Environmental impacts estimation by life cycle assessment of bioanodes fabricated from devilfish bone chars and their application in microbial fuel cells to produce bioenergy

This study estimated the environmental impacts by life cycle assessment (LCA) of bioanodes fabricated from devilfish bone chars and their application in microbial fuel cells (MFC). Two types of devilfish bone chars were obtained by calcination using nitrogen (BCN) and air (BCA) as purge gases. Two bioanodes were fabricated with BCN and BCA and applied independently in MFC to produce bioenergy from ibuprofen and carbamazepine biodegradation. LCA was performed using the methodology ISO 14,040. 1 kg of fabricated bioanode and 1 kWh of produced bioenergy were the established functional units, integrating a detailed inventory of the materials’ fabrication and application in MFC. The impact assessment was made with SimaPro 9.2 software and the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (I) method, considering 18 impact categories. Results showed that the bioanode fabricated with BCN has less environmental impacts (1.09 times) than BCA, finding the highest impact in the categories of human carcinogenic toxicity (1.04 kg 1,4-DCB) and human non-carcinogenic toxicity (13.60 kg 1,4-DCB). The environmental impacts in MFC-Ibuprofen were 3.1 times higher than MFC-Carbamazepine in the same impact categories, with 12.76 kg 1,4-DCB and 168.34 kg 1,4-DCB, respectively. Therefore, it is recommended to use BCN to fabricate the bioanode and to apply it in MFC to produce bioenergy from carbamazepine biodegradation. Although the LCA was performed with data obtained at a laboratory level, the results provide information on the environmental impacts that could be generated if both processes are transferred on a large scale, identifying opportunities for improvement to reduce these impacts.

本研究采用生命周期评估（LCA）方法，评估了以鬼蝠鲼骨炭制备的生物阳极（bioanodes）及其在微生物燃料电池（MFC）中的应用所产生的环境影响。研究以氮气（BCN）和空气（BCA）作为吹扫气进行煅烧，制备得到两类鬼蝠鲼骨炭。随后分别采用这两类骨炭制备生物阳极，并将其独立应用于MFC中，以通过布洛芬与卡马西平的生物降解过程生产生物能源。本研究遵循ISO 14040标准方法开展LCA分析，以1 kg制备所得生物阳极与1 kWh产出生物能源作为既定功能单位，整合了材料制备及MFC应用环节的详细清单数据。环境影响评估采用SimaPro 9.2软件与ReCiPe 2016中点（I）方法，共覆盖18类影响类别。结果显示，采用BCN制备的生物阳极的环境影响较BCA制备的低1.09倍，其中人类致癌毒性（以1.04 kg 1,4-二氯苯计）与人类非致癌毒性（以13.60 kg 1,4-二氯苯计）为影响最高的类别。在相同影响类别下，布洛芬-MFC体系的环境影响较卡马西平-MFC体系高3.1倍，两者对应的影响当量分别为12.76 kg 1,4-二氯苯与168.34 kg 1,4-二氯苯。因此，推荐采用BCN制备生物阳极，并将其应用于以卡马西平生物降解生产生物能源的MFC体系中。尽管本研究的LCA分析基于实验室级别的数据，但研究结果可为两种工艺规模化推广后可能产生的环境影响提供参考，并识别出可用于降低此类影响的优化方向。