Poplar Phytoremediation: Criteria for Successful Designs and

Long-term Operation

Advanced Hardwood Biofuels NorthwestPortland OR

April 12, 2016

Dr. Lou Licht, PE; Ecolotree, Inc.

1. Engineering with Plants - Phyto2. Roots move & remove ‘pollutants’3. Return results from HSRC ‘investment’4. Professor Erickson – road builder5. Speaking personally

Agenda

Phyto’s BIG IDEA: 1. Every drop 2. passes within a centimeter of a

root 3. before it reaches a drain pipe or

percolates.

Perspective : It was 26 years ago (1988)

that I planted the first poplar water treatment buffer

at The University of Iowa

Funded by Leopold Center for Sustainable

Agriculture

Word Phytoremediationcoined by Steve

Cunningham in 1992

Why start with poplar & willow phyto?

1. We can plant the root shallow or deepPredictable

Reactor Volume

6 foot deep roots for 5-year old hybrid poplar in Iowa

PHYTO FUNCTIONS :•Remove Water•Stabilization Soil Surface•Capture & Use Nutrients (N&P)•Adds Carbon and Oxygen

•Attached growth reactor

•Feeds & Grows MicrobesIncrease diversity Increase numberThroughout rhyzosphere

Picture by Dr. Phil Thompson, 1996, U Iowa Ph.D. Dissertation

Irrigated with coal bed methane water19 month old DN21 rootsKaycee WY. 2006

Grow fastPreformed root initialsGrow from polesUse water

Looking In Row Looking

Cross Row

PHYTO FUNCTIONS :•Removes Water(and solubles in the flow)

Landfill Leachate EBufferSalisbury NC.

Irrigation Water Use Pattern for Poplar in Washington Like Oregon (Smesrud, 2004)

Patterns:1. Older bigger

trees use more water

2. Trees use more water in hotter summer months

3. Midwest water use pattern will be same

Water taken up by roots flows via xylem to leaves & out STOMATES

This is old, well-proven data

Unregulated discharge

Why poplar phyto?2. Genetically selected and manipulated;

We select for biomass and phyto benefits

Greenwood Industries 25,000 acres poplar

3. Increased pollutant removal reactionsmicrobes + exudates + plant enzymes = increased pollutant reaction rates

Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Thompson, Seattle University

Nitrification/Denitrification

2 Meters

(6 Feet)

N2NH3

NO3NO2

C

Expect Organics, Pathogens & Pharmaceuticals to be mineralized

2 Meters

(6 Feet)

BOD (fats, protein, carboy)

Pathogens

PharmaceuticalsC

Fluctuating water table pulses the redox potential

Poplar & willow roots thrive even when flooded

Why poplar & willow phyto?4. More peer-reviewed research essential for changing permitsInternational Phytosociety Journal & Environmental Science

& Technology are critical

Why poplar phyto?5. Over 400 Installed Sites

• Waste water Treatment• Manufactured gas plants• Refineries• Fuel terminals & tank farms• Military locations • Petrochemical spills• Landfills• Urban Brownfields• Urban and ag stream buffers

1990 - 2014 Ecolotree Project SitesAll Regulated Pollutant Treatment Projects

Landfill and Lagoon ETCapsLandfill leachate EBuffersOrganic chemical* EBuffers Arsenic EBuffers Brownfield EBufferWastewater Phyto Treat

Why Plants?6. Commodity

Cash Crop

Woody Fiber Lumber, Forage, and

Renewable Energy

Changes Economics!

Phyto MunicipalWaste water

Tertiary Treatment

10,000 towns have insufficient Ammonia – N &

Pathogen removal

3-cell lagoon

Oxidation ditch

Early data is like yeast – it makes the dough rise:Phyto test Cell

data

Three soils, 5 trees each,

irrigated daily with 3 liters

effluent

Trees July 2011

Early data is like yeast – it makes the dough rise

Chicago Landfill, Planted Fall 2009 is irrigated with 6 million liters leachate on 4 hectares, saves $150,000/year in hauling and treatment

Trees are 10 meters tall and very healthy after 5; 1.9 mgy leachate applied

•Mineral solids – sand, cobble, silt, clay

•Organic matter -(BOD)

•Nutrients that accelerate algae growth (N & P)

•Fecal pathogens (Virus, bacteria, fungus)

•Pharmaceuticals – man-made drugs and hormones

•Petrochemicals Pesticides, herbicides, •Automotive oils, fuels, grease•Industrial & home – paint, degreaser

•Metals (Cu, Zn, Pb)

•Salts – sodium chloride, ice remover, sea spray

•Predicted Rhyzofiltration Pollutant Removal Effect:Yes! Capture

Yes! Adsorb, Humus

Yes! Adsorb,Uptake

Yes! Capture many

Some! Adsorb& Breakdown

Yes! Capture, Adsorb, Humus & Breakdown

Yes!Precipitate

No! Not table salt

Criteria for Successful Design

Feasible – parts and assembly system is known Practical – useable by the ‘people in the field’ Economical – measured by $$$: Time, Talent, Mass of ‘Stuff’,

Efficiency of delivery Safe – acceptable risk for human and business health Legal – conforming to Laws of the Land. Moral – achieving sense of justice – example - ‘leaving options for

future generations’. Politically acceptable – fear management negotiated between

politicians, constituents & owners

Ecological – supports Ecosystem functions in natural cycles