I-Corps: Microbial Photoelectrochemical Hybrid System for Wastewater Treatment and Hydrogen Generation

I-Corps：用于废水处理和制氢的微生物光电化学混合系统

• 批准号: 1550327
• 负责人: Yat Li
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1550327&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Microbial; Photoelectrochemical; Hybrid; System

With the drastic increase of human population, there is an ever-growing demand for energy and clean water for the continuous economic growth and suitable inhabitation on earth. Over the years, the federal government has applied distinct strategies to address these two needs separately: the municipal wastewater is collected by local wastewater plants for purification and subsequent reuse as reclaimed water, while the energy source is mainly based on natural gas, and crude oil. Apparently, these two strategies are decoupled. Million tons of wastewater are produced from industrial and agricultural operations each year, and about 25 billion US dollars are spent annually for wastewater treatment in the United States alone. Meanwhile, the use of natural gas/petroleum generates a lot of greenhouse gas and toxic chemicals, which pose a serious threat to the environment, and also leads to additional cost to treat the pollution. There is an urgent need to employ energy-efficient processes for wastewater treatment, and simultaneously recover the "wasted energy" contained as organic matters in wastewater. Microbial fuel cell technology represents a novel approach to produce bioelectricity and treat wastewater simultaneously has drawn significant attention worldwide. The key innovation of the proposed microbial photoelectrochemical device/technology is the successful demonstration of hydrogen generation (instead of bioelectricity) in a sustainable manner using sunlight and municipal wastewater as the only energy sources.The microbial photoelectrochemical cell device is a system that can remove soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in wastewater and simultaneously recover the "wasted energy" stored in the organic wastes for photochemical generation of hydrogen gas, a chemical fuel with high energy density. This team has demonstrated the feasibility of hydrogen gas production in a lab-scale microbial photoelectrochemical device using municipal wastewater and sunlight as the sole energy sources. It represents not only a brand new approach to address the renewable energy needs for U.S., but also an emerging business opportunity for U.S.. The U.S. is among the world's largest producers of activated sludge (from wastewater). There are more than 16000 wastewater treatment facilities nationwide, and spend billions of dollars per year to treat water. A successful microbial photoelectrochemical system can efficiently convert wastewater into commercially valuable chemical fuels. The device can be readily transferred to the market place by forming partnerships or establishing collaborations with these existing microbial technology companies such as in-state municipal wastewater treatment facility, food and beverage industry, farms and water industry.

随着人口的急剧增长，对能源和清洁水的需求不断增长，以持续经济增长和地球上的合适居住。多年来，联邦政府采用了不同的策略来分别解决这两种需求：当地废水工厂收集了市政废水以进行净化，随后将其作为再生水重复使用，而能源主要基于天然气和原油。显然，这两种策略被解耦。每年从工业和农业运营中生产了数百万吨的废水，仅在美国，每年花费约250亿美元用于废水处理。同时，使用天然气/石油会产生大量的温室气体和有毒化学物质，这对环境构成了严重威胁，也导致了治疗污染的额外成本。迫切需要采用节能过程进行废水处理，同时恢复废水中包含的“浪费能量”。微生物燃料电池技术代表了一种新的生物电力的方法，并同时在全球引起了最大的关注。 The key innovation of the proposed microbial photoelectrochemical device/technology is the successful demonstration of hydrogen generation (instead of bioelectricity) in a sustainable manner using sunlight and municipal wastewater as the only energy sources.The microbial photoelectrochemical cell device is a system that can remove soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in wastewater and simultaneously recover the "wasted energy" stored in the用于光化学生成氢气的有机废物，氢气是一种具有高能量密度的化学燃料。 该团队证明了使用市政废水和阳光作为唯一能源的实验室微生物光电化学设备中氢气产生的可行性。 它不仅代表着一种满足美国可再生能源需求的全新方法，而且还代表着美国新兴的商业机会。美国是全球最大的活性污泥生产商之一（来自废水）。 全国有16000多个废水处理设施，每年花费数十亿美元来治疗水。 成功的微生物光电化学系统可以有效地将废水转化为商业上有价值的化学燃料。 该设备可以通过建立合作伙伴关系或与这些现有的微生物技术公司（如州内部废水处理设施，食品和饮料行业，农场和水上行业）建立合作伙伴关系或建立合作来轻松地转移到市场。