Managed waste facilities are a crucial way station for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in their lifecycle journey through the environment. NanoFASE is built around the "reactor" concept, whereby each (environmental or management) compartment is considered to act as a reactor that transforms the nanoparticles it receives.  Key reactors include wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), solid waste- and dedicated sewage sludge incinerators, pyrolysis apparatus (for dried sewage sludge) or  landfills (see figure below). Within each of these reactors, ENMs can be physically and chemically transformed, and their initial coating may be replaced by other (naturally occurring) substances or be biologically degraded. The physical-chemical properties of the transformed ENMs have in the past been little investigated. Thus, NanoFASE work package 5 seeks to establish transformation and release rates of ENM during their passage through different reactors. Additionally, selected lab-scale experiments are conducted using pristine and well-characterized materials to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the transformation processes during different waste treatment processes. Experimental results directly feed into the development of the NanoFASE mathematical model describing the transformation and transfer of ENMs through the investigated reactors. 

Click on each item in the figure below for more detailed information:

1. WWTP
2. Pyrolysis
3. Incineration
4. Landfill 
5. Agriculture

Contact

  Ralf Kägi

  EAWAG, Switzerland

  Email: ralf.kaegi@eawag.ch

 

  Alexander Gogos

  EAWAG, Switzerland