Urea is a major constituent of human and animal waste. It causes nitrate contamination in the ground and in sources of drinking water. This technology involves a process of urea removal from wastewater by electrolysis in an alkali medium. It is a highly cost effective technique as it uses a low cost gel electrolyte as opposed to potassium hydroxide (KOH) the most common medium for previous methods. The process denitrifies the wastewater while simultaneously producing nickel catalyst. The gel electrolyte was proven to have high conductivity and a performance comparable to the KOH electrolyte. Previous techniques of Urea electrolysis used platinum electrodes and were shown to be ineffective in terms of commercial widespread applications.
This technology has several major benefits that distinguish it from its competitors: 1) Manufactures energy at low temperature and with little power making it low cost 2) Eliminates the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere 3) Eliminates safety concerns associated with using Potassium Hydrate as the electrolyte 4) Efficient storage of released hydrogen in fuel cells providing a better alternative to using diesel generators 5) Feasible applications of the ammonia cell using any renewable source of energy