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Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Carpenter, AW; Laughton, SN; Wiesner, MR
Published in: Environmental engineering science
August 2015

Addition of nanoscale zero valent iron (NZVI) to anaerobic batch reactors to enhance methanogenic activity is described. Two NZVI systems were tested: a commercially available NZVI (cNZVI) slurry and a freshly synthesized NZVI (sNZVI) suspension that was prepared immediately before addition to the reactors. In both systems, the addition of NZVI increased pH and decreased oxidation/reduction potential compared with unamended control reactors. Biodegradation of a model brewery wastewater was enhanced as indicated by an increase in chemical oxygen demand removal with both sNZVI and cNZVI amendments at all concentrations tested (1.25-5.0 g Fe/L). Methane production increased for all NZVI-amended bioreactors, with a maximum increase of 28% achieved on the addition of 2.5 and 5.0 g/L cNZVI. Addition of bulk zero-valent iron resulted in only a 5% increase in methane, indicating the advantage of using the nanoscale particles. NZVI amendments further improved produced biogas by decreasing the amount of CO2 released from the bioreactor by approximately 58%. Overall, addition of cNZVI proved more beneficial than the sNZVI at equal iron concentrations, due to decreased colloidal stability and larger effective particle size of sNZVI. Although some have reported cytotoxicity of NZVI to anaerobic microorganisms, work presented here suggests that NZVI of a certain particle size and reactivity can serve as an amendment to anaerobic digesters to enhance degradation and increase the value of the produced biogas, yielding a more energy-efficient anaerobic method for wastewater treatment.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Environmental engineering science

DOI

EISSN

1557-9018

ISSN

1092-8758

Publication Date

August 2015

Volume

32

Issue

8

Start / End Page

647 / 655

Related Subject Headings

  • Environmental Engineering
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 4011 Environmental engineering
  • 4004 Chemical engineering
  • 0907 Environmental Engineering
  • 0904 Chemical Engineering
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management
 

Citation

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Carpenter, A. W., Laughton, S. N., & Wiesner, M. R. (2015). Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors. Environmental Engineering Science, 32(8), 647–655. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2014.0560
Carpenter, Alexis Wells, Stephanie N. Laughton, and Mark R. Wiesner. “Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors.Environmental Engineering Science 32, no. 8 (August 2015): 647–55. https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2014.0560.
Carpenter AW, Laughton SN, Wiesner MR. Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors. Environmental engineering science. 2015 Aug;32(8):647–55.
Carpenter, Alexis Wells, et al. “Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors.Environmental Engineering Science, vol. 32, no. 8, Aug. 2015, pp. 647–55. Epmc, doi:10.1089/ees.2014.0560.
Carpenter AW, Laughton SN, Wiesner MR. Enhanced Biogas Production from Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron-Amended Anaerobic Bioreactors. Environmental engineering science. 2015 Aug;32(8):647–655.
Journal cover image

Published In

Environmental engineering science

DOI

EISSN

1557-9018

ISSN

1092-8758

Publication Date

August 2015

Volume

32

Issue

8

Start / End Page

647 / 655

Related Subject Headings

  • Environmental Engineering
  • 4104 Environmental management
  • 4011 Environmental engineering
  • 4004 Chemical engineering
  • 0907 Environmental Engineering
  • 0904 Chemical Engineering
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management