Adaptation of the anaerobic microbiome for in-situ power-to-CH4 processes through fuzzy logic control of H2 input

Abstract

This study presents the first application of fuzzy logic control (FLC) for regulating in-situ biological methanation via H₂ injection in a fixed-bed reactor. Given the role of CH₄ as a storable and infrastructure-compatible energy carrier, the aim was to improve CH₄ production by dynamically adapting the H₂ supply to the metabolic capacity of the microbiome. This will pave the way for the biological utilisation and storage of renewable H₂. Over a 226-day operational period, H₂ input was gradually increased based on real-time headspace gas measurements. Coupling the gradual increase in H₂ supply with real-time gas composition data allowed the microbiome to adapt dynamically to changing process conditions. This approach led to a 49 % increase in CH₄ concentration, from 58.4 % to 87.0 %, and improved H₂ conversion rates from 98.2 % to 99.0 %. Chemical analyses of COD, organic acids and nitrogen were performed, as well as taxonomic analyses using 16S rRNA sequencing, and multivariate methods were applied to confirm the adaptation of the microbiome to the FLC H₂ injection. The adopted microbial community was dominated by strictly hydrogenotrophic methanogens, Methanoculleus and Methanobacterium, while increased abundances of Petrimonas, Rectinema, Syntrophomonas, and Geobacter indicate interspecies H₂ transfer and syntrophic cooperation enhancing methanogenesis. These findings demonstrate that FLC-based H₂ control enables dynamic adjustment of in-situ methanation, optimising the interaction between hydrogenogenic, fermentative, syntrophic acetate-oxidising, and hydrogenotrophic microorganisms. This work introduces an adaptive control strategy that supports stable and efficient bio-CH₄ production and represents a significant advance in the field of power-to-gas technologies.