Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Preparation, Purification, and Use of Fatty Acid-containing Liposomes
Published on: February 9, 2018
Recovery of high-concentration volatile fatty acids from wastewater using an acidogenesis-electrodialysis integrated
Xin-Rong Pan1, Wen-Wei Li2, Liang Huang2
1CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China; USTC-CityU Joint Advanced Research Center, Suzhou, China; State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Abstract:
Recovery of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from wastewater is an important route for wastewater valorization. Selective acidogenic fermentation enables an efficient production of VFAs from wastewater, whereas electrodialysis (ED) provides an effective approach to concentrate VFAs. However, these two processes have not been coupled in one single system previously. In this study, an acidogenesis-ED integrated system that coupled a continuous acidogenesis with a batch process of VFA concentration was developed for recovery of high-concentration VFAs from wastewater. Under 20.0 V voltage, the acetate was concentrated by 4-fold and the propionate and butyrate were concentrated by over 3-fold in the integrated system after 528-h operation. The declined VFAs recovery ratios at the later stage due to significant reverse diffusion indicate a need to prevent product over-accumulation. This work demonstrated the feasibility of the acidogenesis-ED integrated reactor for wastewater valorization and discussed the remaining challenges and opportunities.
Related Concept Videos
The Integrated Rate Law: The Dependence of Concentration on Time
Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...
Volatilization
Concentration Cells
Consider the following voltaic cell:
Integration by Parts: Indefinite Integrals
Solution Concentration and Dilution

