Integrating bioelectrochemical systems with anaerobic digestion

Conference poster, 2013

Microbial bioelectrochemical systems could potentially be used to control or monitor anaerobic digesters. In this study, we investigated two anaerobic reactors with integrated electrodes. In the active reactor, the electrodes were connected to a power source that allowed current to flow and oxidation or reduction reactions to take place at the electrode surfaces. In the control reactor, the electrodes were left in open circuit. We found that reactions on the electrodes did not affect the overall performance of the anaerobic digestion process; however, there was a correlation between the generated current and the state of the reactor. Voltammetry tests also suggested that electrochemically active microbial communities were enriched on both the anode and cathode electrodes in the active reactor.