Chemical Engineering June 2023 - 10

CIC-10307 halfp page ad.qxd 3/25/07 6:19 PM Page 1
plinary project also
includes colleagues
from the University of
Birmingham, University
of Aberystwyth,
University College
London, and the
Royal Agricultural
University, as well as
industrial partners.
The project will explore
the benefits
that could arise from
developing cell-level
processes for producing
foodstuffs
and co-products.
Benefits could include
lower carbon
emissions, less pressure
on land use,
reduced water consumption
and more.
The initial focus
will be the tissueengineered
cellular
agriculture product,
cultured meat,
and the precisionfermentation
product,
alternative
palm oil.
❐
Onsite bioelectrochemical treatment for
ultra-concentrated wastewater
T
he combination of electrochemical principles
and microbial activity is the backbone
of a treatment technology designed
specifically
for
ultra-concentrated and
challenging industrial wastewater. The Bioelectrochemical
Treatment Technology (BETT) developed
by Aquacycl (Escondido, Calif.; www.
aquacycl.com) involves " microbial fuel-cells " that
produce direct electricity as they convert contaminants
in the wastewater to CO2 and water.
" We use electrogenic microbial communities
to treat highly concentrated wastewater, typically
about 1,000 times more concentrated in
organic carbon than what you see in a typical
city sewer. We've created a unique place where
these microbes can thrive within our reactors.
They form biofilms on the anodes' surface in the
reactors and use this surface to " respire, " releasing
electrons in the process. We capture those
electrons in a circuit to produce power that is
used to accelerate treatment rates, " explains
Sofia Babanova, CTO and co-founder of Aquacycl.
The BETT process enables direct, onsite
treatment in a modularized package, which is
advantageous over other treatment methods for
ultra-concentrated wastewater, which usually involve
dilution or trucking offsite to a local utility
or landfill. " Each of our reactors is about the size
of a car battery, and we stack them together in
hydraulic series. Right now, there's nothing else
on the market that can treat those high-concentration
streams onsite, " adds Babanova.
Applications for BETT include sugary wastewaters
with biological oxygen demand (BOD) in
the 200,000 to 300,000 parts-per-million (ppm)
range or wastewaters with biologically challenging
compositions, such as pharmaceutical
or petroleum products. The company has run
demonstration-scale units for the U.S. Navy,
a pig farm and a confectionary manufacturer,
as well as a full-scale commercial system with
PepsiCo. " With Pepsi, we showed that the installation
could mitigate about 90% of greenhouse-gas
emissions, because we're removing
the high carbon load from their wastewater,
and taking that load off the downstream utility, "
notes Babanova. Aquacycl is also partnering
with tank terminal operator Royal Vopak (Rotterdam,
the Netherlands; www.vopak.com) on
using BETT for hydrocarbon remediation, treating
toluene and benzene to meet permit compliance.
Currently, the company is working with
a greenfield distillery in Colorado to treat their
wastewater for agricultural reuse.
n
PLASTIC CONTROL VALVES FOR
ALL YOUR CORROSIVE APPLICATIONS
Collins plastic control valves are
highly responsive control valves
designed for use with corrosive
media and/or corrosive atmospheres.
Collins
valves feature all-plastic
construction with bodies in PVDF,
PP, PVC and Halar in various body
styles from 1/2 " - 2 " with Globe,
Angle or Corner configurations and
many trim sizes and materials.
Valves may be furnished without
positioner for ON-OFF applications.
Call for more information on our
plastic control valves.
P.O. Box 938 * Angleton, TX 77516
Tel. (979) 849-8266 * www.collinsinst.com
For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/84648-05
10
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JUNE 2023
http://www.aquacycl.com http://www.vopak.com http://adlinks.chemengonline.com/84648-05 http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering June 2023
