Todays Wastes, Tomorrow’s Energy

‘Phoenix’
New biotechnology:
 bio-
products New materials for
for tomorrow’s energy..

tomorrow From the wastes of

today’s society

Bacteria recover
materials into new
 Unit of products…
Waste
Functional
materials Bionano- Waste
of today minimization
Materials Resource
efficiency
 Conversion of H2 into
electricity
H2

Pt on
Anode 2 H2 → 4 H+ + 4 e-
carbon:
Pt catalyst
anode Proton exchange membrane H+ Electrical
and
Pt catalyst Load
Cathode
cathode O2 + 4 e- + 4 H+ → 2 H2O
catalysts e- flow

O2
Proton Required:
Exchange 1.Pt nano-
Membrane- catalyst
Fuel cell
2. Clean
hydrogen
Aim: Bio-based fuel cell using biohydrogen and
bio-recovered Pt
 Resources for H2 production

Worldwide biomass residues

2 billion tonnes burned annually
world-wide
1.5 billion tonnes oil equivalent
(1999)

Annual UK waste production

17 million tonnes from the food
industry
3 million tonnes from households
 H2 production by E. coli and its relatives

Glucose

Lactate Pyruvate Succinate

Formate H2
F
Acetyl-CoA H
L

Ethanol Acetate

Note: L.S,E,A divert carbon away from H2

production
 Effect of pH on E. coli fermentation
using glucose

mol H2/mol glucose

2
mL H2/min/g biomass

0
5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0
pH

NB: ~ 2mol/mol is maximum from dark fermentation

 Potential feedstocks

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

fruit

milk, bread & sugary

waste

household food waste

vegetable

grass

0.0010
Hydrogen produced (mol H2/ L feedstock)
paper 0.0005 Reducing sugars (M)

NB from confectionery waste: conversion was as for

pure glucose: see video
 Ohmic heating increased sugar

% increase in sugars
0 100 200

fruit

milk, bread &

sugary waste

vegetable

grass

paper
 Chemical effects of ohmic
heating
Model fruit waste -HPLC Heat-treated
Native
9.5 mM
formate

X
Acetate

Propionate
Lactate

Formate

Butyrate
X
 Dark fermentation: H2 from
wastes

• Glucose  H + organic acids

2

• E. coli bacteria
• Strain HD701, H over-producer
2

• Mixed acid fermentation

• H produced by Hydrogenase enzyme
2

• 2 mol H /mol glucose (max)

2

• Uses wastes
 Photofermentation: H2 from
organic acids in light

• Organic acids  H + CO
2 2

• Light-driven
• Rhodobacter sphaeroides
• Photobioreactor (PBR)
• High yield, broad substrate
range

• e.g. Lactate  6 H 2

• H produced by Nitrogenase
2
enzyme

• Very sensitive to NH 4
+

• Can use wastes with high C/N

 The dual system

An artificial symbiosis could approach 12 mol H2/mol

(i) Dark Fermentation (E. coli)

1 glucose  2 H2 + 1 Acetate + 1 Ethanol + 2 CO2

(ii) Photofermentation (R. sphaeroides)

1 Ethanol + 1 Acetate  10 H2 + 4 CO2

No single organism can do both steps

 Dual system

H2

Dark Organic Photo-

Glucose
Fermentation acids Fermentation

Ammonium ion inhibits H2 photoproduction

How to transfer organic acids without NH4+ ?
- Electrodialysis!
 H2 production (dark
fermentation) by fed E. coli

Organic acid buildup inhibits

Rate of H 2 production (ml/h)

further H2 production

120.3

Time (days)
0

0 5 10 15 20
 Continuous dark fermentation with
electrodialysis

control (n=3)
Rate of H 2 production (ml/h)

DC only, no extraction (n=4)

with electrodialysis (n=2)
100% yield

120.3

Time (days)
0

0 5 10 15 20
 Continuous
Photofermentation
Base medium, no org.acids
Rate of H2 production (ml/h)

100

0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18
start Time (days)
 Continuous
photofermentation
fed by electrodialysis

Base medium, no org.acids

Rate of H2 production (ml/h)

Base medium + organic acids

100
from E. coli via electrodialysis

0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18
start Time (days)
 Energy balance for Dual System

• Energy input into electrodialysis :99.5 kJ/day

Useful products of E. coli:

• H2: 96 mmol/day (80 % efficient dark fermentation)

• Mixed organic acids

• H2 potential of extracted organic acids

• 400 mmol H2/day (75 % efficient photofermentation)

• Total H2 potential

• 590 mmol H2/day

• 168 kJ/day

• Net energy gain : 69 kJ/day

Waste : CO2 and biomass only; process is carbon-

neutral
 Towards zero-emission

Waste bacteria make catalysts for fuel cells:

H2  2H+ + 2e- 
Hydrogenaseenzyme Pd2+
(Reverse direction)

Pd0

Bacterial cell

Bacteria can recover precious metals from

car catalysts and electronic scrap
 Palladised bacteria

Black
nanoparticl
es
of
palladium
metal
bound to
bacterial
cells
 PEM-FC with Bio-Pd(0) anode

D. desulfuricans 5% Pd
150
Commercial Pd
120 E. coli HD701 5%Pd
Power (mW)

90

60

30

0
0.0 0.5 1.0
Voltage (V)
 Process summary
Raw
wastes 2 wastes  2 products

Ohmic Sugar
Fermentation
heating feed
ED

Organic
Bacterial
cells
acids H2
Metal
wastes Photofermentation

Sorption &
Catalyst PEM-FC Energy
reduction
 Thanks:

Sponsors: EPSRC, BBSRC, EU, Royal Society, DEFRA

Partners: C-Tech Innovation Ltd
EKB Ltd

Team: David Penfold Iryna Mikheenko

Vic Baxter-Plant Ping Yong
Mark Redwood KevinDeplanche
Marion Paterson-Beedle Neil Creamer

Movie: See Exhibition

Outreach: Faraday Partnership ‘Mini-Waste’

now Resource Efficiency KTN