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Küçükağa Y, Facchin A, Alfonsi A, Costantini F, Kara S, Torri C. Development of a novel biochar-made porous monolith for enhanced C1 and H 2 fermentation. MethodsX 2023; 11:102296. [PMID: 37577168 PMCID: PMC10416014 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2023.102296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Biochar is a carbonaceous porous material that is produced through the thermal processing of biomass under oxygen-limited environment. Nevertheless, biochar is known to be an inexpensive and sustainable raw material with a wide range of possible applications. Recently, biochar has been discovered as an efficient biological catalyst for anaerobic conversion, mainly due to its highly porous structure with micro and macro channels, which procures a viable living area for attached-grown microorganisms. Whereas it is never applied to improve the biological conversion of gas substances such as C1 (e.g., CO, CO2) and H2, which is a promising research area with increasing commercial interest. However, considering that biological reaction is limited by the target water solubility of gas substrates, special attention is required when combining biochar for gas fermentation. The goal was to create a novel gas sparger where the biofilm grows on biochar, thus improving the interaction with the gaseous substrate. For this purpose, polystyrene foam and powdered biochar were compounded to form a mouldable composite, which was then cast as a porous monolith.•Biochar-made sparger (BS) was investigated for the homoacetogenic conversion of H2 gas via microbial mixed cultures as opposed to a control test equipped with a stone sparger.•BS showed a significantly better performance in terms of biological gas fixation rate (36% more than control) and productivity (8.5 gCOD L-1 d-1).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuf Küçükağa
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Laboratori “R. Sartori”, Via Sant'Alberto 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto, 163, Ravenna, Italy
- Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli 41400, Turkiye
| | - Andrea Facchin
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Laboratori “R. Sartori”, Via Sant'Alberto 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto, 163, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Aaron Alfonsi
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto, 163, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Federica Costantini
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto, 163, Ravenna, Italy
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Serdar Kara
- Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli 41400, Turkiye
| | - Cristian Torri
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Laboratori “R. Sartori”, Via Sant'Alberto 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
- Interdepartmental Research Center for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRSA), University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto, 163, Ravenna, Italy
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Madzin Z, Zahidi I, Raghunandan ME, Talei A. Potential application of spent mushroom compost (SMC) biochar as low-cost filtration media in heavy metal removal from abandoned mining water: a review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY : IJEST 2022; 20:6989-7006. [PMID: 36373081 PMCID: PMC9638476 DOI: 10.1007/s13762-022-04617-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Overpopulation and rapid development have put an increasing burden on the environment, leading to various water crisis. Importing water from abandoned mines as an alternative raw water source could be the next answer to alleviate water scarcity problems globally. However, due to its high heavy metals content, there is a need to find an economical and effective method to remove heavy metals before reusing it as potable water source. Biochar, a low-cost and carbon-rich biosorbent, has received increasing attention on its application as a remediating agent to remove heavy metals from water. Previous studies have revealed the potential properties of biochar as a heavy metal removal agent including high cation exchange capacity, high surface area, active surface functional groups, as well as efficient adsorption. Apparently, the most important factor influencing the sorption mechanism is the type of feedstock materials. Spent mushroom compost (SMC), a waste product from mushroom cultivation, has been found as an excellent biosorbent. SMC has received global attention as it is low cost and eco-friendly. It also has been proved as an efficient heavy metals remover from water. Nevertheless, its application as biochar is still scarce. Therefore, this review focuses on the potential of transforming SMC into modified biochar to remove heavy metals, especially from abandoned mining water. The present review emphasizes the current trends in adsorption methods for heavy metal removal from water, assembles data from previous studies on the feedstock of biosorbents to biochars, and discusses the potentials of SMC as a biochar for water treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z. Madzin
- Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - I. Zahidi
- Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - M. E. Raghunandan
- Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - A. Talei
- Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
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Küçükağa Y, Facchin A, Kara S, Nayır TY, Scicchitano D, Rampelli S, Candela M, Torri C. Conversion of Pyrolysis Products into Volatile Fatty Acids with a Biochar-Packed Anaerobic Bioreactor. Ind Eng Chem Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.2c02810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yusuf Küçükağa
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Sant’Alberto, 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
- Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli 41400, Turkey
| | - Andrea Facchin
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Sant’Alberto, 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
| | - Serdar Kara
- Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli 41400, Turkey
| | - Tülin Yılmaz Nayır
- Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli 41400, Turkey
| | - Daniel Scicchitano
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, Bologna 40126, Italy
| | - Simone Rampelli
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, Bologna 40126, Italy
| | - Marco Candela
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, Bologna 40126, Italy
| | - Cristian Torri
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, Via Sant’Alberto, 163, Ravenna 48123, Italy
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Abstract
It is widely recognized that a hands-on laboratory experience is useful in control engineering education. Herein, the students overcome the main gaps between theoretical knowledge and experimental setups. Nowadays, in times of crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual and remote laboratories are emerging as primary educational resources. However, in virtual labs, the students are not exposed to real life issues (i.e., equipment problems, noise, etc.) while in remote labs, communication and connectivity problems arise (i.e., network security, synchronization management, internet speed, etc.). Henceforth, this work presents an unpublished educational project named Lab-Tec@Home, and the aim of this research is to expand the access of hands-on control education at the undergraduate level. Here, students easily assemble a cost-effective laboratory kit at home and use it on their own computing devices connected with the external MATLAB/SimulinkTM application. Thus, students can test and validate theoretical concepts of control engineering such as: system model identification, and PID control design and test. The assessment results show that the proposed educational project enhances the learning experience and has outstanding positive feedback of more than 290 students who undertook massive flexible digital courses at Tecnologico de Monterrey. This makes the proposed educational project mainly suitable for control engineering courses.
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