Insight into the synergistic effects of conductive biochar for accelerating maturation during electric field-assisted aerobic composting. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fu, Tao; Shangguan, Huayuan; Wu, Jiaxiong; Tang, Jiahuan; Yuan, Haijing; Zhou, Shungui
• Is Part Of: Bioresource technology. Volume 337(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Electric field -- Conductive biochar -- Compost maturation -- Oxygen utilization -- Electroactive bacteria; Biomass -- Periodicals; Biomass energy -- Periodicals; Bioremediation -- Periodicals; Agricultural wastes -- Periodicals; Factory and trade waste -- Periodicals; Organic wastes -- Periodicals; Bioénergie -- Périodiques; Déchets agricoles -- Périodiques; Déchets industriels -- Périodiques; Déchets organiques -- Périodiques; Déchets (Combustible) -- Périodiques; 662.88
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125359
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-8524

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Compost matrix resistance significantly declined with conductive biochar addition. Conductive biochar boosted the abundance of electroactive bacteria during b-EAC. The bacterial O2 utilization was highly increased with conductive biochar addition. Conductive biochar synergistically accelerated compost maturation during b-EAC. Abstract: Electric field-assisted aerobic composting (EAC) has been considered as a novel and effective process for enhancing compost maturation. However, the poor conductivity of compost piles affects the efficiency and applicability of EAC. Thus, this study aims to examine how conductive biochar affects compost maturation in biochar-added electric field-assisted aerobic composting (b-EAC). Our results demonstrated that the germination index and humus index significantly increased, and the compost maturation time was shortened by nearly 25% during b-EAC compared to EAC. The total oxygen utilization rate and total relative abundance of electroactive bacteria during b-EAC increased by approximately two and three times those in EAC, respectively. These findings indicated that the addition of conductive biochar has a synergistic effect which facilitated oxygen utilization by reducing resistance and accelerating electron transfer. Therefore, the addition of conductive biochar is proved to be an effective and applicable strategy for optimizing the efficiency of EAC.