.

International applicants would need to be able to fund the difference between Home and Overseas fees which will be £10,890 for the 2023/24 academic year with the first year's fees being paid in full before Visa documentation can be issued.

Introduction to research area

Animal slurries and anaerobic digestates can be applied to growing crops to provide fertiliser nutrients to aid crop growth. Oversupply of slurries and digestates to land can have a negative environmental effect as these nutrients can leach into groundwater and watercourses (phosphorus and nitrate) or be emitted into the atmosphere (ammonia and nitrous oxide). Therefore, their application to land is facing ever increasing regulatory constraints with the aim to reduce their environmental impact. As an alternative to animal slurries being applied to soil, artificial fertiliser can be used to supply crop nutrients. The manufacture of artificial fertilisers relies upon the mining of phosphorous ore and the extraction of nitrogen from the air. The manufacture and use of artificial fertilisers contribute 22% of agriculture's carbon footprint (Menegat et al., 2021).

To compliment ongoing research at Harper Adams University examining the removal and reuse of phosphorus from slurries for crop application, this PhD studentship will explore more fundamental nitrogen research to remove and reuse nitrogen from slurries and digestates for crop growth. Current technologies for stripping nitrogen are energy intensive and too technical for use on-farm. Farmers are looking for cost-effective, on-farm modular technologies that can separate fertiliser nutrients for more precision nutrient application to soil or be sold to other end users, generating a new revenue stream from slurries. This PhD will build-on current research to develop processes for on-farm nitrogen removal and examine the potential for recovered nitrogen to be reused as a crop fertiliser. By developing a circular on-farm nutrient recovery process, this will help to reduce agriculture's reliance on artificial fertiliser use, their carbon footprint and help the sector to reach its net zero ambitions. In a wider global context, this would also help to improve food and political security.

Aims and objectives

The aim of this PhD studentship is to develop a novel process for the removal, recovery and reuse of nitrogen from different animal slurries and anaerobic digestates to be used as a nitrogen source for different crops.

There are three main objectives of this studentship. First, to examine different nitrogen removal processes to separate nitrogen from slurries and digestates (year 1). Second, to undertake crop growth trials using grass and wheat, whilst examining the nitrogen leaching potential and nitrous oxide emissions compared to untreated slurries/digestates and commercial artificial fertilisers (year two). Third, the project will undertake cost benefit analyses and life cycle assessments to compare our nitrogen recovery process to standard nutrient application practices, within a global context (year three). The PhD student will receive commercially relevant training suited to working as a career academic, a public sector/industry researcher, or an agri- tech entrepreneur. Through this project the PhD student will receive bespoke training and support as required in experimental and laboratory skills, economics, life cycle analysis and data analysis, as well as gaining practical experience in research and the development of on-farm modular nitrogen stripping technologies.

The multidisciplinary team

The appointed PhD student will become part of a multi-disciplinary team at Harper Adams University and will be supervised by Dr Marie Kirby. Dr Kirby is a biochemist who research interests relate to the integration of novel technologies that develop circular economies for a range of agricultural residues and by-products. Co-supervision at Harper Adams University is provided by Dr Simon Jeffery and Professor Karl Behrendt. Dr Jeffery is a microbial soil ecologist to understand how soil organisms drive soil processes and Professor Behrendt has over 20 years' experience in agricultural and resource economics with specific expertise in bioeconomic modelling. Dr Duarte Tito will be the industrial advisor providing technology advice for nutrient recovery and reuse.

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Harper Adams University is one of the premier UK Higher Education institutions focused on the land-based and food supply chain sector. With around 2,800 undergraduate students, plus those completing postgraduate, research and CPD programmes, Harper Adams University is the UK's largest single provider of higher education for these subjects. Programmes fall into eleven broad subject areas – but none operate in isolation. Community and collaboration are key at Harper Adams, meaning everyone, including staff, students and industry partners, benefits from a close network of knowledge and opportunity exchange. Situated in Shropshire, the campus and the surrounding area provide an excellent working and living environment for staff and students alike.

Harper Adams is consistently positioned highly in a range of national ratings, performance measures and league tables. The University has been the highest performing modern university in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide for the last four years, climbing to 17th place in the overall league table. In the 2020 guide Harper Adams was named Modern University of the Year and runner-up University of the Year. In the 2019 Whatuni? Student Choice Awards, based on student reviews, Harper Adams won the Student Support category for the fifth time – the only university to have taken the title since the awards began - and won the category for best job prospects for a fourth year running. In the 2020 QS World Rankings for Agriculture and Forestry published in March 2020, Harper Adams was ranked first in the UK for academic reputation and second in the world for its reputation with employers.

Applied research is at the heart of the university's activity, with the work of a thriving academic community underpinning both teaching and work with the industries allied to Harper. The 2014 Government Research Excellence Framework rated all of the university's research as “of international quality”, and more than half was deemed “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.

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