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Title: Electrosorption of organic acids from aqueous bio-oil and conversion into hydrogen via microbial electrolysis cells

Journal Article · · Renewable Energy
 [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Education
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Education; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  5. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
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Neutralization of the bio-oil pH has been shown to generate a neutralized bio-oil aqueous phase (NBOAP) that includes most of the acidic components and a neutralized bio-oil organic phase (NBOOP) that includes hydrophobic organics, such as phenols. NBOOP can be used for fuel production, while NBOAP can be fed to microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for hydrogen production. After pH neutralization, some organic acidic components remain in NBOOP. This work is focused on capturing acidic compounds from NBOOP through water extraction and electrosorption, and demonstrating hydrogen production via MECs. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is proven effective in capturing ions from NBOOP-contacted water and NBOAP via electrosorption. Captured acidic compounds enable the MEC application to effectively produce renewable hydrogen. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 49.2%, 61.5%, and 60.8% for 2, 4, and 10 g/L-anode/day loading were observed, corresponding to a total COD degradation of 0.19 g/L, 0.79 g/L, and 1.3 g/L, respectively. A maximum hydrogen productivity of 4.3 L-H2/L-anode/day was obtained. Major compounds in the water phase such as fatty acids, sugar derivatives, furanic and phenolic compounds were converted to hydrogen with an efficiency of 80–90%. Lastly, this approach may lead the entire biomass pyrolysis process to be an overall carbon-neutral process.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; DEAC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1430619
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1548697
Journal Information:
Renewable Energy, Vol. 125, Issue C; ISSN 0960-1481
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables (15)

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Figure 3 (B)(p. 18)figure Figure 3 (B)
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Figure 10 (B)(p. 30)figure Figure 10 (B)

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09 BIOMASS FUELS
Bio-oil
Pyrolysis oil
pH neutralization
Electrosorption
Capacitive deionization
Microbial electrolysis