Integrating microbial electrochemical technologies with anaerobic digestion to accelerate propionate degradation

[EN] The aim of this study is to evaluate the integration of microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) with anaerobic digestion (AD) to overcome AD limitations caused by propionate accumulation. The study focuses on understanding to what extent the inoculum impacts on the behaviour of the integra...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Alonso García, Raúl Marcos, Escapa González, Adrián, Sotres, Ana, Morán Palao, Antonio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de León
Repositorio:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
OAI Identifier:oai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/18114
Acceso en línea:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016236120301538?via%3Dihub
https://hdl.handle.net/10612/18114
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bioquímica
Anaerobic digestion
Microbial electrochemical technologies
Propionate
Biogas
2302 Bioquímica
3302.90 Ingeniería Bioquímica
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] The aim of this study is to evaluate the integration of microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) with anaerobic digestion (AD) to overcome AD limitations caused by propionate accumulation. The study focuses on understanding to what extent the inoculum impacts on the behaviour of the integrated systems (AD-MET) from the perspective of propionate degradation, methane production and microbial population dynamics. Three different inocula were used: two from environmental sources (anaerobic sludge and river sediment) and another one from a pre-enriched electroactive consortium adapted to propionate degradation. Contrary to expectations, the reactor inoculated with the pre-enriched consortium was not able to maintain its initial good performance in the long run, and the bioelectrochemical activity collapsed after three months of operation. On the other hand, the reactor inoculated with anaerobic sludge, although it required a relatively longer time to produce any observable current, was able to maintain an electrogenic activity operation (0.8 A m−2), whilst showcasing the positive contribution of AD-MET integration into tackling propionate accumulation and enhancing methane yield (338 mL gCOD−1). However, it must also be highlighted that from a purely energetic point of view the AD-MET was not favourable.