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

随着人口的急剧增长，为了经济的持续增长和地球上的适宜居住，对能源和清洁水的需求日益增长。多年来，联邦政府分别采用了不同的策略来解决这两种需求：城市污水由当地污水厂收集净化后作为再生水再利用，而能源主要基于天然气和原油。显然，这两种策略是分离的。每年工业和农业生产产生100万吨废水，仅在美国，每年用于废水处理的费用约为250亿美元。同时，天然气/石油的使用会产生大量的温室气体和有毒化学物质，对环境造成严重威胁，也会导致额外的污染治理成本。迫切需要采用节能的废水处理工艺，同时回收废水中含有的有机物质的“浪费能源”。微生物燃料电池技术代表了一种生物发电和废水处理同时进行的新方法，已引起世界各国的广泛关注。提出的微生物光电化学装置/技术的关键创新是成功演示了利用阳光和城市污水作为唯一的能源，以可持续的方式制氢（而不是生物电）。微生物光电化学电池装置是一种能够去除废水中可溶性化学需氧量（SCOD），同时回收有机废物中储存的“浪费能量”用于光化学生成氢气的系统，氢气是一种高能量密度的化学燃料。该团队已经证明了在实验室规模的微生物光电化学装置中生产氢气的可行性，该装置使用城市污水和阳光作为唯一的能源。它不仅代表了解决美国可再生能源需求的全新途径，也代表了美国的新兴商机。美国是世界上最大的活性污泥（来自废水）生产国之一。全国有超过16000个污水处理设施，每年花费数十亿美元来处理水。一个成功的微生物光电化学系统可以有效地将废水转化为具有商业价值的化学燃料。通过与这些现有的微生物技术公司（如州内市政污水处理设施、食品和饮料行业、农场和水行业）建立伙伴关系或建立合作关系，该设备可以很容易地转移到市场上。

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.