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1. Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion: Enhanced and Sustainable Methane Production from Co-Digestion of Food and Lignocellulosic Wastes

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en11082058  

   David, Aditi ; Govil, Tanvi ; Tripathi, Abhilash ; McGeary, Julie ; Farrar, Kylie ; Sani, Rajesh ( August 2018 , Energies)

   This article aims to study the codigestion of food waste (FW) and three different lignocellulosic wastes (LW) (Corn stover (CS), Prairie cordgrass (PCG), and Unbleached paper (UBP)) for thermophilic anaerobic digestion to overcome the limitations of digesting food waste alone (volatile fatty acids accumulation and low C:N ratio). Using an enriched thermophilic methanogenic consortium, all the food and lignocellulosic waste mixtures showed positive synergistic effects of codigestion. After 30 days of incubation at 60 °C (100 rpm), the highest methane yield of 305.45 L·kg−1 volatile solids (VS) was achieved with a combination of FW-PCG-CS followed by 279.31 L·kg−1 VS with a mixture of FW-PCG. The corresponding volatile solids reduction for these two co-digestion mixtures was 68% and 58%, respectively. This study demonstrated a reduced hydraulic retention time for methane production using FW and LW. 

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2. Determining chemical factors controlling abiotic codenitrification

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthsapcechem.0c00225  

   Wilson, Stephanie J ; Song, Bongkeun ; Phillips, Rebecca L. ( January 2021 , ACS earth and space chemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   Codenitrification is a reactive nitrogen (N) removal pathway producing hybrid dinitrogen (N2) by combining nitrite (NO2–) and a partner-N substrate. Abiotic codenitrification also produces hybrid N2 through nitrosation of organic N by NO2–, but it is poorly constrained in soil N cycles. We determined the importance of abiotic codenitrification in soils and examined factors controlling abiotic codenitrification using live soils, sterile soils, and sterile solutions. Abiotic codenitrification in sterile soils ranged from 0.12 ± 0.001 to 0.60 ± 0.08 nmoles 29N2-N g–1 day–1, which accounts for 2.3 to 8.2% of total N2 production measured in live soils. Increased abiotic N2 production was observed in soils with the addition of an organic N partner (glutamine). Consistent with previous work, higher rates were observed in lower-pH soils, but the highest rate was found in the soil with the highest carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio. We further investigated a range of organic N partners and the influence of concentration and pH on abiotic codenitrification in solution. Similar to sterile soil incubations, abiotic 29N2 production was negatively correlated with increasing pH in solution. Greater rates of abiotic 29N2 production were measured as the substrate concentration increased and pH decreased. Solution experiments also showed that addition of organic N partners increased abiotic codenitrification rates, which are positively correlated with the C:N ratios of organic N partners. This is the first study demonstrating the importance of N removal through abiotic codenitrification in acidic soils and the C:N ratio of organic N partners as a controlling factor in abiotic codenitrification. 

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3. Butanol as a major product during ethanol and acetate chain elongation

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1181983  

   Robles, Aide ; Sundar, Skanda Vishnu ; Mohana Rangan, Srivatsan ; Delgado, Anca G. ( May 2023 , Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology)

   Chain elongation is a relevant bioprocess in support of a circular economy as it can use a variety of organic feedstocks for production of valuable short and medium chain carboxylates, such as butyrate (C4), caproate (C6), and caprylate (C8). Alcohols, including the biofuel, butanol (C4), can also be generated in chain elongation but the bioreactor conditions that favor butanol production are mainly unknown. In this study we investigated production of butanol (and its precursor butyrate) during ethanol and acetate chain elongation. We used semi-batch bioreactors (0.16 L serum bottles) fed with a range of ethanol concentrations (100–800 mM C), a constant concentration of acetate (50 mM C), and an initial total gas pressure of ∼112 kPa. We showed that the butanol concentration was positively correlated with the ethanol concentration provided (up to 400 mM C ethanol) and to chain elongation activity, which produced H 2 and further increased the total gas pressure. In bioreactors fed with 400 mM C ethanol and 50 mM C acetate, a concentration of 114.96 ± 9.26 mM C butanol (∼2.13 g L −1 ) was achieved after five semi-batch cycles at a total pressure of ∼170 kPa and H 2 partial pressure of ∼67 kPa. Bioreactors with 400 mM C ethanol and 50 mM C acetate also yielded a butanol to butyrate molar ratio of 1:1. At the beginning of cycle 8, the total gas pressure was intentionally decreased to ∼112 kPa to test the dependency of butanol production on total pressure and H 2 partial pressure. The reduction in total pressure decreased the molar ratio of butanol to butyrate to 1:2 and jolted H 2 production out of an apparent stall. Clostridium kluyveri (previously shown to produce butyrate and butanol) and Alistipes (previously linked with butyrate production) were abundant amplicon sequence variants in the bioreactors during the experimental phases, suggesting the microbiome was resilient against changes in bioreactor conditions. The results from this study clearly demonstrate the potential of ethanol and acetate-based chain elongation to yield butanol as a major product. This study also supports the dependency of butanol production on limiting acetate and on high total gas and H 2 partial pressures. 

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4. Batch Anaerobic Co-Digestion and Biochemical Methane Potential Analysis of Goat Manure and Food Waste

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en14071952  

   Orangun, Ayobami ; Kaur, Harjinder ; Kommalapati, Raghava R. ( April 2021 , Energies)

   null (Ed.)

   The improper management of goat manure from concentrated goat feeding operations and food waste leads to the emission of greenhouse gasses and water pollution in the US. The wastes were collected from the International Goat Research Center and a dining facility at Prairie View A&M University. The biochemical methane potential of these two substrates in mono and co-digestion at varied proportions was determined in triplicates and processes were evaluated using two nonlinear regression models. The experiments were conducted at 36 ± 1 °C with an inoculum to substrate ratio of 2.0. The biomethane was measured by water displacement method (pH 10:30), absorbing carbon dioxide. The cumulative yields in goat manure and food waste mono-digestions were 169.7 and 206.0 mL/gVS, respectively. Among co-digestion, 60% goat manure achieved the highest biomethane yields of 380.5 mL/gVS. The biodegradabilities of 33.5 and 65.7% were observed in goat manure and food waste mono-digestions, while 97.4% were observed in the co-digestion having 60% goat manure. The modified Gompertz model is an excellent fit in simulating the anaerobic digestion of food waste and goat manure substrates. These findings provide useful insights into the co-digestion of these substrates. 

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5. Direct and continuous generation of pure acetic acid solutions via electrocatalytic carbon monoxide reduction

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010868118  

   Zhu, Peng ; Xia, Chuan ; Liu, Chun-Yen ; Jiang, Kun ; Gao, Guanhui ; Zhang, Xiao ; Xia, Yang ; Lei, Yongjiu ; Alshareef, Husam N. ; Senftle, Thomas P. ; et al ( December 2020 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Electrochemical CO 2 or CO reduction to high-value C 2+ liquid fuels is desirable, but its practical application is challenged by impurities from cogenerated liquid products and solutes in liquid electrolytes, which necessitates cost- and energy-intensive downstream separation processes. By coupling rational designs in a Cu catalyst and porous solid electrolyte (PSE) reactor, here we demonstrate a direct and continuous generation of pure acetic acid solutions via electrochemical CO reduction. With optimized edge-to-surface ratio, the Cu nanocube catalyst presents an unprecedented acetate performance in neutral pH with other liquid products greatly suppressed, delivering a maximal acetate Faradaic efficiency of 43%, partial current of 200 mA⋅cm −2 , ultrahigh relative purity of up to 98 wt%, and excellent stability of over 150 h continuous operation. Density functional theory simulations reveal the role of stepped sites along the cube edge in promoting the acetate pathway. Additionally, a PSE layer, other than a conventional liquid electrolyte, was designed to separate cathode and anode for efficient ion conductions, while not introducing any impurity ions into generated liquid fuels. Pure acetic acid solutions, with concentrations up to 2 wt% (0.33 M), can be continuously produced by employing the acetate-selective Cu catalyst in our PSE reactor. 

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