Integrated and solar-driven bioelectrochemical systems for electricity and H2 production from co-digestion of crude glycerol and wastewater from citrus processing industry

• Grant number: 19/00463-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2019
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Maria Valnice Boldrin
• Grantee: Lilian Danielle de Moura Torquato
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50945-4 - INCT 2014: National Institute for Alternative Technologies of Detection, Toxicological Evaluation and Removal of Micropollutants and Radioactivies, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/09471-2 - Tuning extracellular electron transfer processes in purple bacteria for improved electricity and chemicals production in photo-bioelectrochemical systems, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The citrus cultures and the biodiesel production are essential activities for Brazilian's economic and social development, especially, for São Paulo state. However, these processes generate huge amounts of effluent and waste (glycerol), which are rich in biodegradable organic matter. This property can cause serious environmental impacts if they are inappropriately. On the other hand, make them into excellent substrates for biological production of H2, electricity and chemical compounds of high added-value through dark fermentation process, which associated with new bioelectrochemical systems (bio-photoelectrochemical cell-BPEC and Photo-Microbial Fuel Cell-PMFC) enable the achievement of greater energy efficiency and versatility. The innovation brought by this proposal is in the co-digestion of these residues, with the use of mixed cultures (sludge) from different wastewater treatment systems as source of inoculum, besides the use of low-cost semiconductor materials and sunlight. With the integration of different areas of knowledge, it is expected to determine the most appropriate operating conditions for the application of the proposed bioelectrochemical processes to reach higher yields in the production of H2 and electricity. In addition, it is expected to obtain a high performance of the solar-driven photocathode in MEC, and that it will be able to self-sustaining H2 production. Therefore, with the scientific knowledge obtained during this research, it is intended to contribute to the future application of these processes in a large scale in a more efficient and sustainable way, which can be a very promising alternative for the local energy supply, reducing the operational costs within the own generating facilities.

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MOURA TORQUATO, LILIAN D.; PASTRIAN, FABIAN A. C.; LIMA PERINI, JOAO A.; IRIKURA, KALLYNI; BATISTA, ANA PAULA DE L.; DE OLIVEIRA-FILHO, ANTONIO G. S.; CORDOBA DE TORRESI, SUSANA I.; BOLDRIN ZANONI, MARIA V.. Relation between the nature of the surface facets and the reactivity of Cu2O nanostructures anchored on TiO2NT@PDA electrodes in the photoelectrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol. APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL, v. 261, FEB 2020. (17/11631-2, 14/50945-4, 19/00463-7, 17/12790-7, 16/18057-7)

PERINI, JOAO ANGELO LIMA; IRIKURA, KALLYNI; TORQUATO, LILIAN D. MOURA; FLOR, JADER BARBOSA DA S.; ZANONI, MARIA V. BOLDRIN. Effect of ionic liquid in a pressurized reactor to enhance CO2 photocatalytic reduction at TiO2 modified by gold nanoparticles. JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS, v. 405, p. 13-pg., 2022-01-01. (17/12790-7, 16/18057-7, 14/50945-4, 19/00463-7)

KHAN, SAAD U.; KHAN, HAMMAD; HUSSAIN, SAJJAD; TORQUATO, LILIAN D. M.; KHAN, SABIR; MIRANDA, RAUL G.; OLIVEIRA, DANIELLE P.; DORTA, DANIEL J.; LIMA PERINI, JOAO A.; CHOI, HYEOK; et al. Surface facet Fe2O3-based visible light photocatalytic activation of persulfate for the removal of RR120 dye: nonlinear modeling and optimization. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, v. N/A, p. 14-pg., 2022-03-05. (16/18057-7, 19/00463-7, 14/50945-4)

DE BRITO, JULIANA FERREIRA; BESSEGATO, GUILHERME GARCIA; LIMA PERINI, JOAO ANGELO; DE MOURA TORQUATO, LILIAN DANIELLE; BOLDRIN ZANONI, MARIA VALNICE. Advances in photoelectroreduction of CO2 to hydrocarbons fuels: Contributions of functional materials. JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION, v. 55, JAN 2022. (14/03679-7, 13/25343-8, 16/18057-7, 14/50945-4, 18/02950-0, 19/00463-7, 15/18109-4)

SILVA, CAIO CESAR GONCALVES; DE MOURA TORQUATO, LILIAN DANIELLE; DE ARAUJO, BARBARA CAMILA; MANTILLA, HERNAN DARIO ROJAS; ZANONI, MARIA VALNICE BOLDRIN; GARRIDO, SAULO SANTESSO. Assessment of WO3 electrode modified with intact chloroplasts as a novel biohybrid platform for photocurrent improvement. BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY, v. 147, p. 10-pg., 2022-10-01. (19/00463-7)