Syngas is created through the thermochemical conversion of biomass using gasification or pyrolysis and from CO‐rich off‐gases obtained from industries such as steel mills. The Wood–Ljungdahl metabolic pathway, or one of its variations, is used by acetogenic bacteria to convert syngas components (CO, H2, and CO2) to alcohols and other compounds. Many factors affect how well syngas is fermented, including the bacteria species used, syngas composition, medium components, bioreactor type, operational parameters used and the gas–liquid mass transfer rate. These parameters impact carbon and electron flow in the bacteria, influencing the distribution, concentration and metabolic end‐product yield, which determines process feasibility. This article focuses on gas composition, microorganisms, gas–liquid mass transfer fermentation strategies, medium design and commercialization activities to develop the syngas fermentation processes.
Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are effective materials for emerging separation applications. While MMMs show promise, various membrane formation schemes have produced particle agglomerations, surface ruptures, and varying separation performance as a result. In this work, a replicated 2 × 23 full factorial design of experiment (DOE) and a mixture analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of activated carbon, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and solvent type, used during MMM formation. Aniline blue filtration was used as a model for performance. A thorough analysis was conducted on contact angle, agglomeration frequency, water flux, and dye rejection. Specifically, a novel and facile method to study agglomeration tendencies is presented. Among other trends, agglomeration tendencies were mitigated by the addition of PEG during the fabrication process. Water flux increased from 10 to 55 LMH when PEG was used as a pore former and dye rejection increased from 72% to 90% with the addition of AC particles.
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