Scaling-up of microbial electrosynthesis with multiple electrodes for in situ production of hydrogen peroxide

Abstract

Microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) has recently been shown to be a promising alternative way for realizing in situ and energy-saving synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Although promising, the scaling-up feasibility of such a process is rarely reported. In this study, a 20-L up-scaled two-chamber MES reactor was developed and investigated for in situ and efficient H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis. Maximum H 2 O 2 production rate of 10.82 mg L -1 h -1 and cumulative H 2 O 2 concentration of 454.44 mg L -1 within 42 h were obtained with an input voltage of 0.6 V, cathodic aeration velocity of 0.045 mL min -1 mL -1 , 50 mM Na 2 SO 4 , and initial pH 3. The electrical energy consumption regarding direct input voltage was only 0.239 kWh kg -1 H 2 O 2 , which was further much lower compared with laboratory-scale systems. The obtained results suggested that the future industrialization of MES technology for in situ synthesis of H 2 O 2 and further application in environmental remediation have broad prospects.

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2021.102094

PubMed

33748698

Journal

iScience

Year

2021