Simultaneous brewery wastewater treatment and hydrogen generation via hydrolysis using Mg waste scraps

An advanced, eco-efficient “waste plus waste to hydrogen” method was developed for hydrogen generation and the simultaneous treatment of two types of waste generated from magnesium and brewery-based industries via hydrolysis. The hydrolysis of Mg scraps was carried out using brewery wastewater and the reaction was accelerated with acetic acid (aa) at different concentrations (0, 12, 18, 24 and 30 wt% aa). The concentration of pollutants such as cyclortisiloxane-hexamethyle (C6H18O3Si3), which are persistent in conventional wastewater treatment, was successfully reduced. After the hydrolysis of the wastewater, 62.4% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and the complete colour removal were observed. The highest hydrogen generation, about 0.99 NL/min (>60% H2 yield in 5 min), was observed in the presence of 30 wt% aa concentration in the hydrolysis reaction. This study proposes an eco-efficient hydrogen generation and waste treatment method as it simultaneously degrades pollutants and produces hydrogen utilizing Mg scrap waste and brewery wastewater without additional energy consumption.