Division/Committee: [ENVR: Division of Environmental Chemistry]

Revolutionizing wastewater management is crucial for accessing valuable resources, such as critical nutrients and metals, sustainable energy and fuels, and reusable freshwater. Despite the promise of electrochemistry in driving this transformation, a substantial gap persists in integrating electrification with wastewater management. This session seeks to address this unmet need for implementation by overcoming diverse obstacles, including thermodynamic barriers linked to the restricted electrochemical window of wastewater, kinetic challenges arising from the transformation of refractory pollutants, and mass transport obstacles intrinsic to the dilute nature of target substances in wastewater matrices. We will focus on both fundamental and applied research at the convergence of electrochemistry, process engineering, and wastewater management. Potential topics include (1) electrified wastewater refining of nutrients, metals, and biofuels, (2) electrified transformation of refractory pollutants, (3) electrified chemical production to decontaminate waste streams, (4) electrified design of membrane processes and sensors, and (5) life-cycle and techno-economic assessment (LCA & TEA) of electrified wastewater operations and their footprints. We encourage submissions utilizing either authentic or synthetic wastewater resembling real-world compositions to help identify barriers in electrifying the wastewater management sector.

Neha Sharma

Stanford University

Appearances