I-Corps: Customer Discovery for Waste Valorization Technology

I-Corps：废物增值技术的客户发现

• 批准号: 1914683
• 负责人: Abhijeet Borole
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-15 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1914683&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Customer; Discovery; Waste; Valorization

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to substantially reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions from landfills, industry, and transportation, while providing a zero-emission fuel to collectively contribute towards a more sustainable, closed-loop economy. Fuel cell technologies are a solution that has the potential to transform transportation industry with zero tailpipe emissions like electric cars, but with mileage range similar to gasoline and diesel fuel. Additionally, stationary fuel cells can provide a zero emission electricity source. Developing a viable system to convert organic waste into renewable hydrogen in a modular, decentralized fashion can be a paradigm changer for hydrogen supply and the fuel cell market while solving additional societal issues surrounding food waste and fossil fuel emissions. This I-Corps project proposes to develop a modular microbial electrolysis stack system capable of continuous high-rate hydrogen production from food waste. The innovation is based on electron or electricity producing bacteria, which generate current from organic waste and a device that Electro-Active has developed to enable high-rate hydrogen production from that current. It incorporates optimized reactor design and operation to sustain productivities typically seen only with pure substrates. To demonstrate proof-of-concept for this technology, target productivities and price point must be demonstrated in a larger reactor unit over a longer period of time. Sustained performance requires high-rate biocatalytic conversion of feedstock, and high-rate proton transport to the cathode. To overcome these challenges, a patented microbial enrichment process has been created to develop a robust microbial community capable of converting complex waste into electrons at high rates and efficiency. Additionally, preliminary data with robust biocatalyst, novel reactor design and operation provides evidence that the integrated approach can overcome these limitations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是大幅减少垃圾填埋场、工业和运输的绿色温室气体（GHG）排放，同时提供零排放燃料，共同为更可持续的闭环经济做出贡献。燃料电池技术是一种解决方案，它有可能改变运输行业，使其像电动汽车一样实现零尾气排放，但里程范围与汽油和柴油燃料相似。 此外，固定式燃料电池可以提供零排放电源。 开发一个可行的系统，以模块化，分散的方式将有机废物转化为可再生氢气，可以改变氢气供应和燃料电池市场的模式，同时解决围绕食物垃圾和化石燃料排放的其他社会问题。这个I-Corps项目建议开发一个模块化的微生物电解堆系统，能够从食物垃圾中连续高速制氢。这项创新是基于产生电子或电力的细菌，它们从有机废物中产生电流，以及Electro-Active开发的一种设备，可以从该电流中高速生产氢气。它结合了优化的反应器设计和操作，以维持通常只有纯底物才能看到的生产率。为了证明该技术的概念验证，必须在更大的反应器单元中在更长的时间内证明目标生产率和价格点。持续的性能需要原料的高速率生物催化转化和高速率质子运输到阴极。为了克服这些挑战，已经创建了一种专利微生物富集工艺，以开发能够以高速率和效率将复杂废物转化为电子的强大微生物群落。此外，初步数据与强大的生物催化剂，新颖的反应堆设计和操作提供的证据表明，综合方法可以克服这些局限性。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。