Dairy wastewater grease stabilizes in situ mesophilic biomethanation for H2-to-CH4 conversion

Abstract

Power-to-Gas technologies are emerging as a key strategy to integrate surplus renewable electricity into energy systems, through the conversion of green hydrogen into methane. However, the practical implementation of biological in situ biomethanation is still constrained by operational and design requirements that are incompatible with most existing anaerobic digestion infrastructures. This study demonstrates a stable and efficient mesophilic (37{degrees}C) in situ biomethanation process driven by substrate-induced microbial selection rather than relying on continuous hydrogen supply. Anaerobic digesters co-digesting sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant with lipid-rich greases recovered from dairy wastewater developed a pre-adapted hydrogenotrophic consortium capable of effective CO2-H2 conversion under mesophilic conditions. Long-term operation confirmed the robustness and persistence of this microbial structure. Upon H2 addition, methane concentrations up to 82 % were achieved under atmospheric pressure, without biogas recirculation, with hydrogen-to-methane conversion efficiencies up to 90% and methane productivities of 1.64 NLCH4.L-1d-1. 16SrRNA-based microbial community analysis revealed that dairy grease co-digestion selectively enriched hydrogenotrophic methanogens, particularly Methanospirillum, together with syntrophic fatty-acid-degrading bacteria such as Syntrophomonas, promoting efficient interspecies hydrogen transfer. Importantly, the lipid co-substrate enabled the establishment and long-term stability of the hydrogenotrophic pathway independently of hydrogen availability, mitigating challenges associated with intermittent renewable energy supply. Overall, these findings challenge the common reliance on thermophilic conditions, continuous hydrogen input, pressurization, and gas recirculation in in situ biomethanation, demonstrating that substrate-driven microbial selection can replace conventional engineering requirements such as thermophilic operation or reactor modifications, providing a simpler and scalable strategy for mesophilic in situ biomethanation. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=120 SRC="FIGDIR/small/731101v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (30K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c62086org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1813ed6org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4462bcorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1ae2cfb_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG Graphical Abstract C_FIG Highlights- Lipid-assisted co-digestion promotes stable biogas and biomethane production - Dairy wastewater greases enable mesophilic in situ biomethanation - An enriched hydrogenotrophic methanogenic consortium yields >82% CH4 - 70-90% H2-to-CH4 conversion efficiency under mesophilic, unpressurized conditions - Substrate-driven microbial selection enables in situ biomethanation in WWTP digesters