Bioconversion of Carbon Dioxide
Abstract
As the global population increases and fossil fuel consumption rises, there is an urgent need to develop technologies for producing chemicals and fuels from renewable resources.One promising alternative is the bioconversion of CO2.
The bioconversion of CO2 can be carried out by methanogenic and acetogenic microbial consortia via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. However, this approach remains challengingon a commercial scale due to the mass transfer limitations, low microbial growth rates under anaerobic conditions, and the need to supply reducing power, usually accomplished with H2 addition via water electrolysis. In the frame of this PhD project, we willdesign, construct and investigate a novel reactor type that can address these challenges and facilitate a more efficient and effective bioconversion of CO2 using an electroactive methanogenic and acetogenic microbial consortium. Ultimately, thisnovel reactor will boost the economic competitiveness of gas fermentation technology to produce chemicals and fuels.
The seminar will cover the development strategy of the novel reactor design and the experimental approach for enriching an electroactive and electrotolerant microbial consortiumcapable of utilising CO₂ as a carbon source, and electricity as a direct energy source. This enriched consortium will serve as the inoculum for testing the
novel reactor system.
Supervisors: Hariklia Gavala, Ioannis Skiadas, Alexander Shapiro