title: Ambient CO2 capture and storage in bioelectrochemically mediated wastewater treatment.
abstract: This study reports that wastewater can be used to capture and store CO2 directly from ambient air and produce energy. The proof-of-concept system consisted of an ion exchange resin column that captures and concentrates ambient CO2 using a moisture-driven cycle. The concentrated CO2 was then transferred into a microbial electrochemical carbon capture (MECC) reactor for carbon sequestration and hydrogen production. Data from an average batch cycle showed that approximately 8mmol/L CO2 was captured in the MECC cathode when 0.14g/LCOD was removed in the anode. With 90% hydrogen conversion efficiency, the energy intensity and CO2 absorption from the process could be 11.3kJ/gCOD and 0.49gCO2/gCOD respectively. If the proposed process is applied, over 68milliontons of atmospheric CO2 can be captured yearly during wastewater treatment in the US, which equates to significant economic values if CO2 taxes were to be implemented more widely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, United States.
authors.forename: Daqian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States. Electronic address: zhiyong.ren@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Zhiyong Jason
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D004572:Electrolysis / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D006859:Hydrogen; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Ambient CO(2) capture; Carbonization; Microbial electrolysis; Microbial electrolytic carbon capture; Wastewater treatment