Enhancing anaerobic digestion of complex organic waste with carbon-based conductive materials

Yan Dang; Dawn E Holmes; Zhiqiang Zhao; Trevor L Woodard; Yaobin Zhang; Dezhi Sun; Li-Ying Wang; Kelly P Nevin; Derek R Lovley

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.08.114

Enhancing anaerobic digestion of complex organic waste with carbon-based conductive materials

Bioresour Technol. 2016 Nov:220:516-522. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.08.114. Epub 2016 Sep 1.

Authors

Yan Dang¹, Dawn E Holmes², Zhiqiang Zhao³, Trevor L Woodard⁴, Yaobin Zhang³, Dezhi Sun⁵, Li-Ying Wang⁴, Kelly P Nevin⁴, Derek R Lovley⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Morril IV N Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, 35 Tsinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: dangyan.p@gmail.com.
² Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Morril IV N Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Department of Physical and Biological Sciences, Western New England University, 1215 Wilbraham Rd, Springfield, MA 01119, USA.
³ Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Morril IV N Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Dalian University of Technology), Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Morril IV N Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Morril IV N Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Beijing Key Laboratory for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, 35 Tsinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, China.

PMID: 27611035
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.08.114

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the methanogenic metabolism of dog food, a food waste surrogate, in laboratory-scale reactors with different carbon-based conductive materials. Carbon cloth, carbon felt, and granular activated carbon all permitted higher organic loading rates and promoted faster recovery of soured reactors than the control reactors. Microbial community analysis revealed that specific and substantial enrichments of Sporanaerobacter and Methanosarcina were present on the carbon cloth surface. These results, and the known ability of Sporanaerobacter species to transfer electrons to elemental sulfur, suggest that Sporanaerobacter species can participate in direct interspecies electron transfer with Methanosarcina species when carbon cloth is available as an electron transfer mediator.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Carbon-based conductive material; Direct interspecies electron transfer; Methanogenesis; Organic wastes.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Animals
Bacteria / metabolism
Bioreactors
Carbon / chemistry*
Carbon Fiber
Charcoal / chemistry
Dogs
Electric Conductivity*
Fatty Acids, Volatile / analysis
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Methane / biosynthesis
Organic Chemicals / analysis*
Waste Products*

Substances

Carbon Fiber
Fatty Acids, Volatile
Organic Chemicals
Waste Products
Charcoal
Carbon
Methane