New sensors to detect greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment and agriculture

Innovate UK has announced it is funding the development of affordable sensors and software that can track greenhouse gas emissions entering the environment through wastewater and agriculture.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and Hampshire-based product design house B4T, in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of utility operators and farmers.

In addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), there are several other gases that contribute to climate change. Nitrous oxide (N20) - which is produced in soils during farming and when removing nitrates from wastewater - contributes about 300 times the global warming potential of CO2. 

MANGA (Monitoring Ammonia and Nitrogenous Greenhouse Gases in Agriculture and Wastewater) is an important first-of-a-kind development to help the UK reach its Net Zero target. Realtime information from rural locations and wastewater treatment is processed, and then simply and effectively visualised. 

The University of Portsmouth’s School of Civil Engineering and Surveying will undertake field trials, using the facilities of the Environmental Technology Field Station (ETFS) at a wastewater treatment plant in Hampshire. 

This will also involve developing deployment protocols for assessing whole site and individual unit process level emissions.

Professor John Williams, Academic Lead for the project said: “Monitoring wastewater emissions usually involves extrapolating information from dissolved gas measurements or using bulky expensive devices or diffusion tubes, which lack resolution over time.”

“We are developing a unique set of miniaturised, low-cost sensors to monitor emissions - with a particular focus on N20. Reducing emissions of this potent greenhouse gas is an important part of Net Zero strategies for agriculture and wastewater management sectors.”

The University of Portsmouth and B4T have previously collaborated on Renewables-based Maritime projects in Hydrogen and Shore Power, where Air Quality monitoring was a key outcome.

B4T specialises in low-power IoT (internet-of-things) technology. The company serves multiple sectors including maritime, horticulture, and water utilities by customising their flagship Jellyfish and Man-o-War devices to help reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions. 

Alex Barter, Managing Director at B4T said: “This first-of-a-kind approach to tackling a hidden Greenhouse Gas monster is precisely where we play to our strengths, generating new evidence to contribute to policy and Water Company operations. 

“It is our pleasure to once again join forces with the University of Portsmouth on vital environmental work. We look forward to collaborating with the domestic and global wastewater processing sector and are open to discussing our project.”

The MANGA project will seek MCERTS accreditation for the technology. Once approved, it can be offered to the water and waste sectors at industry facing conferences and other events. 

Anyone interested in finding out more about the project can contact alex@b4tgroup.co.uk. 

The project received £359,289 in funding from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.