Biotransformation of furanic and phenolic compounds with hydrogen gas production in a microbial electrolysis cell

Zeng, Xiaofei; Borole, Abhijeet P.; Pavlostathis, Spyros G.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b02313

Title: Biotransformation of furanic and phenolic compounds with hydrogen gas production in a microbial electrolysis cell

Journal Article · Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b02313· OSTI ID:1225423

Zeng, Xiaofei ^[1]; Borole, Abhijeet P. ^[2]; Pavlostathis, Spyros G. ^[1]

Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); The Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

In this study, furanic and phenolic compounds are problematic byproducts resulting from the decomposition of lignocellulosic biomass during biofuel production. This study assessed the capacity of a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) to produce hydrogen gas (H₂) using a mixture of two furanic (furfural, FF; 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, HMF) and three phenolic (syringic acid, SA; vanillic acid, VA; and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, HBA) compounds as the sole carbon and energy source in the bioanode. The rate and extent of biotransformation of the five compounds, efficiency of H₂ production, as well as the anode microbial community structure were investigated. The five compounds were completely transformed within 7-day batch runs and their biotransformation rate increased with increasing initial concentration. At an initial concentration of 1,200 mg/L (8.7 mM) of the mixture of the five compounds, their biotransformation rate ranged from 0.85 to 2.34 mM/d. The anode coulombic efficiency was 44-69%, which is comparable to wastewater-fed MECs. The H₂ yield varied from 0.26 to 0.42 g H₂-COD/g COD removed in the anode, and the bioanode volume-normalized H₂ production rate was 0.07-0.1 L/L-d. The major identified fermentation products that did not transform further were catechol and phenol. Acetate was the direct substrate for exoelectrogenesis. Current and H₂ production were inhibited at an initial substrate concentration of 1,200 mg/L, resulting in acetate accumulation at a much higher level than that measured in other batch runs conducted with a lower initial concentration of the five compounds. The anode microbial community consisted of exoelectrogens, putative degraders of the five compounds, and syntrophic partners of exoelectrogens. The H₂ production route demonstrated in this study has proven to be an alternative to the currently used process of reforming natural gas to supply H₂ needed to upgrade bio-oils to stable hydrocarbon fuels.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1225423

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 71 works

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Title: Biotransformation of furanic and phenolic compounds with hydrogen gas production in a microbial electrolysis cell

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