Efficient production of methane from artificial garbage waste by a cylindrical bioelectrochemical reactor containing carbon fiber textiles

A cylindrical bioelectrochemical reactor (BER) containing carbon fiber textiles (CFT; BER + CFT) has characteristics of bioelectrochemical and packed-bed systems. In this study, utility of a cylindrical BER + CFT for degradation of a garbage slurry and recovery of biogas was investigated by applying 10% dog food slurry. The working electrode potential was electrochemically regulated at −0.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Stable methane production of 9.37 L-CH(4) · L(−1) · day(−1) and dichromate chemical oxygen demand (CODcr) removal of 62.5% were observed, even at a high organic loading rate (OLR) of 89.3 g-CODcr · L(−1) · day(−1). Given energy as methane (372.6 kJ · L(−1) · day(−1)) was much higher than input electric energy to the working electrode (0.6 kJ · L(−1) · day(−1)) at this OLR. Methanogens were highly retained in CFT by direct attachment to the cathodic working electrodes (52.3%; ratio of methanogens to prokaryotes), compared with the suspended fraction (31.2%), probably contributing to the acceleration of organic material degradation and removal of organic acids. These results provide insight into the application of cylindrical BER + CFT in efficient methane production from garbage waste including a high percentage of solid fraction.