Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) are innovative systems that rely on interaction between microorganisms and electrodes for accomplishing simultaneous waste treatment and resource recovery. In the presence of solid electron acceptors/donors, BES are biofilm-based treatment system. A critical function of BES, beyond waste treatment, is resource recovery from wastewater. It is well recognized that wastewater contains valuable resources, which can be recovered for various applications and offsetting the operating cost of wastewater treatment. The most readily available resource is chemical energy and can be recovered via biogas production in anaerobic digestion; thermal energy in wastewater has a greater potential than chemical energy, but its recovery needs more efficient technologies and affected by the specific locations/climate. Nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorous, require extensive efforts/input for their removal from wastewater, and their recovery can be accomplished by using algal treatment or struvite precipitation. The largest resource in wastewater is probably “water”. Wastewater reuse, for either potable or non-potable application, is realized by various membrane technologies. The abovementioned major resources in wastewater, Nutrients, Energy, and Water, are recognized as “NEW” recovery.  The unique characteristics of BES technology such as direct electron harvest from waste organic matter will allow BES to play an important role in resource recovery from wastewater, and there have been many prior efforts on this subject. Identifying an appropriate application niche can guide the further research and development of BES technology. This presentation aims to provide a concise discussion and viewpoint of BES R&D for resource recovery from wastewater instead of a comprehensive review of BES or overall discussion/overview of technical details, it will focus on several issues that either are keys to the success of recovering a specific resource in BES or have not been well evaluated in the prior studies.

Resource recovery from wastewater using bioelectrochemical systems: Moving forward with functions

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.