title: Long-term continuous production of H2 in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) treating saline wastewater.
abstract: A biofilm-based 4 L two chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was continuously fed with acetate under saline conditions (35 g/L NaCl) for more than 100 days. The MEC produced a biogas highly enriched in H2 (≥90%). Both current (10.6 ± 0.2 A/m(2)Anode or 199.1 ± 4.0 A/m(3)MEC) and H2 production (201.1 ± 7.5 LH2/m(2)Cathode·d or 0.9 ± 0.0 m(3)H2/m(3)MEC·d) rates were highly significant when considering the saline operating conditions. A microbial analysis revealed an important enrichment in the anodic biofilm with five main bacterial groups: 44% Proteobacteria, 32% Bacteroidetes, 18% Firmicutes and 5% Spirochaetes and 1% Actinobacteria. Of special interest is the emergence within the Proteobacteria phylum of the recently described halophilic anode-respiring bacteria Geoalkalibacter (unk. species), with a relative abundance up to 14%. These results provide for the first time a noteworthy alternative for the treatment of saline effluents and continuous production of H2.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France.
authors.forename: Alessandro A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Carmona-Martínez
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trably
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Milferstedt
authors.affiliation: 6T-MIC Ingénieries, 4 rue Brindejonc des Moulinais, 31500 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 4 allée Emile Monso, 31432 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Etcheverry
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France. Electronic address: nicolas.bernet@supagro.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bernet
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D018441:Biofilms; D020564:Deltaproteobacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D004572:Electrolysis / Q000295:instrumentation; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D054712:Salinity; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D006859:Hydrogen; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Biohydrogen; Geoalkalibacter; High-throughput sequencing; Microbial electrolysis cell; Saline wastewater; Scanning electron microscopy