A novel tubular single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell for efficient methane production from industrial potato starch wastewater

The integration of microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) with anaerobic digestion (AD) shows great promise for enhancing methane production from high-COD wastewater. However, an efficient MEC-AD reactor design remains elusive. Here, a novel tubular single-chamber MEC-AD reactor was constructed to treat potato starch wastewater (COD over 20,000 mg/L). The concentric and compact design of the stainless-steel cathode and anode reduced internal resistance, resulting in enhanced methane production. Applying −0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl to the anode increased methane production by 1.73 times compared to the open circuit and halved hydraulic retention time. Moreover, the reactor achieved an average methane content of 82.57 %, which was 23.89 % higher than the open circuit. The reactor showed a total COD removal of 92.2 %, which was 24 % higher than the open circuit. Additionally, base consumption to maintain pH was reduced to one-sixth of that in conventional AD, preventing volatile fatty acid accumulation. Microbial analysis showed Geobacter (63.4 %) and Methanobacterium (96.8 %) were highly enriched in the anode and cathode biofilms, respectively. The proportion of fermentative bacteria also increased in the MEC-AD system. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the tubular single-chamber MEC-AD reactor in enhancing methane production from potato starch wastewater, with strong potential for scale-up applications.