A membrane biofilm reactor for hydrogenotrophic methanation

Giorgio Pratofiorito; Max Hackbarth; Carmen Mandel; Siyavuya Madlanga; Stephanie West; Harald Horn; Andrea Hille-Reichel

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124444

A membrane biofilm reactor for hydrogenotrophic methanation

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Feb:321:124444. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124444. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Authors

Giorgio Pratofiorito¹, Max Hackbarth², Carmen Mandel³, Siyavuya Madlanga⁴, Stephanie West⁵, Harald Horn⁶, Andrea Hille-Reichel⁷

Affiliations

¹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: giorgio.pratofiorito@kit.edu.
² Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; DVGW Research Centre at Engler-Bunte-Institut of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Water Chemistry, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: max.hackbarth@kit.edu.
³ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: carmen.mandel@student.kit.edu.
⁴ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; DVGW Research Centre at Engler-Bunte-Institut of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Water Chemistry, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: siyavuya.mad@gmail.com.
⁵ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: stephanie.west@kit.edu.
⁶ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany; DVGW Research Centre at Engler-Bunte-Institut of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Water Chemistry, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: harald.horn@kit.edu.
⁷ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 9a, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. Electronic address: andrea.hille-reichel@kit.edu.

PMID: 33285505
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124444

Abstract

Biomethanation of CO₂ has been proven to be a feasible way to produce methane with the employment of H₂ as electron source. Subject of the present study is a custom-made membrane biofilm reactor for hydrogenotrophic methanation by archaeal biofilms cultivated on membrane surfaces. Reactor layout was adapted to allow for in situ biofilm analysis via optical coherence tomography. At a feeding ratio of H₂/CO₂ of 3.6, and despite the low membrane surface to reactor volume ratio of 57.9 m² m^-3, the maximum methane production per reactor volume reached up to 1.17 Nm³ m^-3 d^-1 at a methane content of the produced gas above 97% (v/v). These results demonstrate that the concept of membrane bound biofilms enables improved mass transfer by delivering substrate gases directly to the biofilm, thus, rendering the bottleneck of low solubility of hydrogen in water less drastic.

Keywords: Biomethanation; Hydrogenotrophic archaea; Membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR); Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT).

MeSH terms

Biofilms
Bioreactors*
Hydrogen
Methane*

Substances

Hydrogen
Methane