Role of redox-active biochar with distinctive electrochemical properties to promote methane production in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:278

Article

Shen, Yanwen¹  Yu, Yamei¹  Zhang, Yue¹  Urgun-Demirtas, Meltem²  Yuan, Haiping¹  Zhu, Nanwen^1,3  Dai, Xiaohu⁴ 

[1] Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, 800 Dongchuan Rd, Shanghai 200240, Peoples R China

[2] Argonne Natl Lab, Energy Syst Div, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439 USA

[3] Shanghai Inst Pollut Control & Ecol Secur, 1239 Siping Rd, Shanghai 200092, Peoples R China

[4] Tongji Univ, Coll Environm Sci & Engn, State Key Lab Pollut Control & Resources Reuse, 1239 Siping Rd, Shanghai 200092, Peoples R China

关键词: Redox-active biochar;    Waste activated sludge;    Anaerobic digestion;    Interspecies electron transfer;    Syntrophy;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123212

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Biochar has been reported as an effective additive to improve methane production during anaerobic digestion (AD). However, the mechanism for such a stimulatory impact remains unclear. Here we investigated the capability of three pyrolytic biochars with distinctive electrochemical properties (BC300, BC500, BC700) to promote methanogenic performance of anaerobic digesters treating waste activated sludge (WAS). The cumulative methane production and the maximum methane production rate were increased by 46.9% and 181.6%, respectively, with BC300 amendment. By characterizing the electrochemical properties of biochar, we found out that methane production in AD of sludge was positively correlated to biochar's electron-donating capacity (EDC) rather than its bulk electrical conductivity. These results indicate that the electron transfer mediated by the redox-active functional groups may prevail over the direct electron migration as the predominant mechanism to facilitate interspecies electron transfer in syntrophic communities for enhanced methanogenesis. Microbial community analysis suggests that biochar enriched Methanosarcina and Methanobacterium. Overall, this study shows that functional groups-mediated electron transfer contributes greatly to the improved methane production in WAS digester with biochar amendment. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free