Bioelectrochemical Enhancement of Biogenic Methane Conversion of Coal

Dong-Mei Piao, Young-Chae Song and Dong-Hoon Kim
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Dong-Mei Piao: Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, 727 Taejong-ro, Yeongdo-Gu, Busan 49112, Korea
Young-Chae Song: Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, 727 Taejong-ro, Yeongdo-Gu, Busan 49112, Korea
Dong-Hoon Kim: Department of Civil Engineering, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Korea

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: This study demonstrated the enhancement of biogenic coal conversion to methane in a bioelectrochemical anaerobic reactor with polarized electrodes. The electrode with 1.0 V polarization increased the methane yield of coal to 52.5 mL/g lignite, which is the highest value reported to the best of our knowledge. The electrode with 2.0 V polarization shortened the adaptation time for methane production from coal, although the methane yield was slightly less than that of the 1.0 V electrode. After the methane production from coal in the bioelectrochemical reactor, the hydrolysis product, soluble organic residue, was still above 3600 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L. The hydrolysis product has a substrate inhibition effect and inhibited further conversion of coal to methane. The dilution of the hydrolysis product mitigates the substrate inhibition to methane production, and a 5.7-fold dilution inhibited the methane conversion rate by 50%. An additional methane yield of 55.3 mL/g lignite was obtained when the hydrolysis product was diluted 10-fold in the anaerobic toxicity test. The biogenic conversion of coal to methane was significantly improved by the polarization of the electrode in the bioelectrochemical anaerobic reactor, and the dilution of the hydrolysis product further improved the methane yield.

Keywords: coal; lignite; methane; biogenic conversion; bioelectrochemical reactor; inhibition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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