Nitrification and denitrification in two-chamber microbial fuel cells for treatment of wastewater containing high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen

Effects of potassium-mediated electrical communication inhibition on nitrogen removal in microbial fuel cells

Potassium ion signaling mediates microbial communication in electroactive biofilms within microbial fuel cells (MFCs), but its role in nitrogen removal remains unclear. This study investigated the impact of inhibiting potassium signaling on nitrogen removal in MFCs using tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) as an inhibitor. Results demonstrated that 5 mM and 10 mM TEA reduced the maximum power generation of MFCs from 77.95 mW/cm2 to 57.18 mW/cm2 and 48.23 mW/cm2, respectively. Correspondingly, total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency was decreased from 46.57 ± 1.01% to 35.93 ± 0.63% and 38.97 ± 0.74%, respectively. This decline was attributed to inhibited potassium ion signaling, which compromised the electrochemical performance of the MFC and hindered the nitrogen removal process. The relative abundance of exoelectrogen Geobactor decreased from 15.37% to 5.17% and 8.05%, while the relative abundance of cathodic nitrifying bacteria Nitrosomonas decreased from 17.87% to 4.92% and 3.63% under 5 mM and 10 mM TEA. These findings underscore the crucial role of potassium ion signaling in enhancing the bioelectrochemical nitrogen removal process in MFCs.

Microbial nutrient recovery cell as an efficient and sustainable nutrient recovery option in sewage treatment

Globally, nutrient pollution is a serious and challenging concern. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are designed to prevent the discharge of contaminants resulting from anthropogenic sources to the receiving water bodies. In this study, seasonal nutrient pollution load, and biological nutrient removal efficiency of an anoxic aerobic unit based WWTP were investigated. Seasonal assessment revealed that the average total nitrogen removal efficiency and total phosphorus removal efficiency of the WWTP do not meet the discharge standard of 10 mg/L and 1 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, the WWTP does not utilize the energy contained in the wastewater. In this regard, dual chamber MFC (D-MFC) has emerged as a promising solution that can not only treat wastewater but can also convert chemical energy present in the wastewater into electrical energy. However, higher N O3- (57 ± 4 mg/L) and P-P O43- (6 ± 0.52 mg/L) concentration in cathodic effluent is a major drawback in D-MFC. Therefore, to solve this issue, D-MFC was transformed into a microbial nutrient recovery cell (MNRC) which demonstrated a final N H4+-N and P-P O43- concentration of nearly 1 mg/L with N H4+-N and P-P O43- recovery up to 74 % and 69 %, respectively in the recovery chamber. Besides, MNRC attained a maximum power density of 307 mW/m3 and a current density of 1614 mA/m3, thus indicating MNRC is an eco-friendly, energy-neutral, and promising technology for electricity generation and recovering nutrients.

Utilisation of waste medicine wrappers as an efficient low-cost electrode material for microbial fuel cell

Waste generation from healthcare facilities now has become a concerning issue as it contain plastic and metals. Medicine wrappers are one of the major portions of healthcare solid waste, which impel intensive solid waste management practice due to fewer possibilities of deriving by-products. However, it can be recycled and used as an electrode material in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). An electrode material for application in MFCs is a crucial component, which governs total fabrication cost as well as power recovery, thus a cost-effective, stable and durable electrode is essential. In this endeavour, a new metallic (aluminium) waste material, a waste medicine wrapper (WMW), was evaluated for feasibility to be used as anode/cathode in MFCs. Based on the stability test under corrosive environment (1 N KCl), the WMW electrode sustained a maximum current of 46 mA during cyclic voltammetry (CV) and noted only 14% reduction in current at an applied voltage of +0.4 V after 2500 s in chronoamperometry, indicating its good stability. Power recovery from MFC using WMW was higher than the MFC using bare carbon felt as an anode (27 vs. 21 mW/m²). The entire analytical test results viz. CV, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and power performance established WMW as an excellent anode rather than cathode material.

Relaxing the formation of hypoxic bottom water with sediment microbial fuel cells

The method of improving bottom water environment using industrial wastes to suppress diffusion substances from bottom sediment has recently captured the attention of many researchers. In this study, wastewater discharge-derived sediment was used to examine an alternative approach involving the use of sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) in relaxing the formation of hypoxic bottom water, and removing reduced substances from sediment. Concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) and other ions were measured in overlying water and sediment pore water with and without the application of SMFCs. The results suggest that SMFCs can markedly reduce hydrogen sulfide and manganese ion concentrations in overlying water, and decrease the depletions of redox potential and DO concentration. In addition, SMFCs can dissolve ferric compounds in the sediment and thereby release the ferric ion available to fix phosphate in the sediment. Our results indicate that SMFCs can be used as an alternative method to relax the formation of hypoxic bottom water and to remove reduced substances from the sediment, thus improving the quality of both water and sediment environments.

A novel poly ligand exchanger - Cu(II)-loaded chelating resin for the removal of ammonia-nitrogen in aqueous solutions

In this paper, a poly ligand exchanger, Cu(II)-loaded chelating resin bearing the functional group of weak iminodiacetate acid was prepared to efficiently remove ammonia from solutions. Batch adsorption equilibrium experiments were conducted under a range of conditions to determine the optimum adsorption conditions. The effects of contact time, pH, resin dosage and temperature on the removal of ammonia by a Cu(II)-loaded resin were determined. The maximum removal efficiency was reached at pH 9.5 at room temperature, 25°C, in 300 min. The maximum ammonia adsorption capacity was found to be 45.66 mg/L. The maximum adsorption capacities decreased with the increasing of solution temperature. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were used for fitting the adsorption experimental data without competing ions and the Langmuir isotherm model was proved to be the best-fitting model by comparing the corresponding correlation coefficients (R²) of the listed models. The effect of competing ions Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ on the adsorption of the Cu(II)-loaded resin for ammonia was investigated. The results showed that the existing of competing ions had a negative effect on the ammonia removal. The adsorption capacities decreased with the increasing concentration of competing ions. The Langmuir isotherm model was used to fit the experimental data and proved efficient. The existing of competing ions in solutions was unfavorable for ammonia adsorption and the weakening effect of bivalent Ca²⁺ was stronger than the monovalent Na⁺. The ammonia adsorption capacity was relatively high compared with other ammonia adsorbents and the Cu(II)-loaded resin was an economically feasible and promising technology for ammonia removal.

Removal of ammonia from aqueous solutions by ligand exchange onto a Cu(ii)-loaded chelating resin: kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics

A poly ligand exchanger (PLE), Cu(ii)-loaded chelating resin (ammonia adsorption reagent, named AMAR) was prepared to efficiently remove ammonia from solutions by ligand exchange.

Effects of varying the ratio of cooked to uncooked potato on the microbial fuel cell treatment of common potato waste

The effect of varying the ratio of cooked to uncooked potato in the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) treating common potato waste was investigated. Four MFCs were fed with a ratio of cooked (boiled) to uncooked (i.e. waste) potato of 0, 48.7, 67.3 and 85.6%. Respectively, the columbic efficiency was estimated as 53.5, 70.5, 92.7 and 71.1%, indicating significantly enhanced electricity generation and waste degradation at an initial feedstock mixing ratio of 2/3 cooked to 1/3 uncooked potato. The hydrolysis rate parameter (estimated using a first-order sequential hydrolysis and degradation model) increased from 0.061 to 0.191day(-1) as cooked potato was added which increased electricity generation efficiency from 24.6 to 278.9mA/m(2)/d and shortened the startup time for maximum current density from 25 to 5days. The potato slurries' chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased by 86.6, 83.9, 84.1 and 86.3%, respectively, indicating no relationship exists between the fraction of boiled potato and the amount of COD reduction.