Biogas upgrading, CO valorisation and economic revaluation of bioelectrochemical systems through anodic chlorine production in the framework of wastewater treatment plants.

Biogas production in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) plays a decisive role in the reduction of CO emissions and energy needs in the context of the water-energy nexus. The biogas obtained from sewage sludge digestion can be converted into biomethane by the use of biogas upgrading technologies. In this regard, an innovative water scrubbing based technology, known as ABAD Bioenergy® is presented and considered in this work. The effluents resulting from this system consist of biomethane and treated wastewater with a high CO concentration. Therefore, the study explores the feasibility of using this CO-containing effluent in the cathode of a bioelectrochemical system (BES) for the transformation of CO into methane. Techno-economic assessment of the process is presented, including the valorisation of anode reactions through the production of chlorine compounds. Finally, the potential impacts of applying this technology in a WWTP operated by FCC Aqualia are (i) increasing biomethane production by 17.4%, (ii) decreasing CO content by 42.8% and (iii) producing over 60 ppm of chlorine compounds to disinfect all the treated wastewater of the plant.