Biophotocatalytic Reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> in Anaerobic Biogas Produced from Wastewater Treatment Using an Integrated System

This study presents the bio-photocatalytic upgrading of biogas utilising carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) as a potential option for beginning fossil fuel depletion and the associated environmental risks in the pursuit of sustainable development. Herein, magnetite photocatalyst (Fe-TiO<...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emmanuel Kweinor Tetteh, Sudesh Rathilal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Catalysts
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/12/1/76
Description
Summary:This study presents the bio-photocatalytic upgrading of biogas utilising carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) as a potential option for beginning fossil fuel depletion and the associated environmental risks in the pursuit of sustainable development. Herein, magnetite photocatalyst (Fe-TiO<sub>2</sub>) was employed with an integrated anaerobic-photomagnetic system for the decontamination of municipality wastewater for biogas production. The Fe-TiO<sub>2</sub> photocatalyst used, manufactured via a co-precipitation technique, had a specific surface area of 62.73 m<sup>2</sup>/g, micropore volume of 0.017 cm<sup>3</sup>/g and pore size of 1.337 nm. The results showed that using the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) photomagnetic system as a post-treatment to the anaerobic digestion (AD) process was very effective with over 85% reduction in colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity. With an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.394 kg COD/L·d and hydraulic retention time (HTR) of 21 days, a 92% degradation of the organic content (1.64 kgCOD/L) was attained. This maximised the bioenergy production to 5.52 kWh/m<sup>3</sup> with over 10% excess energy to offset the energy demand of the UV-Vis lamp. Assuming 33% of the bioenergy produced was used as electricity to power the UV-Vis lamp, the CO<sub>2</sub> emission reduction was 1.74 kg CO<sub>2</sub> e/m<sup>3</sup>, with good potential for environmental conservation.
ISSN:2073-4344