Integrated Biochemical and Electrochemical Technology (IBET)

Description:

The Integrated Biochemical and Electrochemical Technologies (IBET) project is funded by a $5 million grant from the Bioenergy Technologies Office of the DOE. Another $1.8 million is committed as matching funds provided by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), the consulting firms inCTRL Solutions and Carollo Engineers Inc., and the University of Michigan (UM). Partner universities in Canada and Mexico, including the University of Toronto (UofT), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Tecnológico de Monterrey, are involved in educational activities. Roughly $5.2 million is used and distributed to partner organizations by UM, while Argonne National Laboratory received $1.6 million.

The overall goal of the IBET project is to leverage resources and talents from five North American universities, a national lab, a water resource recovery facility, and two private companies to form a bioenergy technology research and educational consortium. The IBET consists of two key modules that work synergistically: (i) a small-footprint, low-maintenance two-phase biogas production module, which enhances the production rate of biogas (60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide) and (ii) a tandem electrochemical and gas-phase bioreactor system to upgrade the biogas to renewable methane by capturing the carbon dioxide electrochemically and convert it to methane biologically. Compared to state-of-the-art technologies, the IBET system can generate high-purity renewable methane, rather than biogas only, increase the methane production rate by at least 40%, and reduce capital and operating costs by at least 20%.

Project Team:

Principal Investigators: Lutgarde Raskin and Steven Skerlos

Postdocs: Narasimman Lakshminarassimman and Kuang Zhu (former postdoc)

Research Engineer: Tim Fairley-Wax

PhD Students: Renata Starostka, Renisha Karki, and Pedro Puente (former PhD student)

Masters and Undergraduate Students: Yuang Guo, Evan Zalek, Jenna Kutcher, Victor Luk, Celtica Jimenez, Olivia Sherman, Tushaar Kapoor, Mónica Paola Balboa Villarreal, Edna Zumaya Flores, Sofía Martínez Cantú, Alisson Villarreal Hurtado 

Collaborators

Argonne National Lab: Meltem Urgun Demirtas, Yupo Lin

Northwestern University: George Wells, Heather Nielsen, Thomas Lippert

InCTRL Solutions: Mirzaman Zamanzadeh

Great Lakes Water Authority: John Norton, Jr., Xavier Fonoll Almansa

Funding Source: Department of Energy/ Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy/ Bioenergy Technology Office 

Educational Outreach:

This project supports future workforce development in bioenergy technology fields through an integrated research and educational consortium. Faculty, researchers, and students from

across the leading institutions (UM, NU, and ANL) and collaborating partners have come together to train and support the next generation of bioenergy technology researchers and practitioners. This consortium provides a vehicle to increase knowledge sharing on bioenergy technologies and expand collaborative opportunities. It provides postdocs and Ph.D., master’s, and undergraduate students opportunities to deepen their research capabilities in technology development, participate in shared professional development, and engage in cross-institutional bioenergy research and internship opportunities. The team is committed to publicly disseminating consortium research and educational information.

Some of the accomplishments in the educational outreach front include:

  • Facilitated five PhD student and postdoc exchanges between the educational institutions in the consortium
  • Supported the training of seven master’s students, five Ph.D. students, and two postdocs at UM
  • Supported the research of one master’s and two Ph.D. students, and two postdocs at NU
  • Hosted six undergraduate research assistants from Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM)
  • Supported training of six undergraduate research assistants from UM
  • Facilitated a semester abroad study program experience for a UM undergraduate student
  • Facilitated two internships in consulting companies
  • Organized a Waste-to-Energy Symposium in 2023 at the UM, Ann Arbor, MI
  • Organized a Careers in Bioenergy Symposium 2024 at ANL, Chicago, IL
  • Hosted two faculty (NU, UofT) and two scientists from ANL for seminars and research visits

Publications/Presentations:

  • Karki, R., Zhu, K., Skerlos, S., Raskin, L. (2025) “Exploring Microbial Community Dynamics and Performance of Rumen-Inspired Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor Fed Diverse Organic Waste Streams” [Oral presentation] IWA Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering – 11, Atlanta, GA, 2025. 
  • Nielsen, H.; Lippert, T.; Nannapuraju, P.; Morrow, D.; Wang, B.; Lin, Y.; Wells, G. (2025) “Pipeline-ready renewable natural gas via biomethanation in a hollow-fiber membrane reactor” [Oral Presentation] AEESP 2025 Research and Education Conference, Durham, NC, USA. 
  • Lippert, T., Lin, Y., Nielsen, H., Wells, G.; “Neutral Water Electrolysis Unifies Green Hydrogen and Renewable Natural Gas Production from Biogas” [paper manuscript], under review, Chemical Engineering Journal. 
  • Karki, R., Starostka, R., Lakshminarasimman, N., Skerlos, S., Raskin, L. (2025) “Rumen-Inspired Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor Enables High VFA Production from Food Waste and Sludge at Elevated Loading Rates” [Oral presentation] AEESP 2025 Research and Education Conference, Durham, NC, USA. 
  • Karki, R., Lakshminarasimman, N., Starostka, R., Puente, P., Fairley-Wax, T., Zhu, K., Skerlos, S., Raskin, L. (2025) “Rumen-Inspired Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor Enhances Hydrolysis in Food Waste and Sludge Digestion” [Oral presentation] Joint Conference: Residuals & Biosolids and Innovations in Treatment Technology, Baltimore, MD, 2025. 
  • Invited presentations by L. Raskin: 
  • Microbiome management in urban water infrastructure ― Retooling anaerobic digestion to maximize waste carbon conversion in a circular bioeconomy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, April 24, 2025 
  • Microbiome management in urban water infrastructure ― Retooling anaerobic digestion to maximize waste carbon conversion in a circular bioeconomy, Yale University, February 19, 2025 
  • Retooling anaerobic digestion to maximize waste carbon conversion in a circular bioeconomy, AEESP 2025 Research and Education Conference, Durham, NC, May 20-22, 2025. 
  • Retooling anaerobic digestion to maximize waste carbon conversion in a circular bioeconomy, Inaugural CAS Spotlight Symposium, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, October 25-26, 2024. 
  • Dynamic membrane bioreactors (DMBRs) to intensify and expand anaerobic digestion applications, Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing session at the Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Toronto, October 6-9, 2024. 
  • Nielsen, H.; Lippert, T.; Wang, B.; Lin, Y.; Raskin, L.; Zhu, K.; Wells, G. (2024) “Renewable natural gas production via biomethanation in a membrane biomethanation reactor” [Poster Presentation] 18th IWA World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion, Istanbul, Turkey. 
  • Zhu, K.; Puente, P.; Karki, R; Starostka, R.; Guo, Y.; Skerlos, S.; Raskin, L. (2024) “Model-derived insights into a two-phase anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor system for efficient co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge” [Oral Presentation] 18th IWA World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion, Istanbul, Turkey. 
  • Lippert, T.; Lin, Y.; Nielsen, H.; Zhu, K.; Wells, G. (2024) “Hybrid Electrolysis for Simultaneous Green H2 Production and CO2 Capture – Aiding Wastewater Treatment Plants to Become Power-to-Gas Facilities” [Oral presentation] 18th IWA World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion, Istanbul, Turkey. 
  • Lippert, T.; Nielsen, H.; Lin, Y.; Zhu, K.; Puente, P.; Skerlos, S.; Raskin, L.; Wells, G. (2024) “Integrating biochemical and electrochemical technologies (IBET) for highly efficient conversion of organic wastes to pipeline ready renewable natural gas” [Oral presentation] Symposium on Biomaterials, Fuels and Chemicals, Alexandria, VA, United States. 
  • Zhu, K.; Starostka, R.; Skerlos, S.; Raskin, L. (2024) “Model-derived insights in a two-phase anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor system for high-rate co-digestion” [Poster Presentation] 9th IWA Water Resource Recovery Modelling Seminar, South Bend, IN, United States. 
  • Yupo Lin, Thomas Lippert, Heather Nielsen, George Wells. Enhancing biomethanation performance with a novel hybrid electrolyzer for concurrent delivery of green hydrogen and aqueous bicarbonate. Oral presentation at ACS Spring 2024, March 17, New Orleans, LA 
  • Yupo Lin, Thomas Lippert. Electrochemical Separation Technologies for Industrial Sustainability. Oral presentation at the 2nd International Conference on Environmental Sustainability Through Waste and Recycling (ENSURE), March 11, Boston, MA 
  • Thomas Lippert, Yupo Lin. Hybrid Electrolysis – Efficiently Combining H2 Production with CO2 Capture and Utilization. Argonne “Waste to Clean Fuels and Products” Townhall Meeting 2023, October 26, 2023, Lemont, IL 
  • Thomas Lippert, Yupo Lin, Heather Nielsen, Sahil Masih, George Wells. Simultaneous Biogas Purification and Hydrogen Production Using a Novel Electrochemical Reactor. Oral presentation at the WEFTEC conference 2023, October 4, 2023, Chicago, IL 
  • Kuang Zhu, Timothy Fairley-Wax, Pedro Puente, Renisha Karki, Renata Starostka, Steven Skerlos, and Lutgarde Raskin. Model-derived Insights In a Two-phase Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor System for High-rate Co-digestion. Oral presentation at AEESP conference 2023, June 22, 2023, Boston, MA 
  • Pedro Puente, Kuang Zhu, Ronald Appleton, Tim Fairley-Wax, Tanja Rauch-Williams, Steven Skerlos, Lutgarde Raskin, “Stability prediction for co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste using a modified biomethane potential test”. Oral presentation at AEESP conference 2023, June 22, 2023, Boston, MA 
  • Kuang Zhu, Thomas Lippert, Timothy Fairley-Wax, Maryam Amouamouha, Pedro Puente, Renisha Karki, Renata Starostka, Heather Nielsen, Daniel Stockard, Mikaela Algren, Jennifer Dunn, George Wells, Meltem Urgun Demirtas, Yupo Lin, Steven Skerlos, and Lutgarde Raskin. Integrated Biochemical and Electrochemical Technologies (IBET) to Recover Biomethane from Organic Waste. Oral presentation at the Borchardt Conference 2023, May 24, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Pedro Puente, Kuang Zhu, Ronald Appleton, Tim Fairley-Wax, Tanja Rauch-Williams, Steven Skerlos, Lutgarde Raskin, Stability prediction using a modified biomethane potential test and modeling for the co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge”. Poster presentation at the Borchardt Conference 2023, May 24, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Renata Starostka, Hang Song, Katherine Giammalvo, Tim Fairley-Wax, Lutgarde Raskin, Steven Skerlos. A Parallel In-situ Dynamic Membrane Analysis System (PIDMAS) for Analysis of how backwashing Affects Extracellular Polymeric Substance (EPS) Production in Dynamic Membrane Bioreactors (DMBRs). Poster presentation at the Borchardt Conference 2023, May 24, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Renisha Karki, Kuang Zhu, Tim Fairley-Wax, Pedro Puente, Renata Starostka, Steven Skerlos, Lutgarde Raskin, Two phase Anaerobic Digestion for the Recovery of Energy”. Oral presentation at Waste-to-Energy Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Renata Starostka, Kuang Zhu, Thomas Lippert, Renisha Karki, Pedro Puente, Tim Fairley-Wax, Lutgarde Raskin, Steven Skerlos. Integrated Biochemical and Electrochemical Technologies (IBET) to Produce Renewable Natural Gas from Waste Streams. Oral presentation at Waste-to-Energy Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Pedro Puente, Mikaela Algren, Kuang Zhu, Tim Fairley-Wax, Jennifer Dunn, Lutgarde Raskin, Steven Skerlos. Techno-economic assessment (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools for technology development. Oral presentation at Waste-to-Energy Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Ilka Rodriguez, Tim Fairley-Wax, Kuang Zhu, Lutgarde Raskin, and Steven Skerlos. Integration of Education & Research in the Waste-to-Energy Field. Oral presentation at Waste-to-Energy Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Heather Nielsen, Daniel Stockard, Thomas Lippert, Maryam Amouamouha, Yupo Lin, and George Wells. Gas Phase Methanogenesis (GAME) for Biogas Upgrading. Oral presentation at Waste-To-Energy (W2E) Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Thomas Lippert, Yupo Lin, Meltem Urgun Demirtas, Heather Nielsen, Maryam Amouamouha, and George Wells. Electrochemical Technologies for Upgrading Biogas to Renewable Natural Gas. Oral presentation at the Waste-To-Energy (W2E) Student Symposium 2023, May 25, 2023, Ann Arbor, MI  
  • Yupo Lin, Thomas Lippert. Production of Green Hydrogen and Simultaneous Capture of Carbon Dioxide for Enhanced Biomethanation Using a Novel Electrochemical Reactor System. Oral presentation at the 27th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference. Long Beach, CA, USA, June 13-15, 2023.  
  • Kuang Zhu, Timothy Fairley-Wax, Pedro Puente, Renisha Karki, Renata Starostka, Steven Skerlos, and Lutgarde Raskin. Two-phase anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor system treats food waste with high hydrolysis rate and methane yield. IWA 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion. Ann Arbor, MI, USA, June 17-22, 2022.  
  • Tim Fairley-Wax, Steven Skerlos, Lutgarde Raskin. Net Energy Positive Treatment of Municipal Wastewater Using a Recirculating Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor. Oral presentation at the IWA 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion. Ann Arbor, MI, USA, June 17-22, 2022. 
  • Pedro Puente, Kuang Zhu, Ron Appleton, Tim Fairley-Wax, Tanja Rauch-Williams, Steven Skerlos, Lutgarde Raskin. Stability estimation strategy for anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and wastewater sludge using standard characterization methods. IWA 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion. Ann Arbor, MI, USA, June 17-22, 2022. 
  • Renata Starostka, Alex Song, Tim Fairley-Wax, Lutgarde Raskin, Steve Skerlos. A Brief Review of Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactors (AnDMBR). Oral presentation at the Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor workshop at the IWA 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion. Ann Arbor, MI, USA, June 17-22, 2022. 
  • Kuang Zhu, Timothy Fairley-Wax, Pedro Puente, Renisha Karki, Renata Starostka, Steven Skerlos, and Lutgarde Raskin. Modeling the performance of a two-phase anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor system for high-rate digestion of food waste. 2022 AEESP Conference. St. Louis, MO, USA, June 28-30, 2022. 
  • Daniel Stockard, Mirzaman Zamanzadeh, Oliver Schraa, Yupo Lin, Michael Ogurek, Thomas Lippert, George Wells. A Counter-diffusional model for membrane biofilm methanation reactor design. IWA 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion. Ann Arbor, MI, USA, June 17-22, 2022. 
  • Lin, Y.J., Lippert, T., Stockard, D., Wells, G. Integrated electrochemical CO2 capture and gas-phase methanogenic bioreactor for a new platform of CO2 reactive capture from biogas. Oral presentation. ACS Fall Meeting 2022, Chicago, USA. 
  • Lippert, T., Lin, Y.J. New ways of biogas upgrading using electrochemical methods. Oral presentation. Argonne virtual town hall seminar on transformative manufacturing for a circular economy 2022. September 15, 2022. Lemont, IL 
  • Kuang Zhu, Timothy Fairley-Wax, Pedro Puente, Renisha Karki, Renata Starostka, Steven Skerlos, and Lutgarde Raskin. Novel Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor System for High-rate Co-digestion of Food Waste and Wastewater Sludge. Oral presentation at WEFTEC 2022, October 10 – 12, 2022, New Orleans, LA