Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (eBook)

Fundamentals and Applications

Makarand M. Ghangrekar, Rao Y. Surampalli, Tian C. Zhang, Narcis M. Duteanu (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
768 Seiten
Wiley-VCH (Verlag)
978-3-527-83899-8 (ISBN)

Infos

A one-stop guide to the future of sustainable energy production

The search for sustainable energy sources powered by renewable, non-fossil fuel resources is one of the great scientific challenges of the era. Microorganisms such as bacteria and algae have been shown to function as the basis of a microbial fuel cell, which can operate independently of an electrical power grid on the basis of renewable feed sources. These fuel cells have shown applications ranging from powering implantable biomedical devices to purifying rural water sources, and many more.

Microbial Electrochemical Technologies offers a one-stop shop for researchers and developers of technologies incorporating these microbial fuel cells. Beginning with the fundamental processes involved in microbial energy production and the key components of a bioelectrochemical system (BES), it then surveys the major BES types and crucial aspects of technological development and commercialization. The result is an indispensable introduction to these vital power sources and their myriad applications.

Microbial Electrochemical Technologies readers will also find:

• Detailed treatment of BES types including fuel cells, electrolysis and electrosynthesis cells, and more
• Discussion of commercialization aspects including modelling, performance analysis, and life cycle assessment
• An authorial team with decades of combined experience on three continents

Microbial Electrochemical Technologies is a useful reference for electrochemists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, and bioengineers.

Makarand M. Ghangrekar, PhD, is Professor and Institute Chair in the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He heads both the School of Environmental Science and Engineering and the PK Sinha Centre for Bioenergy and renewables.

Rao Y. Surampalli, PhD, is President and CEO of the Global Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. He previously spent 30 years with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Tian C. Zhang, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Narcis M. Duteanu, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at Timisoara Polytechnic University, Romania.

Autor

Makarand Madhao Ghangrekar is a Professor and Institute Chair in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur heading two academic units, the School of Environmental Science and Engineering and the PK Sinha Centre for Bioenergy and renewables. Narcis Duteanu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at Timisoara Polytechnic University (Romania). Rao Y. Surampalli is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, having previously worked 30 years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Tian C. Zhang is Professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with academic degrees from Tsinghua University and from the University of Cincinnati.

Inhalt

VOLUME 1
List of Contributors
Preface
Chapter 1: Fuel Cell and Bio-fuel Cell
Chapter 2: Electrochemistry Analytical Techniques and Interpretation of the Results
Chapter 3: Bio-electrochemical Systems: Configurations and Materials
Chapter 4: Biotic Components of Different Types of Bio-electrochemical Systems
Chapter 5: Role of Catalysts in Bioelectrochemical Systems
Chapter 6: Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts
Chapter 7: Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts Inductively coupled plasma optical spectroscopy and atomic absorption Spectroscopy
Chapter 8: Material Characterization for Synthesized CatalystsNitrogen sorption measurements and Thermal Analysis Techniques
Chapter 9: Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts: Morphology, Microstructure, and Crystallographic Phase
Chapter 10: Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Chapter 11: Material Characterization for Synthesized Catalysts Atomic Force Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy
Chapter 12: Different Types of Bioelectrochemical Systems
Chapter 13: Microbial Fuel Cell
Chapter 14: Microbial Electrolysis Cell
Chapter 15: Microbial Electrosynthesis: A Biobased Pathway for the Production of Value-added Chemicals Through Carbon Sequestration
VOLUME 2
Chapter 16: Microbial Desalination Cell
Chapter 17: Sediment MFCs, Plant MFCs and Constructed Wetland Integrated MFCs
Chapter 18: Microbial Remediation Cell
Chapter 19: Enzymatic Fuel Cell and Biosensors
Chapter 20: Photosynthetic Microbial Fuel Cell, Bio-photovoltaic Cell, and Microbial Carbon-Capture Cell
Chapter 21: Modelling of Bio-Electrochemical Systems: Bio-Physiochemical Processes and Mathematical Methods
Chapter 22: Pilot-Scale Case Performance of Bio-electrochemical Systems
Chapter 23: Statistical Methods for Modelling and Performance Analysis of Bio-electrochemical Systems
Chapter 24: Performance Comparison and Integration of Bio-Electrochemical Systems with Other Wastewater Treatment Technologies
Chapter 25: Circular Bio-economy Implementation and Life Cycle Assessment of BES
Chapter 26: Way Forward and Conclusion

Textauszug

1
Fuel Cells and Biofuel Cells

Anil Dhanda1, Shraddha Yadav2, Rishabh Raj2, Makarand M. Ghangrekar1,2, Rao Y. Surampalli3, Tian C. Zhang4 and Narcis M. Duteanu5

1Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Department of Civil Engineering, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India

2Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India

3Global Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Lenexa, KS 66285, USA

4University of Nebraska‐Lincoln, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Scott Campus (Omaha), Lincoln, NE 68182, USA

5University of Politehnica, Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, No. 6, Timisoara 300223, Romania

1.1 Energy Demand and Current Energy Scenario

The world is experiencing a catastrophic energy scarcity as the population of the planet approaches eight billion. Global energy consumption is rising continuously to meet the demands of this ever‐increasing population. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated a 4.6% rise in global energy consumption in 2021 due to a sudden boom in economic activities post‐COVID‐19 pandemic (IEA 2021). Further, the increase in energy demand is predicted to grow steadily over the next few decades, rising by 25% by 2040. Currently, fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, meet the bulk (80%) of global energy demands (Moodley 2021). Out of which, coal contributes around 27%, natural gas 23%, and oil 32% of total energy (Moodley 2021). While non‐renewable fuels have been the primary energy sources for millennia, fossil reserves are limited and cause a number of adverse ecological impacts upon their extraction and usage. The combustion of fossil fuels liberates a high amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, which has escalated the problem of global warming and climate change. According to the Global Carbon Project estimate, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels reached a record high of 36.7 billion metric tonnes (Friedlingstein et al. 2022). This reflects the highest yearly growth since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008–2009 and an increase of 4.6% over the prior year in 2021 (Friedlingstein et al. 2022).

To reduce dependency on fossil‐derived energy and mitigate climate change, renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass, are gaining importance for energy production on a global scale. A number of factors drive the rising usage of renewable energy sources for power production, such as lowered instrument prices, technical improvements, and government policy. The IEA estimates that in 2020, renewable energy sources produced 29% of the world's power, up from 27% in 2019 (IEA 2021). Also, in 2020, the capacity of renewable energy sources increased by a record 280 gigawatts (GW). Among different renewable energy sources, solar‐ and wind‐based systems have recorded the fastest growth, with capacities increased by 127 and 111 GW in 2020 alone globally. The installed solar energy capacity increased from 50 GW in 2010 to over 760 GW in 2020 worldwide (IEA 2021). China is currently the largest producer of solar energy, with an installed capacity of over 240 GW as of 2020 (Hove 2020). While the United States, India, Japan, and Germany are the other players in the solar energy sector. Nevertheless, solar and wind energy are intermittent and susceptible to temporal and spatial fluctuations, making grid integration difficult.

Alternately, biomass energy is another renewable energy source that may be produced by various methods, including combustion, gasification, and anaerobic digestion. The most popular biomass energy is the bioenergy produced by burning organic materials like wood, agricultural waste, and plant stuff. In 2019, biomass energy contributed almost 10% of the world's primary energy supply (Popp et al. 2021). Hence, bioenergy has the potential to curb greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the mitigation of climate change. The biogas and liquid or gaseous biofuels produced are the other categories of biomass energy. Biofuels are created by converting biomass into liquid fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. In contrast, the anaerobic digestion of organic materials generates biogas. Although biomass energy is environmentally beneficial, it may cause land‐use change, competition with food production for land and resources, air pollution, and other environmental problems related to biomass burning.

Conventional renewable energy sources face several problems, including intermittent operation, temporal and geographical variations, land usage, and air pollution. To circumvent these limitations, electrochemical devices such as fuel cells can be one of the viable alternatives. Following their conception in 1889, fuel cells have been a central component of the alternative renewable source development, chiefly because of their simple operation, capability to oxidize different types of fuels, minimal or no environmental emissions, and smaller footprint than other renewable energy sources (Carrette et al. 2000). The flexible operation of fuel cells allows the use of different feedstocks as fuel to be converted into electricity via chemical reactivity. For instance, proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) utilize hydrogen as an energy source, whereas direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are fed with methanol mixed with water. The fuel supplied is oxidized chemically to produce electricity. Fuel cells are different from batteries due to their continuous fuel requirement, whereas the fuel for batteries is already present in them. However, fuel cells have an advantage over batteries because the capacity of a battery is limited, and a periodic battery change/charge is required (e.g. batteries used in cell phones, smart watches, and calculators). In contrast, a fuel cell can continuously produce electricity as long as fuel is supplied, making them more reliable than traditional batteries.

Apart from the chemicals used as fuel, waste streams (liquid and solid) can be a credible renewable energy source and are hence often referred to as “misplaced resources” by many environmentalists. Recent technological advancements have made the recovery of resources from liquid/solid waste conceivable. However, wastewater generated from domestic, industrial, and agricultural activities is still treated conventionally, and the potential for energy recovery remains untapped. Worldwide, 380 billion cubic meters of wastewater is generated annually, which is expected to increase by 24% by 2030 and by 51% by 2050 (Qadir et al. 2020). Globally, wastewater treatment accounts for more than 2% of total energy usage. This energy is mainly used to aerate and mix wastewater, encouraging the development of microbes that decompose organic materials in the wastewater. In comparison, wastewater itself contains chemically stored energy. Thus, a system that can extract this energy as bioenergy and other valuable products is of great scientific interest.

In this regard, biofuel cells (BFCs), which operate on the same concept as traditional fuel cells, garner significant scientific interest. BFCs employ organic materials, such as glucose or other carbohydrates, as the source of chemical energy, while fuel cells use hydrogen, natural gas, or other fuels. In BFCs, the fuel is oxidized by enzymes or whole cells of microorganisms, which catalyse the conversion of organic matter into energy and by‐products such as water and carbon dioxide. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a prime example of such a system where the organic matter present in wastewater is used as fuel. The microorganism degrades the organic matter to produce electrons, protons, and CO2. Hence, MFCs can convert the chemical energy stored in wastewater to electrical energy, thus valorizing the wastewater, which is traditionally considered as a waste.

1.2 Fundamentals of Fuel Cells

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that transforms chemical reactivity into electricity via electrochemical reactions. The term “fuel cell” was coined by two chemists, Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer, in 1889 while creating a fuel cell based on air (oxidant) and coal gas (fuel), respectively (Carrette et al. 2000). The core of the fuel cell consists of a unit cell having an electrolyte in contact with an anode and a cathode. The electrode material should have desired properties to catalyse the reduction (of oxidiser, e.g. O2) and oxidation (of fuel), both flowing through the fuel cell. Further, the electrons transfer via an external circuit from the anode to the cathode and generate electrical power. The first successful fuel cell application can be traced back to the late 1960s, during the NASA Apollo Space Program, where an alkaline fuel cell provided electricity and drinking water for the crew. Recent applications include power systems in cell phones, personal computers, power vehicles, and public transportation (Priya et al. 2022; Sajid et al. 2022).

Fuel cells are further categorized as galvanic/voltaic/Daniell and electrolytic cells. While the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.11.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Chemie ► Physikalische Chemie
• Schlagworte: Angewandte Mikrobiologie • applied microbiology • Batterien u. Brennstoffzellen • Batteries & Fuel Cells • Biowissenschaften • Chemie • Chemistry • Elektrochemie • Energie • Energy • Life Sciences • Solarenergie u. Photovoltaik • Solar Energy & Photovoltaics
• ISBN-10: 3-527-83899-6 / 3527838996
• ISBN-13: 978-3-527-83899-8 / 9783527838998