Background

To meet growing energy demands sustainably, economies need to prioritize bioenergy and biogas from waste materials. However, biogas must undergo significant desulfurization and upgrading to enable its injection into the gas grid. A noteworthy ex-situ biogas upgrade method gaining popularity is biomethane production via external hydrogen (H₂) supply to chemoautotrophic microbial communities that can reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) to methane (CH₄).

This concept can be further applied in Microbial Electrosynthesis (MES), where microbes can acquire their reducing power, electrons or H₂, from a cathode. Similarly to CO₂, H₂S contained in sulfide-laden biogas can be co-absorbed and thus aid biogas desulfurisation, however, it is expected that it can also induce toxicity to the microbes involved in CO₂ reduction.

During this M2 internship we will explore whether a bioelectrochemical system (BES) can make biogas desulfurization and upgrading more cost-effective and energy-efficient. This involves investigating the development of sulfide resistant biocathodes and the capacity of such a BES  to effectively handle sulfide-laden streams. Having that in mind we will aim at developing a system that recovers resources like H₂ or CH₄ from sulfide-laden streams while minimizing energy use, using cost-effective materials, and ensuring long-term durability.

Objectives

• Investigate the effect of operational parameters selected on the absorption and diffusion of biogas (CO₂/H₂S) in the BES.
• Evaluate the toxicity effect of sulfide on the CO₂-reducing communities. Develop a sulfide-resistant biocathode.

Methodology

The student will assist:

• In the materials selection, construction and operation of a BES, as well as conduct bottle tests to study sulfide toxicity.
• In the development of a method to analyse sulphur components with ionic chromatography.

Profil attendu

• Etudiant(e) de niveau Master 2.

Informations complémentaires

• Date de début : Mars 2024
• Durée du stage : 6 mois
• Gratification de stage : application en vigueur
• Prise en charge des frais de transports
• Lieu d'accueil : Antony (92) au sein de l’unité PROSE

Candidature

• Transmettre CV et lettre de motivation à : Eleftheria Ntagia