title: Bioelectrochemical removal of carbon dioxide (CO2): an innovative method for biogas upgrading.
abstract: Innovative methods for biogas upgrading based on biological/in-situ concepts have started to arouse considerable interest. Bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 for biogas upgrading was proposed here and demonstrated in both batch and continuous experiments. The in-situ biogas upgrading system seemed to perform better than the ex-situ one, but CO2 content was kept below 10% in both systems. The in-situ system's performance was further enhanced under continuous operation. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and alkali production with CO2 absorption could be major contributors to biogas upgrading. Molecular studies showed that all the biocathodes associated with biogas upgrading were dominated by sequences most similar to the same hydrogenotrophic methanogen species, Methanobacterium petrolearium (97-99% sequence identity). Conclusively, bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 showed great potential for biogas upgrading.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Kaijun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA; Department of Physical and Biological Sciences, Western New England University, Springfield, MA 01119, USA. Electronic address: dholmes@wne.edu.
authors.forename: Dawn E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels; D019149:Bioreactors; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes / Q000382:microbiology; D059205:Renewable Energy
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: Alkali production; Anaerobic digestion; Bioelectrochemical systems (BES); Biogas upgrading; Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis