For some time now microbial electrochemical systems have been looked at as a future technology that seems promising for how we could remove organic pollutants in an energy efficient way. However, all past studies have been on a small scale looking at the future applications of microbial electrochemical systems, but not improvements on the system itself. Dong and colleagues focused on integrating microfiltration membrane into the system rather than using it as a pre or post treatment to make the whole system more efficient overall. What was found was that the bioelectrochemical membrane reactor was capable of removing chemical oxygen demand with a great efficiency that led to a better quality effluent. The efficiency of the oxygen that was utilized did present a downward trend. An energy balance analysis was conducted and since the gas water ratio fell with in the correct range, the system is a net energy producer. This system can make great strides towards environmental sustainability if it were to be upscaled and distributed across the world. Since many plants require to be near natural water sources, if the effluent could become a better quality, this would allow for less pollution into these environments. When taking a look at the costs of implementing a system such as this, there are none. It makes a process more efficient in almost every outcome without having a detrimental cost of anything else. 
A 3-D depiction of how the biomembrane chemical reactor works. Dong. (2018).
References:
Dong, Y., He, W., Li, C., Liang, D., Qu, Y., Han, X., Feng, Y. (2018). Performance of integrated bioeletrochemical membrane reactor: Energy recover, pollutant removal and membrane fouling alleviation. J. Power Sources, 384. 178-186.
Did the article mention how if a better effluent quality would positively or negatively impact the environment that is already "accustomed" to the environment they're in now?
ReplyDelete