CAPMIX -Deploying Capacitors for Salt Gradient Power Extraction

AbstractThe process of mixing sea and river water can be utilised as a power source. At present, three groups of technology are established for doing so; i) mechanical; Pressure Retarded Osmosis PRO, ii) electrochemical reactions; Reverse ElectroDialysis (RED) and Nano Battery Electrodes (NBE) and iii) ultra capacitors; Capacitive Double Layer Expansion (CDLE) and Capacitors charge by the Donnan Potentials (CDP). The chemical potential for salt gradient power systems is only limited by the feed solution concentrations and is the same for all types of salt power branches, but the electric work to the grid, however, relies on the route of conversion and means chosen therein. The CAPMIX project is a joint project to develop and explore ultra capacitors for doing so.Ultra-capacitor materials can interact with sea and river water in order to be deployed as an electricity source. The author consortium is currently exploring two routes to extract the potential free energy from mixing sea and river water by such means. These two routes are the Capacitive Double Layer Expansion (CDLE) and Capacitors charge by the Donnan Potentials (CDP), which are both recently reported, since 2009. The denominator of the two processes is the porous carbon capacitors constituting the capacitors where the chemical energy is converted into electric energy (current). The CDP differs from the CDLE mainly because it includes the use of membranes in addition to the capacitor materials

Sulfate reduction under acidic conditions for selective model recovery

Dit proefschrift heeft als doel om processen te ontwikkelen voor selectieve metaal herwinning uit afvalwater and processtromen die meerdere metalen bevatten, door gebruik te maken van sulfaat reductie onder zure omstandighede

Quantification of individual polysulfides in lab-scale and full-scale desulfurisation bioreactors

Environmental pollution caused by the combustion of fuel sources containing inorganic and organic sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and thiols, is a global issue as it leads to SO2 emissions. To remove H2S from gas streams such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biological processes can be applied. In these processes, polysulfide anions (S-x(2-)) play a significant role as they enhance the dissolution of H2S and act as intermediates in the biological oxidation of hydrogen sulfide ions to elemental sulfur. Despite their important role, the distribution of the various polysulfide species in full-scale biodesulfurisation systems has not yet been reported. With conventionally applied spectrophotometric analysis it is only possible to determine the total concentration of S-x(2-). Moreover, this method is very sensitive to matrix effects. In this paper, we apply a method that relies on the derivatisation of S-x(2-) to dimethyl polysulfanes. Owing to the instability of higher dimethyl polysulfanes (Me2S4 to Me2S8), standards are not commercially available and had to be prepared by us. We present a simplified quantification method for higher dimethyl polysulfanes by calculating high performance liquid chromatogaphy (HPLC) UV response factors based on the addition of internal standards. The method was subsequently used to assess the distribution of polysulfide anions in both a laboratory-scale and a full-scale biodesulfurisation unit. We found that the average chain length of polysulfides strongly depends on the process conditions and a maximum of 5.33 sulfur atoms per polysulfide molecule was measured. Results of this study are required by mechanistic and kinetic models that attempt to describe product selectivity of sulfide oxidising bioreactors

Effect of Sulfide Removal on Sulfate Reduction at pH 5 in a Hydrogen fed Gas-Lift Bioreactor

UNCORRECTED PROOF J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2007), 17(4), ¿ Effect of Sulfide Removal on Sulfate Reduction at pH 5 in a Hydrogen fed Gas-Lift Bioreactor Bijmans, Martijn F. M.1*, Mark Dopson2, Frederick Ennin1, Piet N. L. Lens1, and Cees J. N. Buisman1 1Sub Department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands 2Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden Received: / Accepted: Biotechnological treatment of sulfate- and metal-ionscontaining acidic wastewaters from mining and metallurgical activities utilizes sulfate-reducing bacteria to produce sulfide that can subsequently precipitate metal ions. Reducing sulfate at a low pH has several advantages above neutrophilic sulfate reduction. This study describes the effect of sulfide removal on the reactor performance and microbial community in a high-rate sulfidogenic gas-lift bioreactor fed with hydrogen at a controlled internal pH of 5. Under sulfide removal conditions, 99% of the sulfate was converted at a hydraulic retention time of 24 h, reaching a volumetric activity as high as 51 mmol sulfate/l/d. Under nonsulfide removal conditions

High rate sulfate reduction at pH 6 in a Ph-auxostat submerged membrane bioreactor fed with formate

Many industrial waste and process waters contain high concentrations of sulfate, which can be removed by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). This paper reports on mesophilic (30 °C) sulfate reduction at pH 6 with formate as electron donor in a membrane bioreactor with a pH-auxostat dosing system. A mixed microbial community from full-scale industrial wastewater treatment bioreactors operated at pH 7 was used as inoculum. The pH-auxostat enabled the bacteria to convert sulfate at a volumetric activity of 302 mmol sulfate reduced per liter per day and a specific activity of 110 mmol sulfate reduced per gram volatile suspended solids per day. Biomass grew in 15 days from 0.2 to 4 g volatile suspended solids per liter. This study shows that it is possible to reduce sulfate at pH 6 with formate as electron donor at a high volumetric and specific activity with inocula from full-scale industrial wastewater treatment bioreactors operated at neutral pH. The combination of a membrane bioreactor and a pH-auxostat is a useful research tool to study processes with unknown growth rates at maximum activities

Sulfate reduction in a hydrogen fed bioreactor operated at haloalkaline conditions

Biological sulfate reduction is used as a biotechnological process to treat sulfate rich streams. However, application of biological sulfate reduction at high pH and high salinity using H2 was not thoroughly investigated before. In this work the sulfate reduction activity, biomass growth, microbial community and biomass aggregation were investigated in a H2-fed gas lift bioreactor at haloalkaline conditions. The process was characterized by low sulfate reduction volumetric rates due to slow growth and lack of biomass aggregation. Apparently, the extreme conditions and absence of organic compounds prevented the formation of stable aggregates. The microbial community analysis revealed a low abundance of known haloalkaliphilic sulfate reducers and presence of a Tindallia sp. The identified archaea were related to Methanobacterium alcaliphilum and Methanocalculus sp. The biomass did not attach to metal sulfides, calcite and magnesite crystals. However, biofilm formation on the glass bioreactor walls showed that attachment to glass occurs

Sulfate reduction for inorganic waste and process water treatment

Many inorganic waste and process streams contain high concentrations of sulfate and are frequently accompanied by high metal concentrations; for example, in the mining and metallurgical industry. Sulfate reduction is a proven process for the treatment of these streams that allows for the recovery of metal sulfides and elemental sulfur. This chapter discusses the knowledge acquired on sulfate reduction from research to full-scale operation. The main focus is on possible electron donors, process conditions, and bioreactor types for sulfate reduction. Current sulfate-reducing applications and future perspectives will be discussed.</p

Sulfate Reduction at Low Ph To Remediate Acid Mine Drainage

Industrial activities and the natural oxidation of metallic sulfide-ores produce sulfate-rich waters with low pH and high heavy metals content, generally termed acid mine drainage (AMD). This is of great environmental concern as some heavy metals are highly toxic. Within a number of possibilities, biological treatment applying sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) is an attractive option to treat AMD and to recover metals. The process produces alkalinity, neutralizing the AMD. Simultaneously. The sulfide that is produced react with the metal in solution and precipitates them as metal sulfides. Here, important factors for biotechnological application of SRB such as the inocula, the pH of the process, the substrates and the reactor design are discussed. Microbial communities of sulfidogenic reactors treating AMD which comprise fermentative-, acetogenic- and SRB as well as methanogenic archaea are reviewe

Effect of the sulfide concentration on zinc bio-precipitation in a single stage sulfidogenic bioreactor at pH 5.5

Dissolved zinc is present in natural waters and process streams generated by the mining and metallurgical industry. These streams usually have a low pH. By using sulfate reducing bacteria, sulfide can be produced that precipitates with zinc as zinc sulfide (sphalerite), which can be easily separated from the wastewater and even reused as zinc concentrate. In this study, a sulfate reducing gas-lift bioreactor was operated at pH 5.5 using hydrogen as electron donor for sulfate reduction. We demonstrate effective zinc removal (7.2 mmol L-1 d-1) with low zinc effluent concentrations (0.65–8.8 µM) in a system combining sulfide generation by sulfate reducing bacteria (7.2–10.6 mmol SO42- L-1 d-1) at low pH (5.5) with the bio-precipitation of crystalline sphalerite. To investigate the effect of the sulfide excess on the settling properties of the sphalerite precipitates, the sulfide excess concentration was varied about two orders of magnitude (0.008–2.2 mM). The results show that crystalline sphalerite was formed in all cases, but larger particles with better settling properties were formed at lower sulfide concentration

Effect of the sulfide concentration on zinc bio-precipitation in a single stage sulfidogenic bioreactor at pH 5.5

Dissolved zinc is present in natural waters and process streams generated by the mining and metallurgical industry. These streams usually have a low pH. By using sulfate reducing bacteria, sulfide can be produced that precipitates with zinc as zinc sulfide (sphalerite), which can be easily separated from the wastewater and even reused as zinc concentrate. In this study, a sulfate reducing gas-lift bioreactor was operated at pH 5.5 using hydrogen as electron donor for sulfate reduction. We demonstrate effective zinc removal (7.2 mmol L-1 d-1) with low zinc effluent concentrations (0.65–8.8 µM) in a system combining sulfide generation by sulfate reducing bacteria (7.2–10.6 mmol SO42- L-1 d-1) at low pH (5.5) with the bio-precipitation of crystalline sphalerite. To investigate the effect of the sulfide excess on the settling properties of the sphalerite precipitates, the sulfide excess concentration was varied about two orders of magnitude (0.008–2.2 mM). The results show that crystalline sphalerite was formed in all cases, but larger particles with better settling properties were formed at lower sulfide concentration