Enhanced anaerobic digestion of swine manure via a coupled microbial electrolysis cell

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2021-11, Vol.340, p.125619-125619, Article 125619
• Main Authors: Zou, Lifei, Wang, Changmei, Zhao, Xingling, Wu, Kai, Liang, Chengyue, Yin, Fang, Yang, Bin, Liu, Jing, Yang, Hong, Zhang, Wudi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaerobic digestion; Back-propagation artificial neural network; Kinetic models; Microbial electrolysis cell; Swine manure
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125619

•Microbial electrolysis cell coupled anaerobic digestion may recycle swine manure.•Different applied voltages were studied using MEC-AD with swine manure.•The maximum lignocellulose degradation rate, cumulative biogas and methane yields occurred at 0.9 V.•Different models were used to study cumulative biogas and methane yields.•BP-ANN was a superior model for cumulative biogas and methane yields using MEC-AD. Microbial electrolysis cell coupled anaerobic digestion (MEC-AD) is a new technology in energy recovery and waste treatment, which could be used to recycle swine manure. Here, different applied voltage effects were studied using MEC-AD with swine manure as a substrate. The maximum cumulative biogas and methane yields, both occurring with 0.9 V, were 547.3 mL/g total solid (TS) and 347.7 mL/g TS, respectively. The increased energy can counterbalance the electrical input. First order, logistic, gompertz, and back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) models were used to study cumulative biogas and methane yields. The BP-ANN model was superior to the other three models. The maximum degradation rate of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin was 60.97%, 48.59%, and 31.59% at 0.9 V, respectively. The BP-ANN model establishes a model for cumulative biogas and methane yields using MEC-AD. Thus, MEC-AD enhanced biogas and methane production and accelerated substrate degradation at a suitable voltage.