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

Shen, Yanwen; Yu, Yamei; Zhang, Yue; Urgun-Demirtas, Meltem; Yuan, Haiping; Zhu, Nanwen; Dai, Xiaohu

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123212

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

Journal Article · 07 August 2021 · Journal of Cleaner Production

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123212 · OSTI ID:1768749

Shen, Yanwen ^[1]; Yu, Yamei ^[1]; Zhang, Yue ^[1]; Urgun-Demirtas, Meltem ^[2]; Yuan, Haiping ^[1]; Zhu, Nanwen ^[3]; Dai, Xiaohu ^[4]

Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China); Shanghai Inst. of Pollution Control and Ecological Security (China)
Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China)

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, our research team 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.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1768749

Journal Information:: Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal Name: Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 278; ISSN 0959-6526

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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Title: Role of redox-active biochar with distinctive electrochemical properties to promote methane production in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

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