Bioelectrochemical degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons: A critical review and future perspectives

As typical pollutants, petroleum hydrocarbons that are widely present in various environmental media such as soil, water, sediments, and air, seriously endanger living organisms and human health. In the meantime, as a green environmental technology that integrates pollutant removal and resource recovery, bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have been extensively applied to the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from the environment. This review introduces working principles of BESs, following which it discusses the different reactor structures, application progresses, and key optimization factors when treating water, sewage sludges, sediments, and soil. Furthermore, bibliometrics was first used in this field to analyze the evolution of knowledge structure and forecast future hot topics. The research focus has shifted from the early generation of bioelectric energy to exploring mechanisms of soil remediation and microbial metabolisms, which will be closely integrated in the future. Finally, the future prospects of this field are proposed. This review focuses on the research status of bioelectrochemical degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and provides a scientific reference for subsequent research.

Bio-electrical stimulation process on degradation of Phenanthrene from aqueous solution using a novel anode modified with carbon cloth: Operational performance, microbial activity and energy

Phenanthrene as the hazardous PAHs-component are extensively detected in industrial wastewater. However, the impacts of bioelectrostimulation process on Phenanthrene degradation in aerobic reactors remained unclear. Here, a novel bioelectrostimulation process equipped with carbon cloth as electrodes was developed to investigate the removal efficiency of Phenanthrene and ATPase enzyme activity in the synthetic wastewater. The results obtained from the present study indicated that a complete Phenanthrene degradation (100%) can be achieved using microbial electrostimulation systems steel mesh coated with carbon cloth (MES-CC) as anode under optimal operational conditions (electrical current: 4 mA, HA concentration: 15 mg L^-1) within 18 h. The conductive carbon cloth provides a biofilm carrier to easily transfer the electrons between electrodes and microbial communities. In addition, the highest ATPase enzyme activity (5176 U) was observed when the aerobic MES-CC reactors were operated with electrical current 4 mA. Furthermore, the COD removal efficiency in MES-CC increased from 49% to 96% when the C: N ratio decreased from 20 to 5. The highest value of V_max in MES-CC for suspended and attached growth were determined to be 2.87 and 0.54 g COD g^-1 biomass. Overall, the results demonstrated that MES equipped with carbon cloth and continuous electrical current mode has good potential for efficient Phenanthrene wastewater treatment.

The influence of combined low-strength ultrasonics and micro-aerobic pretreatment process on methane generation and sludge digestion: Lipase enzyme, microbial activation, and energy yield

Low-frequency ultrasonics is a potential technology to reduce the hydrolysis phase period in anaerobic digestion process. In this study, theinfluence of combined low frequency ultrasonics and micro-aerobic (MA) pretreatment on sewage sludge solubilization, enzyme activity and anaerobic digestion were assessed. Initially, the effect of ultrasonic density (0.012, 0.014, 0.016, 0.018, 0.1, 0.12 and 0.14 W/mL) and irradiation time (1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 12 min) of 20 kHz frequency waves were investigated. Accordingly, the effect of micro-aerobic pretreatment (Air flow rate (AFR) = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 VVM) within 20, 30, 40.48 and 60 h were examined. In addition, the effect of combined pretreatment on COD solubilization, lipase enzyme activation, ATP, percentage of live bacteria and methane gas production during the anaerobic process were examined. The results showed that the highest lipase activity (14.9 Umol/mL) was obtained under the effect of ultrasonic density of 0.1 W/ml within 9 min. The highest solubilization (65%) was observed under optimal micro-aerobic conditions: AFR = 0.2 (VVM) and micro-aerobic time: 40 h. Combined ultrasonic and micro-aerobic (US + MA) pretreatment increases the solubilization (70%), microbial activity (2080%) and lipase enzymatic activity (129%) compared to individual pretreatment. The Biogas production during anaerobic digestion pretreated with combined methods increased by 193% compared to the control, while the elevated values of biogas production in reactors pretreated by ultrasonic and micro-aerobic pretreatment alone were observed to be 101% and 165%, respectively. The net energy in reactor with the combined pre-treatment methods was calculated to be 1.26 kWh, while this value for control, pretreated ultrasonic and micro-aerobic reactors were obtained to be 0.56, 0.67 and 1.2 kWh, respectively.

Treatment of re-refining effluent from lubricating oils by combining electrocoagulation and coagulation-flocculation processes

A combination of electrocoagulation and coagulation-flocculation processes was used for re-refining effluent from lubricating oils. The efficiency of the process was evaluated based on the chemical oxygen demand (COD), color, and turbidity of the refined effluent. Electrocoagulation (EC) and coagulation-flocculation parameters, such as the initial pH (3.00, 4.41, and 9.00), and current density (4, 9, and 16 A/m²), and the use of aluminum polychloride coagulant and superfloc A300 flocculant were studied. EC performed at pH 9, with a current density of 16 A/m² and 7 V, resulted in removal efficiencies of 85.14%, 99.81%, and 99.85%, for COD, color, and turbidity, respectively. The removal efficiencies increased to 96%, 99.87%, and 99.94% for COD, color, and turbidity, respectively, by the further coagulation-flocculation treatment in the presence of 13.8 mg/L aluminum polychloride coagulant and 80 mg/L Superfloc A300 flocculant.

Metabolic activity and pathway study of aspirin biodegradation using a microbial electrochemical system supplied by an alternating current

The main aim of this study is to investigate the biodegradation of highly concentrated aspirin as an emerging pollutant from aqueous solution using an alternating current microbial electrochemical system. A single-chamber Plexiglas cylindrical reactor equipped with stainless steel mesh electrodes (18 cm height × 16 cm diameter) was applied as the bioreactor in batch mode with an effective volume of 5 L, height of 20 cm, and the diameter about 20 cm by AMPL = 2 V_pp, OFST = 0.1 V, waveform = sinusoidal, frequency = 10 Hz, and pH = 7. The process parameters including initial concentration (100-400 mg L^-1), chemical oxygen demand (COD), activity of enzymes, biokinetic and pathway studies at very low voltage and very low frequency alternating current were investigated. The specific biodegradation rate of aspirin was calculated based on Michaelis-Menten model. The complete aspirin removal efficiency and the maximum enzymatic activity were achieved at 250 mg L^-1 aspirin, voltage of 2 V_pp and applied current = 3 mA during 6 h. The bioassay of aspirin concentrations in biofilm of the system using flow cytometry analysis resulted in the live and necrotic cells shares of 96.2%, and 0.44%, respectively. Moreover, the LC and GC-MS analysis showed low molecular weight acids such as oxalic and acetic acid at 6 h time under the optimal conditions using very low applied voltage and frequency. Obtaining low reaction time for degradation, high potential in biodegradation, oxidation and mineralization ability were the novelty of treatment system with high concentration aspirin in the study.

Effect of isoelectric point on cheese whey wastewater treatment using a microbial electrochemical system

In this study, a microbial electrochemical system (MES) was employed to investigate the effect of isoelectric point (IEP) on cheese whey wastewater treatment. The experiments were carried out in a bioreactor equipped with a semicircular carbon cloth and stainless steel electrodes as anode and cathode, respectively. The effects of IEP, whey protein concentration, electrical current, and time were studied. The IEP of the whey protein was determined at pH 5.9. The optimum electrical current was obtained at 6 mA for synthetic cheese whey wastewater. The results of rotary exponential doping showed that the third structure of proteins chenges to the second structure at the IEP. The highest protein removal (98%) was obtained at pH 6. The results showed that 76%, 83%, and 98% protein removal were achieved at 2, 4, and 8 h, respectively.

Effect of alternating electrical current on denitrifying bacteria in a microbial electrochemical system: biofilm viability and ATP assessment

The present study considers the impact of the alternating electric current on the viability and biological activity of denitrifying bacteria in a microbial electrochemical system (MES). The bio-stimulation using low-frequency low-voltage alternating current (AC) was studied in terms of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level of bacteria, viability, morphological characteristics, cell size, and complexity. Apoptosis assays by flow cytometry revealed that 81-95% of the cells were non-apoptotic, and cell membrane damage occurred < 18%. The applied AC could affect the bacterial metabolic activity and ATP content in the denitrifying bacteria depending on characteristics of the alternating electric current. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of cell morphology illustrated low cell deformations under AC stimulation. The obtained results revealed that the applied alternating electrical current could increase the metabolic activity of denitrifying bacteria, leading to a better denitrification. Graphical abstract ᅟ.