Eco Factor: Renewable hydrogen made from winery wastewater.
Hydrogen has proved its worth in the field of green fuels, but global adoption still seems a far-fetched dream considering the amount of energy and resources required to produce hydrogen. The Napa Wine Company in Oakville, California is out there with a solution – a refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator that will take winery wastewater and convert it into hydrogen using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy.
The microbial electrolysis system proves that renewable hydrogen can be continually generated. The hydrogen produced by the process will be vented except for a small amount that will be used in a hydrogen fuel cell. Eventually, the Napa Wine Company would like to use the hydrogen to run vehicles and power systems.
Napa Wine Company’s wastewater comes from cleaning equipment, grape disposal, wine making and other processes. The company already has on-site wastewater treatment and recycling and the partially treated water from the microbial electrolysis system will join other water for further treatment and use in irrigation.
The demonstration microbial electrolysis plant is a continuous flow system that will process about 1,000 liters of wastewater a day. Microbial electrolysis cells consist of two electrodes immersed in liquid. The process consists of electrode pairs consisting of one carbon anode and one stainless steel cathode.
The wastewater enters the cell, where naturally occurring bacteria convert the organic material into electrical current. If the voltage produced by the bacteria is slightly increased, hydrogen gas is produced electrochemically on the stainless steel cathode, which can then be captured and stored for use.
Via: Penn State University [Press Release]
