1
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We ACE, Stickland AD, Clarke BO, Freguia S. The role of suspended biomass in PFAS enrichment in wastewater treatment foams. Water Res 2024; 254:121349. [PMID: 38401288 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Foaming in aerated bioreactors at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been identified as an operational issue for decades. However, the affinity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for air-liquid interfaces suggests that foam harvesting has the potential to become a sustainable method for PFAS removal from sewage. Aerated bioreactors' foams are considered three-phase systems, comprising air, aqueous and solid components, the latter consisting of activated sludge biomass. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the capability of aerated bioreactors' foams to enrich PFAS, we analysed PFAS concentrations from WWTPs in both the solid and aqueous phases of the collapsed foams (foamate) and underlying bulk mixed liquors. Our findings show that PFAS enrichment occurs not only in the aqueous phase but also in the solid phase of the foamate. This suggests that previous field studies that only analysed the aqueous phase may have underestimated the capability of the aerated bioreactors' foams to enrich PFAS. Fractions of PFOA and PFOS sorbed to the solid phase of the foamate can be as high as 60 % and 95 %, respectively. Our findings highlight the importance of implementing effective foamate management strategies that consider both the aqueous and solid phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angel Chyi En We
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia; Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Anthony D Stickland
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Bradley O Clarke
- Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
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2
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Koskue V, Freguia S. Optimised start-up strategy for bioelectrochemical systems operating on hydrolysed human urine. Bioelectrochemistry 2024; 158:108706. [PMID: 38608340 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2024.108706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2024] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Key nutrients, such as nitrogen measured as total ammonium nitrogen (TAN), could be recycled from hydrolysed human urine back to fertiliser use. Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) are an interesting, low-energy option for realising this. However, the high TAN concentration (> 5 g L-1) and pH (> 9) of hydrolysed urine can inhibit microbial growth and hinder the enrichment of an electroactive biofilm at the anode. This study investigated a new strategy for bioanode inoculation by mixing real hydrolysed urine with thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) from a municipal wastewater treatment plant at different volumetric ratios. The addition of TWAS diluted the high TAN concentration of hydrolysed urine (5.2 ± 0.3 g L-1) to 2.6-5.1 g L-1, while the pH of the inoculation mixtures remained > 9 and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) at 5.6-6.7 g L-1. Despite the high pH, current generation started within 24 h for all reactors, and robust bioanodes tolerant of continuous feeding with undiluted hydrolysed urine were enriched within 11 days of start-up. Current output and Coulombic efficiency decreased with increasing initial hydrolysed urine fraction. The anodes inoculated with the highest sCOD-to-TAN ratio (2.1) performed the best, which suggests that high organics levels can protect microbes from inhibition even at elevated TAN concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veera Koskue
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
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3
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We ACE, Zamyadi A, Stickland AD, Clarke BO, Freguia S. A review of foam fractionation for the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from aqueous matrices. J Hazard Mater 2024; 465:133182. [PMID: 38071776 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.133182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
The detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aqueous matrices is an emerging environmental concern due to their persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic properties. Foam fractionation has emerged as a viable method for removing and concentrating PFAS from aqueous matrices. The method exploits the surface-active nature of the PFAS to adsorb at the air-liquid interfaces of rising air bubbles, resulting in foam formation at the top of a foam fractionator. The removal of PFAS is then achieved through foam harvesting. Foam fractionation has gained increasing attention owing to its inherent advantages, including simplicity and low operational costs. The coupling of foam fractionation with destructive technologies could potentially serve as a comprehensive treatment train for future PFAS management in aqueous matrices. The PFAS-enriched foam, which has a smaller volume, can be directed to subsequent destructive treatment technologies. In this review, we delve into previous experiences with foam fractionation for PFAS removal from various aqueous matrices and critically analyse their key findings. Then, the recent industry advancements and commercial projects that utilise this technology are identified. Finally, future research needs are suggested based on the current challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angel Chyi En We
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Arash Zamyadi
- Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Anthony D Stickland
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Bradley O Clarke
- Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
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4
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Li X, Liu Y, Li X, Qin Z, Su Y, Freguia S, Feng L, Chen Y. Phenanthrene regulates metabolic pathways for hydrogen accumulation in sludge alkaline dark fermentation. Bioresour Technol 2023:129311. [PMID: 37311531 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The influence of phenanthrene (PHE), a general polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in waste activated sludge, on sludge alkaline dark fermentation for hydrogen accumulation was investigated prospectively. The yield of hydrogen was 16.2 mL/g TSS with 50 mg/kg TSS PHE, which was 1.3-fold greater than that of the control. Mechanism research demonstrated that hydrogen production and the abundance of functional microorganisms were facilitated, whereas those of homoacetogenesis were reduced. The activity of pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase in the conversion of pyruvate to reduced ferredoxin for hydrogen production was promoted by 57.2%, and that of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase, closely associated with hydrogen consumption, was suppressed by 60.5% and 55.9%, respectively. Moreover, the encoding genes involved in pyruvate metabolism were significantly up-regulated, while genes related to consuming hydrogen to reduce carbon dioxide and produce 5-methyltetrahydrofolate were down-regulated. This study notably illustrates the effect of PHE on hydrogen accumulation from metabolic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Yin Liu
- Downhole Technical Service Branch, Bohai Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd, National Petroleum Corporation, 8, Second Street, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin 300450, China
| | - Xuyao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Zhiyi Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Yu Su
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Leiyu Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Yinguang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
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5
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Yuan F, Sun Y, Jiang X, Liu T, Kang B, Freguia S, Feng L, Chen Y. Dioctyl phthalate enhances volatile fatty acids production from sludge anaerobic fermentation: Insights of electron transport and metabolic functions. Sci Total Environ 2023; 859:160102. [PMID: 36370796 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
As one of the most widely used phthalate plasticizers, dioctyl phthalate (DOP) has been detected in wastewater and accumulates in sludge through wastewater treatment, which may adversely affect further sludge treatment. However, the role of DOP on sludge anaerobic fermentation and its mechanism are not yet clear. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of DOP on the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) generation via the anaerobic fermentation of sludge. The results demonstrated that the presence of DOP had a considerable contribution to the generation of VFAs, and the maximum production of VFAs reached 4769 mg COD/L at 500 mg/kg DOP, which was 1.57 folds that of the control. Mechanistic investigation showed that DOP mainly enhanced the hydrolysis, acidification and related enzymes activities of sludge. VFAs-producing microorganisms (e.g., Clostridium and Conexibacter) were also enriched under DOP exposure. Importantly, the presence of DOP increased the electron transfer activity by 26 %, consequently facilitating the organics conversion and fermentation process. Notably, the functional gene expressions involved in substrate metabolism and VFAs biosynthesis were enhanced with DOP, resulting in increased VFAs production from sludge. The results obtained in this study offered a new strategy for the control of pollutants and the recycling of valuable products from sludge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feiyi Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Yi Sun
- Downhole Technical Service Branch, Bohai Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd, National Petroleum Corporation, 8, Second Street, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin 300450, PR China
| | - Xiupeng Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Tao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China
| | - Bo Kang
- School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui Province 230009, PR China
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Leiyu Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China.
| | - Yinguang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China
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6
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Koskue V, Pyrhönen VP, Freguia S, Ledezma P, Kokko M. Modelling and techno-economic assessment of (bio)electrochemical nitrogen removal and recovery from reject water at full WWTP scale. J Environ Manage 2022; 319:115747. [PMID: 35849924 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
At conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), reject waters originating from the dewatering of anaerobically digested sludge contain the highest nitrogen concentrations within the plant and thereby have potential for realising nitrogen recovery in a reusable form. At the same time, nitrogen removal from reject waters has potential to reduce the energetic and chemical demands of the WWTP due to a reduced nutrient load to the activated sludge process. In recent years, (bio)electrochemical methods have been extensively studied for nitrogen recovery from reject waters in laboratory-scale but not yet implemented in real WWTP environments, particularly due to concerns about the need for large capital investments. This study assessed the techno-economic feasibility of retrofitting a (bio)electrochemical nitrogen removal and recovery (NRR) unit into the reject water circulation line of a full-scale WWTP through modelling. Data from laboratory-scale (bio)electroconcentration ((B)EC) experiments was used to construct a simple, semi-empirical model block integrated into the Benchmark Simulation Model No. 2 (BSM2) simulating a generalised WWTP. The effects of nitrogen removal from the reject water on both the effluent quality and operational costs of the WWTP were assessed and compared to the BSM2 performance without an NRR unit. In all studied scenarios, the effluent quality index was improved by 4-11%, while both the aeration (7-19% decrease) and carbon (24-71%) requirements were reduced. The additional energy consumed by the NRR unit increased the total operational cost index by >18%, but the revenue assumed for the generated nutrient product (20 EUR kgN-1) was enough to make the BEC-NRR scenarios at realistically low current densities (1 and 5 A m-2) economically attractive compared to the control. A sensitivity analysis revealed that electricity price and nutrient product value had the most notable effects on the feasibility of the NRR unit. The results suggest a key factor in making (bio)electrochemical NRR economically viable is to reduce its electricity consumption further, while the anticipated increases in nitrogen fertiliser prices can help accelerate the adoption of these methods in larger scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veera Koskue
- Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, 33720 Tampere, Finland.
| | - Veli-Pekka Pyrhönen
- Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, 33720 Tampere, Finland
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, University of Queensland, Gehrmann Laboratories Building (60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Marika Kokko
- Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, 33720 Tampere, Finland
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7
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Monetti J, Nieradzik L, Freguia S, Choi PM, O'Brien JW, Thomas KV, Ledezma P. Urea hydrolysis and long-term storage of source-separated urine for reuse as fertiliser is insufficient for the removal of anthropogenic micropollutants. Water Res 2022; 222:118891. [PMID: 35907300 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Human and animal source-separated urine, stored and allowed to naturally hydrolyse (the bio-catalysed transformation of urea to ammonia and bicarbonate), has been used for millennia as a fertiliser in agriculture. In a context of growing water scarcity and climate uncertainty, source-separation of urine is facing a strong revival thanks to the emergence of cost-effective waterless collection systems. Concomitantly, urine source-separation can be used as a method for nutrient recovery and subsequent reuse. In its simplest form, such recovery consists of collection followed by urea hydrolysis and storage as sole treatment. Numerous guidelines, including by the World Health Organisation, consider that this is sufficient to stabilise the nutrients and inactivate any potential pathogens in the urine. However, it is still unclear whether said urine is effectively free from other compounds of concern, such as anthropogenic micropollutants with known toxicological effects. Moreover, it is also currently unknown if the metabolites produced by human consumption of these products behave in similar way during short- and long-term storage i.e. whether any changes in chemical structure mean that these could be sorbed and/or precipitated in a different way, or if they can potentially be degraded by the biomass inherently present in urine collection systems. Finally, there is currently no knowledge of whether the observed concentrations of micropollutants in stored hydrolysed urine could potentially have toxicological effects if/when applied to soils and edible crops. To fill these research gaps, 20 commonly consumed compounds were selected in this study and their concentrations in the liquid and solid phases studied in the short- and long-term (up to ≥ 2 years). During the initial process of urea hydrolysis (≤ 5 days), ethyl-glucuronide was the sole compound effectively removed (by deconjugation), while only two other compounds, erythromycin and its metabolite, saw a reduction in their concentration (likely due to biomass sorption). Subsequently, during early storage (≤ 15 days), only three additional compounds were removed: paracetamol (> 99%), acesulfame (11.5%) and carbamazepine-10,11 epoxide (40.7%). Finally, long-term storage of up to 24 months did not result in any further significant removal for any of the measured compounds, indicating that the procedure of hydrolysis + storage is not effective for the removal of anthropogenic micropollutants. The results of this investigation raise strong concerns about the direct reuse of hydrolysed/stored human source-separated urine, and evidence the need for post-processing before implementation as fertiliser into edible crops due to the inherent toxicological risk, particularly to infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliette Monetti
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Ludwika Nieradzik
- Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services, 39 Kessels Rd, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Jake W O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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8
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Badeti U, Jiang J, Almuntashiri A, Pathak N, Dorji U, Volpin F, Freguia S, Ang WL, Chanan A, Kumarasingham S, Shon HK, Phuntsho S. Impact of source-separation of urine on treatment capacity, process design, and capital expenditure of a decentralised wastewater treatment plant. Chemosphere 2022; 300:134489. [PMID: 35430202 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2022] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
In this study, the impact of urine diversion on the treatment capacity, treatment process, and capital costs of a decentralised wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was simulated using BioWin. The data for simulation including for economic analysis were obtained from a real decentralised WWTP at Sydney. Simulation was conducted for two alternative process design scenarios of a WWTP: membrane bioreactor (MBR) without denitrification and anaerobic MBR in place of aerobic MBR and compared to existing process design. The simulation shows that with about 75% urine diversion (through source separation), the treatment capacity of the existing WWTP can be doubled although above 40% urine diversion, the impact appears less rapid. When the urine diversion exceeds 75%, it was found that the anoxic tank for biological denitrification becomes redundant and the current wastewater treatment process could be replaced with a simpler and much less aeration intensive membrane bioreactor (MBR) producing similar effluent quality with a 24% reduction in capital expenditure (footprint) cost. Anaerobic MBR can be a potential alternative to aerobic MBR although pre-treatment becomes essential before reverse osmosis treatment for water reuse applications. Sensitivity analysis has revealed that by operating the bioreactor at higher mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (9 g/L instead of 5 g/L) could help increase the WWTP treatment capacity by about 3.5 times at 75% urine diversion. Hence, urine diversion (until nitrogen-limiting conditions occur above 75% urine diversion) can increase the treatment capacity of an existing WWTP and reduce the capital expenses due to reduced plant footprint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umakant Badeti
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Jiaxi Jiang
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Abdulaziz Almuntashiri
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Nirenkumar Pathak
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Ugyen Dorji
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Federico Volpin
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Wei Lun Ang
- Centre for Sustainable Process Technology (CESPRO), Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
| | | | | | - Ho Kyong Shon
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia
| | - Sherub Phuntsho
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.
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Veciana M, Bräunig J, Farhat A, Pype ML, Freguia S, Carvalho G, Keller J, Ledezma P. Electrochemical oxidation processes for PFAS removal from contaminated water and wastewater: fundamentals, gaps and opportunities towards practical implementation. J Hazard Mater 2022; 434:128886. [PMID: 35436757 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Electrochemical oxidation (EO) is emerging as one of the most promising methods for the degradation of recalcitrant per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in water and wastewater, as these compounds cannot be effectively treated with conventional bio- or chemical approaches. This review examines the state of the art of EO for PFASs destruction, and comprehensively compares operating parameters and treatment performance indicators for both synthetic and real contaminated water and wastewater media. The evaluation shows the need to use environmentally-relevant media to properly quantify the effectiveness/efficiency of EO for PFASs treatment. Additionally, there is currently a lack of quantification of sorption losses, resulting in a likely over-estimation of process' efficiencies. Furthermore, the majority of experimental results to date indicate that short-chain PFASs are the most challenging and need to be prioritized as environmental regulations become more stringent. Finally, and with a perspective towards practical implementation, several operational strategies are proposed, including processes combining up-concentration followed by EO destruction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mersabel Veciana
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Jennifer Bräunig
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Ali Farhat
- GHD Pty Ltd, Brisbane QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Marie-Laure Pype
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Gilda Carvalho
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jürg Keller
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.
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Virdis B, Hoelzle R, Marchetti A, Boto ST, Rosenbaum MA, Blasco-Gómez R, Puig S, Freguia S, Villano M. Electro-fermentation: Sustainable bioproductions steered by electricity. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 59:107950. [PMID: 35364226 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The market of biobased products obtainable via fermentation processes is steadily increasing over the past few years, driven by the need to create a decarbonized economy. To date, industrial fermentation (IF) employs either pure or mixed microbial cultures (MMC) whereby the type of the microbial catalysts and the used feedstock affect metabolic pathways and, in turn, the type of product(s) generated. In many cases, especially when dealing with MMC, the economic viability of IF is hindered by factors such as the low attained product titer and selectivity, which ultimately challenge the downstream recovery and purification steps. In this context, electro-fermentation (EF) represents an innovative approach, based on the use of a polarized electrode interface to trigger changes in the rate, yield, titer or product distribution deriving from traditional fermentation processes. In principle, the electrode in EF can act as an electron acceptor (i.e., anodic electro-fermentation, AEF) or donor (i.e., cathodic electro-fermentation, CEF), or simply as a mean to control the oxidation-reduction potential of the fermentation broth. However, the molecular and biochemical basis underlying the EF process are still largely unknown. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent literature studies including both AEF and CEF examples with either pure or mixed microbial cultures. A critical analysis of biochemical, microbiological, and engineering aspects which presently hamper the transition of the EF technology from the laboratory to the market is also presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardino Virdis
- Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (ACWEB, formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Robert Hoelzle
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Angela Marchetti
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Santiago T Boto
- Bio Pilot Plant, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI), 07745 Jena, Germany; Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University (FSU), 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Miriam A Rosenbaum
- Bio Pilot Plant, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI), 07745 Jena, Germany; Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University (FSU), 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Ramiro Blasco-Gómez
- LEQUIA, Institute of the Environment, University of Girona, Maria Aurèlia Capmany 69, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Sebastià Puig
- LEQUIA, Institute of the Environment, University of Girona, Maria Aurèlia Capmany 69, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Marianna Villano
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
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11
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Mainardis M, Cecconet D, Moretti A, Callegari A, Goi D, Freguia S, Capodaglio AG. Wastewater fertigation in agriculture: Issues and opportunities for improved water management and circular economy. Environ Pollut 2022; 296:118755. [PMID: 34971741 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Water shortages are an issue of growing worldwide concern. Irrigated agriculture accounts for about 70% of total freshwater withdrawals globally, therefore alternatives to use of conventional sources need to be investigated. This paper critically reviews the application of treated wastewater for agricultural fertigation (i.e., water and nutrient recovery) considering different perspectives: legislation, agronomic characteristics, social acceptability, sustainability of treatment technologies. Critical issues that still need further investigation for a wider application of fertigation practices include accumulation of emerging contaminants in soils, microbiological and public health implications, and stakeholders' acceptance. A techno-economic methodological approach for assessing the sustainability of treated wastewater reuse in agriculture is subsequently proposed herein, which considers different possible local conditions (cultivated crops and effluent characteristics). The results showed that tailoring effluent characteristics to the desired nutrient composition could enhance the process economic sustainability; however, water savings have a major economic impact than fertilizers' savings, partly due to limited P reuse efficiency. The developed methodology is based on a practical approach and may be generalized to most agricultural conditions, to evaluate and encourage safe and efficient agricultural wastewater reuse practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matia Mainardis
- Department Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Via Del Cotonificio 108, 33100, Udine, Italy.
| | - Daniele Cecconet
- Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Adolfo Ferrata 3, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - Alessandro Moretti
- Department Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Via Del Cotonificio 108, 33100, Udine, Italy
| | - Arianna Callegari
- Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Adolfo Ferrata 3, 27100, Pavia, Italy
| | - Daniele Goi
- Department Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Via Del Cotonificio 108, 33100, Udine, Italy
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Andrea G Capodaglio
- Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Adolfo Ferrata 3, 27100, Pavia, Italy
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12
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Vaughan L, Zamyadi A, Ajjampur S, Almutaram H, Freguia S. A review of microscopic cell imaging and neural network recognition for synergistic cyanobacteria identification and enumeration. ANAL SCI 2022; 38:261-279. [PMID: 35286640 PMCID: PMC8938360 DOI: 10.1007/s44211-021-00013-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AbstractReal-time cyanobacteria/algal monitoring is a valuable tool for early detection of harmful algal blooms, water treatment efficacy evaluation, and assists tailored water quality risk assessments by considering taxonomy and cell counts. This review evaluates and proposes a synergistic approach using neural network image recognition and microscopic imaging devices by first evaluating published literature for both imaging microscopes and image recognition. Quantitative phase imaging was considered the most promising of the investigated imaging techniques due to the provision of enhanced information relative to alternatives. This information provides significant value to image recognition neural networks, such as the convolutional neural networks discussed within this review. Considering published literature, a cyanobacteria monitoring system and corresponding image processing workflow using in situ sample collection buoys and on-shore sample processing was proposed. This system can be implemented using commercially available equipment to facilitate accurate, real-time water quality monitoring.
Graphical abstract
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Affiliation(s)
- Liam Vaughan
- Water Research Australia, Level 2, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia.
| | - Arash Zamyadi
- Water Research Australia, Level 2, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Suraj Ajjampur
- Water Research Australia, Level 2, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia
| | - Husein Almutaram
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A4, Canada
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
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13
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Ren J, Hao D, Jiang J, Phuntsho S, Freguia S, Ni BJ, Dai P, Guan J, Shon HK. Fertiliser recovery from source-separated urine via membrane bioreactor and heat localized solar evaporation. Water Res 2021; 207:117810. [PMID: 34741901 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Urine with its abundant macronutrients (N-P-K) is an ideal resource for the production of fertiliser. However, the odor and pathogens in the raw urine must be removed to meet the public acceptance of urine collection systems and to enable its safe reuse as a fertiliser. In this work, real urine was collected and treated through a pilot-scale gravity-driven membrane bioreactor (GDMBR) to remove the malodorous organics and to nitrify almost 50% of the ammonia into nitrate. The stablised urine was subsequently distilled via low-cost heat localized solar evaporation (HLSE) to produce a non-odorous solid fertiliser. The developed HLSE with a small footprint can attract bulk solution into a vertical insulated space and quickly heat it up to 68 °C within 1 h. The HLSE process had vapour flux at 1.3 kg m-2 h-1 as well as high solar to vapour conversion efficiency at 87%. Based on the EDX mapping and XRD analysis, the generated crystals are mainly NaNO3, NH4Cl, NaCl, NH4H2PO4 and K2HPO4, which are ideal nutrients for vegetation. In this study, the produced urine-derived fertilisers have a better performance on the growth of the leafy basil than the all-purpose commercial fertilisers. Generally, the GDMBR-HLSE is a promising cost-effective and green technology for nutrients recovery from urine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Ren
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia; College of Architecture & Civil Engineering, Faculty of Urban Construction, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
| | - Derek Hao
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Jiaxi Jiang
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Sherub Phuntsho
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia
| | - Bing-Jie Ni
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Pan Dai
- Beijing Origin Water Membrane Technology Company Ltd., Beijing 101400, China
| | - Jing Guan
- Beijing Origin Water Membrane Technology Company Ltd., Beijing 101400, China
| | - Ho Kyong Shon
- ARC Research Hub in Nutrients in a Circular Economy, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
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14
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Monetti J, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Optimised operational parameters for improved nutrient recovery from hydrolysed urine by bio-electroconcentration. Sep Purif Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2021.119793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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15
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Jermakka J, Thompson Brewster E, Freguia S, Ledezma P, Kokko M. Electro-concentration of urine designed for separation of sodium from nitrogen. Sep Purif Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2021.119275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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16
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Freguia S, Sharma K, Benichou O, Mulliss M, Shon HK. Sustainable engineering of sewers and sewage treatment plants for scenarios with urine diversion. J Hazard Mater 2021; 415:125609. [PMID: 33721777 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Urine diversion (UD) has been studied for decades as a way to enable distributed sanitation and to recycle nutrients onto land to fuel circular economies. No study to date has attempted a quantitative technical and economic analysis of the downstream effects of UD on sewage transport and treatment. This work used the SeweX model to reveal for the first time that through UD, hydrogen sulfide concentration in sewer headspaces can be reduced, and consequently sewer corrosion can be reduced. For a long rising main of 5 km, sewer headspace H2S can be reduced from 280 ppm to 200 ppm by diverting 75% of the urine. The same scenario enables the reduction of sewer corrosion from 12 to 10 mm/yr. Modeling sewage treatment plants with BioWin showed that sewage treatment responds to UD with a sharp reduction of the anoxic volume and a decrease of energy requirement by up to 50% at 75% UD. An upgrade of bioreactors to increase capacity by 20% can be completely avoided if 7% of the catchment's urine is diverted. Reductions in upgrade expenditure by up to 75% can provide the economic incentive for the uptake of UD.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
| | - K Sharma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - O Benichou
- Jacobs Engineering, Level 7, 32 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, Australia
| | - M Mulliss
- Urban Utilities, Level 2, 15 Green Square Close, Fortitude Valley, 4006 QLD, Australia
| | - H K Shon
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
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17
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Blázquez E, Gabriel D, Baeza JA, Guisasola A, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Implementation of a Sulfide-Air Fuel Cell Coupled to a Sulfate-Reducing Biocathode for Elemental Sulfur Recovery. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18:ijerph18115571. [PMID: 34071068 PMCID: PMC8197079 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Bio-electrochemical systems (BES) are a flexible biotechnological platform that can be employed to treat several types of wastewaters and recover valuable products concomitantly. Sulfate-rich wastewaters usually lack an electron donor; for this reason, implementing BES to treat the sulfate and the possibility of recovering the elemental sulfur (S0) offers a solution to this kind of wastewater. This study proposes a novel BES configuration that combines bio-electrochemical sulfate reduction in a biocathode with a sulfide–air fuel cell (FC) to recover S0. The proposed system achieved high elemental sulfur production rates (up to 386 mg S0-S L−1 d−1) with 65% of the sulfate removed recovered as S0 and a 12% lower energy consumption per kg of S0 produced (16.50 ± 0.19 kWh kg−1 S0-S) than a conventional electrochemical S0 recovery system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enric Blázquez
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (D.G.); (J.A.B.); (A.G.)
- Correspondence:
| | - David Gabriel
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (D.G.); (J.A.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Juan Antonio Baeza
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (D.G.); (J.A.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Albert Guisasola
- GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (D.G.); (J.A.B.); (A.G.)
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia; (P.L.); (S.F.)
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia; (P.L.); (S.F.)
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18
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Hernandez P, Zhou M, Vassilev I, Freguia S, Zhang Y, Keller J, Ledezma P, Virdis B. Selective Extraction of Medium-Chain Carboxylic Acids by Electrodialysis and Phase Separation. ACS Omega 2021; 6:7841-7850. [PMID: 33778296 PMCID: PMC7992139 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c00397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Carboxylic acids obtained via the microbial electrochemical conversion of waste gases containing carbon dioxide (i.e., microbial electrosynthesis) can be used in lieu of nonrenewable building-block chemicals in the manufacture of a variety of products. When targeting valuable medium-chain carboxylic acids such as caproic acid, electricity-driven fermentations can be limited by the accumulation of fermentation products in the culturing media, often resulting in low volumetric productivities and titers due to direct toxicity or inhibition of the biocatalyst. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a simple electrodialysis system in upconcentrating carboxylic acids from a model solution mimicking the effluent of a microbial electrochemical system producing short- and medium-chain carboxylic acids. Under batch extraction conditions, the electrodialysis scheme enabled the recovery of 60% (mol mol-1) of the total carboxylic acids present in the model fermentation broth. The particular arrangement of conventional monopolar ion exchange membranes and hydraulic recirculation loops allowed the progressive acidification of the extraction solution, enabling phase separation of caproic acid as an immiscible oil with 76% purity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula
Andrea Hernandez
- Advanced
Water Management Centre, The University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Miaomiao Zhou
- Shandong
University, 72 Binhai Road, Jimo District, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Igor Vassilev
- Faculty
of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere
University, P.O. Box 589, Tampere FI-33014, Finland
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Yang Zhang
- College
of Environment and Safety Engineering, Qingdao
University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced
Water Management Centre, The University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced
Water Management Centre, The University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Bernardino Virdis
- Advanced
Water Management Centre, The University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
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19
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Song P, Xiao Y, Ren ZJ, Brooks JP, Lu L, Zhou B, Zhou Y, Freguia S, Liu Z, Zhang N, Li Y. Electrochemical biofilm control by reconstructing microbial community in agricultural water distribution systems. J Hazard Mater 2021; 403:123616. [PMID: 32781280 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Biofilm causes considerable technical challenges in agricultural water distribution systems. Electrochemical treatment (ECT) is a potential technique for controlling biofilm in the systems. Given the limited information on how ECT performance changes of irrigation systems and microbial biofilm community shifts. In this study, the effect of anti-biofilm was assessed. Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing, combined with molecular ecological network analysis, were applied to detect the effects of ECT on attached biofilm microbial communities. We found that ECT effectively mitigated biofilm formation with the fixed-biofilm biomass reduced by 37.5 %-79.9 %. ECT significantly shifted the bacterial community structures in the biofilm, reduced the communities' diversity, and changed the dominant species. Molecular ecological network analysis showed that the complexity and size of bacterial networks were destabilized under ECT and decreased the interactions among bacterial species. The reconstruction in bacterial community and networks were responsible for the decline in extracellular polymer substances and biofilm biomass. However, chlorine-resistant bacteria were found increased after ECT, and higher relative abundance and low biofilm removal was identified in continuous ECT as compared with intermittent ECT. These results aimed to highlight the opportunity for biofouling mitigation by ECT for irrigation systems, and reveal the potential anti-biofilm microbial mechanisms of ECT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Song
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yang Xiao
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Zhiyong Jason Ren
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, United States
| | - John P Brooks
- Genetics and Sustainable Agricultural Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture, Starkville, MS 39762, USA
| | - Lu Lu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, United States
| | - Bo Zhou
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yunpeng Zhou
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhidan Liu
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Ning Zhang
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yunkai Li
- College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
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20
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Tokunou Y, Vieira Lemos R, Tsujimura S, Okamoto A, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Synechococcus
and Other Bloom‐Forming Cyanobacteria Exhibit Unique Redox Signatures. ChemElectroChem 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.202001274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihide Tokunou
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennodai Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8572 Japan
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics National Institute for Materials Science 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
| | - Rita Vieira Lemos
- Advanced Water Management Centre The University of Queensland Brisbane 4072 Queensland Australia
| | - Seiya Tsujimura
- Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennodai Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8573 Japan
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics National Institute for Materials Science 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
- School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering Hokkaido University 13 Kita, 8 Nishi, Kita-ku Sapporo Hokkaido 060-8628 Japan
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre The University of Queensland Brisbane 4072 Queensland Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering The University of Melbourne Melbourne 3010 Victoria Australia
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21
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Tokunou Y, Vieira Lemos R, Tsujimura S, Okamoto A, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Cover Feature:
Synechococcus
and Other Bloom‐Forming Cyanobacteria Exhibit Unique Redox Signatures (ChemElectroChem 2/2021). ChemElectroChem 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.202001558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihide Tokunou
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennodai Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8572 Japan
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics National Institute for Materials Science 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
| | - Rita Vieira Lemos
- Advanced Water Management Centre The University of Queensland Brisbane 4072 Queensland Australia
| | - Seiya Tsujimura
- Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennodai Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8573 Japan
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics National Institute for Materials Science 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0044 Japan
- School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering Hokkaido University 13 Kita, 8 Nishi, Kita-ku Sapporo Hokkaido 060-8628 Japan
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre The University of Queensland Brisbane 4072 Queensland Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering The University of Melbourne Melbourne 3010 Victoria Australia
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22
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Brewster ET, Freguia S, Edraki M, Berry L, Ledezma P. Staged electrochemical treatment guided by modelling allows for targeted recovery of metals and rare earth elements from acid mine drainage. J Environ Manage 2020; 275:111266. [PMID: 32846359 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a challenge for current and legacy mining operations worldwide given its potential to severely harm ecosystems and communities if inadequately managed. Treatment costs for AMD are amongst the highest in the industrial wastewater treatment sector, with limited sustainable options available to date. This work demonstrates a novel chemical-free approach to tackle AMD, whereby staged electrochemical neutralisation is employed to treat AMD and concomitantly recover metals as precipitates. This approach was guided by physico-chemical modelling and tested on real AMD from two different legacy mine sites in Australia, and compared against conventional chemical-dosing-based techniques using hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The electrochemical treatment demonstrated the same capacity than Ca(OH)2 to neutralise AMD and remove sulfates, and both were significantly better than NaOH. However, the electrochemical approach produced less voluminous and more easily settleable sludge than Ca(OH)2. Moreover, the staged treatment approach demonstrated the potential to produce metal-rich powdered solids with a targeted composition, including rare earth elements and yttrium (REY). REY were recovered in concentrations up to 0.1% of the total solids composition, illustrating a new avenue for AMD remediation coupled with the recovery of critical metals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Thompson Brewster
- Kinetic Group Worldwide Pty Ltd, University of the Sunshine Coast, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs, QLD, 4556, Australia; Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Mansour Edraki
- Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Luke Berry
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
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23
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Volpin F, Woo YC, Kim H, Freguia S, Jeong N, Choi JS, Cho J, Phuntsho S, Shon HK. Energy recovery through reverse electrodialysis: Harnessing the salinity gradient from the flushing of human urine. Water Res 2020; 186:116320. [PMID: 32866930 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Urine dilution is often performed to avoid clogging or scaling of pipes, which occurs due to urine's Ca2+ and Mg2+ precipitating at the alkaline conditions created by ureolysis. The large salinity gradient between urine and flushing water is, theoretically, a source of potential energy which is currently unexploited. As such, this work explored the use of a compact reverse electrodialysis (RED) system to convert the chemical potential energy of urine dilution into electric energy. Urine' composition and ureolysis state as well as solution pumping costs were all taken into account. Despite having almost double its electric conductivity, real hydrolysed urine obtained net energy recoveries ENet of 0.053-0.039 kWh/m3, which is similar to energy recovered from real fresh urine. The reduced performances of hydrolysed urine were linked to its higher organic fouling potential and possible volatilisation of NH3 due to its high pH. However, the higher-than-expected performance achieved by fresh urine is possibly due to the fast diffusion of uncharged urea to the freshwater side. Real urine was also tested as a novel electrolyte solution and its performance compared with a conventional K4Fe(CN)6/K3Fe(CN)6 couple. While K4Fe(CN)6/K3Fe(CN)6 outperformed urine in terms of power densities and energy recoveries, net chemical reactions seemed to have occurred in urine when used as an electrolyte solution, leading to TOC, ammonia and urea removal of up to 13%, 6% and 4.4%, respectively. Finally, due to the migration of K+, NH4+ and PO43-, the low concentration solution could be utilised for fertigation. Overall, this process has the potential of providing off-grid urine treatment or energy production at a household or building level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Volpin
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia; City Water Technology, 2072 Sydney, Australia
| | - Yun Chul Woo
- Department of Land, Water and Environment Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, 283 Goyang-Daero, Ilsanseo-Gu, Goyang-Si,Gyeonggi-Do, 10223, Republic of Korea
| | - Hanki Kim
- Jeju Global Research Center, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 200 Haemajihaean-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju, 63359, Republic of Korea
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Namjo Jeong
- Jeju Global Research Center, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 200 Haemajihaean-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju, 63359, Republic of Korea
| | - June-Seok Choi
- Department of Land, Water and Environment Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, 283 Goyang-Daero, Ilsanseo-Gu, Goyang-Si,Gyeonggi-Do, 10223, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaeweon Cho
- School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea
| | - Sherub Phuntsho
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
| | - Ho Kyong Shon
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), City Campus, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
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Vieira Lemos R, Tsujimura S, Ledezma P, Tokunou Y, Okamoto A, Freguia S. Extracellular electron transfer by Microcystis aeruginosa is solely driven by high pH. Bioelectrochemistry 2020; 137:107637. [PMID: 32898791 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2020.107637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Extracellular electron transfer (EET) by the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa was investigated. Observations indicate that EET onto an electrode poised at + 0.6 vs. standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) is triggered by high pH, more evidently at pH levels above 9. Light intensity does not appear to affect electricity generation, indicating that this may not be a "biophotovoltaic" process. The generated current density was amplified with stepwise pH increases from approximately 5 mA m-2 at pH 7.8 to 30 mA m-2 at pH 10.5, for dense (0.4 mg mL-1 dry weight) Microcystis aeruginosa suspensions with dissolved CO2 and O2 approaching equilibrium with atmospheric concentrations. The upsurge in current density was more pronounced (from 5 mA m-2 at pH 7.8 to 40 mA m-2 at pH 10.2) in the absence of the cells' natural electron acceptors, dissolved CO2 and O2. However, the latter effect is more likely due to competition for electrons by oxygen than to reductive stress. EET in this species is therefore a light-independent process that is enhanced by increasing pH, with reasons that are still unknown, but either related to the involvement of protons in the last step of electron transfer, or to intracellular pH control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Vieira Lemos
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia
| | - Seiya Tsujimura
- Division of Materials Science, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia
| | - Yoshihide Tokunou
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan; International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
| | - Akihiro Okamoto
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan; School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, 13 Kita, 8 Nishi, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Victoria, Australia.
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25
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De Dosso S, Nucifora M, Sahnane N, Epistolio S, Riveiro ME, Bertolini V, Bucci E, Boldorini R, Freguia S, Frattini M, Saletti P. Influence of KRAS mutations on clinical outcome in patients with curatively resected stage III colon cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24:2994-3003. [PMID: 32271417 DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202003_20664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To profile and correlate KRAS mutations with outcome in stage III colon cancer (CC) patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy following curative resection surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this retrospective study, eligible patients were those with resected stage III CC who underwent 6-months adjuvant chemotherapy, either with fluoropyrimidine monotherapy (FP) or with oxaliplatin-based regimens (O-FP). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed and computed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. RESULTS The study population included 148 patients (n=65 FP and n=83 O-FP). We identified KRAS mutations in 41/148 (27%) patients, of which 18 (44%) received FP and 23 (56%) O-FP. Five-year DFS and OS were significantly higher in patients with KRAS wild-type vs. mutant [DFS: 78 vs. 56%, HR: 0.47 (95% CI: 0.25; 0.87), p=0.01; OS: 73 vs. 68%, HR: 0.44 (95% CI: 0.21; 0.88), p=0.01]. In patients treated with FP, the 5-year DFS and OS was significantly improved in the KRAS wild-type vs. mutant group, respectively [DFS: 80 vs. 43%, HR: 2.88 (95% CI: 0.67; 3.76), p=0.014; OS: 85 vs. 68%, HR: 0.27 (95% CI: 0.10; 0.73), p=0.005]. Conversely, 5-year DFS and OS were not statistically different for patients with KRAS wild-type vs. mutations treated with O-FP, respectively [DFS: 78 vs. 65%, HR: 1.59 (95% CI: 0.67; 3.76), p=0.281; OS: 80 vs. 75%, HR: 0.73 (95% CI: 0.55; 2.12), p=0.57)]. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that curatively resected stage III CC patients exhibiting wild-type KRAS status might benefit from FP alone. Conversely, an oxaliplatin-containing regimen should be recommended in KRAS mutated patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- S De Dosso
- Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
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26
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Blázquez E, Gabriel D, Baeza JA, Guisasola A, Freguia S, Ledezma P. Recovery of elemental sulfur with a novel integrated bioelectrochemical system with an electrochemical cell. Sci Total Environ 2019; 677:175-183. [PMID: 31055098 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Revised: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Several industrial activities produce wastewater with high sulfate content that can cause significant environmental issues. Although bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) have recently been studied for the treatment of sulfate contained in this wastewater, the recovery of elemental sulfur with BESs is still in its beginnings. This work proposes a new reactor configuration named BES-EC, consisting of the coupling of a BES with an electrochemical cell (EC), to treat this type of wastewater and recover elemental sulfur. The reactor consisted of four electrodes: i) an abiotic anode, ii) a biocathode for the autotrophic sulfate reduction, iii) an anode of an electrochemical cell (EC) for the partial oxidation of sulfide to elemental sulfur (the biocathode and the EC anode were placed in the same chamber) and iv) an abiotic EC cathode. Several cathode potentials and sulfate loads were tested, obtaining high sulfate removal rates (up to 888 mg SO42--S L-1 d-1 at -0.9 V vs. SHE with a specific energy consumption of 9.18 ± 0.80 kWh kg-1 SO42--S). Exceptionally high theoretical elemental sulfur production rates (up to 498 mg S0-S L-1 d-1) were achieved with the EC controlled at a current density of 2.5 A m-2. Electron recovery around 80% was observed throughout most of the operation of the integrated system. In addition, short experiments were performed at different current densities, observing that sulfate removal did not increase proportionally to the higher applied current density. However, when the BES was controlled at 30 A m-2 and the EC at 7.5 A m-2, the proportion of elemental sulfur produced corresponded to 92.9 ± 1.9% of all sulfate removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enric Blázquez
- GENOCOV, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Gabriel
- GENOCOV, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Antonio Baeza
- GENOCOV, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Guisasola
- GENOCOV, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia.
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27
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Vassilev I, Kracke F, Freguia S, Keller J, Krömer JO, Ledezma P, Virdis B. Microbial electrosynthesis system with dual biocathode arrangement for simultaneous acetogenesis, solventogenesis and carbon chain elongation. Chem Commun (Camb) 2019; 55:4351-4354. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cc00208a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A microbial electrosynthesis cell comprising two biological cathode chambers sharing the same anode compartment is used to promote the production of C2–C4 carboxylic acids and alcohols from carbon dioxide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Vassilev
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Brisbane
- Australia
| | - Frauke Kracke
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Stanford University
- Stanford
- USA
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Brisbane
- Australia
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Brisbane
- Australia
| | - Jens O. Krömer
- Department for Solar Materials
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
- Leipzig 04318
- Germany
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Brisbane
- Australia
| | - Bernardino Virdis
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Brisbane
- Australia
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28
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Marx Sander E, Virdis B, Freguia S. Bioelectrochemical Denitrification for the Treatment of Saltwater Recirculating Aquaculture Streams. ACS Omega 2018; 3:4252-4261. [PMID: 30023889 PMCID: PMC6044578 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b00287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Maintaining low concentrations of nitrogen compounds (ammonium, nitrate and nitrite) in recirculating aquaculture waters is extremely important for a larger and healthier fish production, as well as for water discharge purposes. Although ammonium removal from aquaculture streams is usually done within a nitrifying step, nitrate removal via denitrification is still partially limited by the low organic matter availability. Therefore, an easy-to-operate autotrophic denitrifying bioelectrochemical system is herein proposed for the treatment of seawater aquaculture streams. The nitrate-containing synthetic stream flows sequentially through a biological denitrifying cathode (placed at the lower portion of a tubular reactor) and an abiotic anode (generating electrons and oxygen from water splitting, at the upper portion). Experimental results with synthetic seawater showed that the system reached denitrification rates of 0.13 ± 0.01 kg N m-3 day-1, operating with minimum ammonium and nitrite accumulation, as well as minimum chlorine formation in the abiotic anode, despite the high chloride concentration. There results support the technical potential for simultaneous bioelectrochemical denitrification and partial re-oxygenation of aquaculture waters either for recirculation or discharge purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Marx Sander
- Advanced Water
Management
Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building
(60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Bernardino Virdis
- Advanced Water
Management
Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building
(60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water
Management
Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building
(60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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29
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Ledezma P, Lu Y, Freguia S. Electroactive haloalkaliphiles exhibit exceptional tolerance to free ammonia. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2018; 365:4689094. [PMID: 29228269 DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnx260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Electrochemical activity in bacteria has been observed in numerous environments and conditions. However, enrichments in circumneutral freshwater media where acetate is the main electron donor seem to invariably lead to the dominance of Geobacter spp. Here we report on an electroactive bacterial consortium which was enriched on acetate as electron donor, but in a medium which reproduces hydrolysed urine (high pH, high salinity and high free ammonia). The consortium was found to be free of Geobacter species, whereas a previously undescribed community dominated by species closely related to Pseudomonas and Desulfuromonas was established. The salient features of this community were as follows: (i) high electroactivity, with anodic current densities up to 47.4 ± 2.0 A m-2; (ii) haloalkaliphilicity, with top performance at a medium pH of 10 and 19.5 ± 0.5 mS cm-1; and (iii) a remarkably high tolerance to free ammonia toxicity at over 2200 mgNH3-N L-1. This community is likely to find applications in microbial electrochemical technology for nutrient recovery from source-separated urine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Gehrmann Laboratories level 4, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Gehrmann Laboratories level 4, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Gehrmann Laboratories level 4, QLD 4072, Australia
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30
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Brewster ET, Pozo G, Batstone DJ, Freguia S, Ledezma P. A modelling approach to assess the long-term stability of a novel microbial/electrochemical system for the treatment of acid mine drainage. RSC Adv 2018; 8:18682-18689. [PMID: 35541131 PMCID: PMC9080545 DOI: 10.1039/c8ra03153c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial electrochemical processes have potential to remediate acid mine drainage (AMD) wastewaters which are highly acidic and rich in sulfate and heavy metals, without the need for extensive chemical dosing. In this manuscript, a novel hybrid microbial/electrochemical remediation process which uses a 3-reactor system – a precipitation vessel, an electrochemical reactor and a microbial electrochemical reactor with a sulfate-reducing biocathode – was modelled. To evaluate the long-term operability of this system, a dynamic model for the fluxes of 140 different ionic species was developed and calibrated using laboratory-scale experimental data. The model identified that when the reactors are operating in the desired state, the coulombic efficiency of sulfate removal from AMD is high (91%). Modelling also identified that a periodic electrolyte purge is required to prevent the build-up of Cl− ions in the microbial electrochemical reactor. The model furthermore studied the fate of sulfate and carbon in the system. For sulfate, it was found that only 29% can be converted into elemental sulfur, with the rest complexating with metals in the precipitation vessel. Finally, the model shows that the flux of inorganic carbon under the current operational strategy is insufficient to maintain the autotrophic sulfate-reducing biomass. The modelling approach demonstrates that a change in system operational strategies plus close monitoring of overlooked ionic species (such as Cl− and HCO3−) are key towards the scaling-up of this technology. Microbial electrochemical processes have potential to remediate acid mine drainage (AMD) wastewaters which are highly acidic and rich in sulfate and heavy metals, without the need for extensive chemical dosing.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Guillermo Pozo
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | | | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
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31
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Marsili
- School of Energy Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, PR China; Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551, Singapore.
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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32
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Pozo G, Pongy S, Keller J, Ledezma P, Freguia S. A novel bioelectrochemical system for chemical-free permanent treatment of acid mine drainage. Water Res 2017; 126:411-420. [PMID: 28987953 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.09.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 09/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The mining sector is currently under unprecedented pressure due to stringent environmental regulations. As a consequence, a permanent acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment is increasingly being regarded as a desirable target with direct benefits for the environment and the operational and economic viability of the resources sector. In this study we demonstrate that a novel bioelectrochemical system (BES) can deliver permanent treatment of acid mine drainage without chemical dosing. The technology consists of a two-cell bioelectrochemical setup to enable the removal of sulfate from the ongoing reduction-oxidation sulfur cycle to less than 550 mg L-1 (85 ± 2% removal from a real AMD of an abandoned silver mine), thereby also reducing salinity at an electrical energy requirement of 10 ± 0.3 kWh kg-1 of SO42--S removed. In addition, the BES operation drove the removal and recovery of the main cations Al, Fe, Mg, Zn at rates of 151 ± 0 g Al m-3 d-1, 179 ± 1 g Fe m-3 d-1, 172 ± 1 g Mg m-3 d-1 and 46 ± 0 g Zn m-3 d-1 into a concentrate stream containing 263 ± 2 mg Al, 279 ± 2 mg Fe, 152 ± 0 mg Mg and 90 ± 0 mg Zn per gram of solid precipitated after BES fed-rate control treatment. The solid metal-sludge was twice less voluminous and 9 times more readily settleable than metal-sludge precipitated using NaOH. The continuous BES treatment also demonstrated the concomitant precipitation of rare earth elements together with yttrium (REY), with up to 498 ± 70 μg Y, 166 ± 27 μg Nd, 155 ± 14 μg Gd per gram of solid, among other high-value metals. The high-REY precipitates could be used to offset the treatment costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Pozo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Separation and Conversion Technologies, VITO-Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Boeretang 200, 2400, Mol, Belgium
| | - Sebastien Pongy
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Département Génie Energétique et Environnement, INSA Lyon, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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33
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Sander EM, Virdis B, Freguia S. Bioelectrochemical nitrogen removal as a polishing mechanism for domestic wastewater treated effluents. Water Sci Technol 2017; 76:3150-3159. [PMID: 29210701 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2017.462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Addition of an external carbon source is usually necessary to guarantee a sufficiently high C/N ratio and enable denitrification in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Alternatively, denitrification processes using autotrophic microorganisms have been proposed i.e., with the use of H2 as electron donor or with the use of cathodic denitrification in bioelectrochemical systems (BES), in which electrons are transferred directly to a denitrifying biofilm. The aim of this work was to investigate and demonstrate the feasibility of applying an easy-to-operate BES as a polishing mechanism for treated secondary clarified effluent from a municipal WWTP, containing low levels of organic matter, buffer capacity and low concentrations of remaining nitrate. In the proposed system, nitrogen removal rates (0.018-0.121 Kg N m-3 d-1) increased with the nitrogen loading rates, suggesting that biofilm kinetics were not rate limiting. The lowest energy consumption for denitrification was 12.7 kWh Kg N-1, equivalent to 0.021 kWh m-3 and could be further reduced by 14% by adding recirculation circuits within both the anode and cathode.
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Affiliation(s)
- E M Sander
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building (60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia E-mail:
| | - B Virdis
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building (60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia E-mail:
| | - S Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories Building (60), Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia E-mail:
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34
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Thompson Brewster E, Jermakka J, Freguia S, Batstone DJ. Modelling recovery of ammonium from urine by electro-concentration in a 3-chamber cell. Water Res 2017; 124:210-218. [PMID: 28759793 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2017] [Revised: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Electro-concentration enables treatment and nutrient recovery from source-separated urine, and is a potential technology for on-site treatment using a 3 compartment configuration that has anode, cathode and middle concentrate compartments. There is a particular focus on driving concentration towards the precipitation threshold in the concentrate compartment to generate solid ammonium salts, including ammonium bicarbonate. To evaluate controlling mechanisms and the feasibility of achieving high concentrations, a dynamic mechanistic model was developed and validated using experiments with synthetic urine. It was identified that high concentrations are prevented by increased back diffusion (diffusion from the middle chamber to the anolyte and catholyte) due to large concentration gradients, and the preferential migration of protons or hydroxide ions due to a loss of buffering capacity in the anolyte and catholyte (due to pH extremes). Model-based sensitivity analysis also identified that electrolyte ion concentrations (including buffer capacity) were the main controlling mechanisms, rather than membrane or electrolyte current transfer capacity. To attain high concentrations, operation should be done using a) a high current density (however there is a maximum efficient current density); b) feed at short hydraulic retention time to ensure sufficient buffer capacity; and c) a feed high in ammonium and carbonate, not diluted, and not contaminated with other salts, such as pure ureolysed urine. Taking into account electron supply and bio-anodic buffer limitations, model testing shows at least double the aqueous concentrations observed in the experiments may be achieved by optimising simple process and operational parameters such as flow rate, current density and feed solution composition. Removal of total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) and total carbonate carbon (TCC) was between 43-57% and 39-53%, respectively. Balancing the sometimes conflicting process goals of high concentrations and removal percentage will need to be considered in further application. Future experimental work should be directed towards developing electrodes capable of higher current densities. In addition it would be desirable to use ion exchange membranes with higher resistance to water fluxes and which limit back diffusion. Future modelling work should describe osmotic and electro-osmotic water fluxes as a function of the concentration gradient across the membranes and ionic fluxes, respectively. More generalised wastewater physico-chemistry speciation models should identify best methods where relatively simple Davies activity corrections do not apply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Thompson Brewster
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Johannes Jermakka
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 541, 33101 Tampere, Finland
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Damien J Batstone
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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35
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Pozo G, Lu Y, Pongy S, Keller J, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Selective cathodic microbial biofilm retention allows a high current-to-sulfide efficiency in sulfate-reducing microbial electrolysis cells. Bioelectrochemistry 2017; 118:62-69. [PMID: 28719849 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioelechem.2017.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Revised: 07/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Selective microbial retention is of paramount importance for the long-term performance of cathodic sulfate reduction in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) due to the slow growth rate of autotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria. In this work, we investigate the biofilm retention and current-to-sulfide conversion efficiency using carbon granules (CG) or multi-wall carbon nanotubes deposited on reticulated vitreous carbon (MWCNT-RVC) as electrode materials. For ~2months, the MECs were operated at sulfate loading rates of 21 to 309gSO4 -S/m2/d. Although MWCNT-RVC achieved a current density of 57±11A/m2, greater than the 32±9A/m2 observed using CG, both materials exhibited similar sulfate reduction rates (SRR), with MWCNT-RVC reaching 104±16gSO4 -S/m2/d while 110±13gSO4 -S/m2/d were achieved with CG. Pyrosequencing analysis of the 16S rRNA at the end of experimentation revealed a core community dominated by Desulfovibrio (28%), Methanobacterium (19%) and Desulfomicrobium (14%), on the MWCNT-RVC electrodes. While a similar Desulfovibrio relative abundance of 29% was found in CG-biofilms, Desulfomicrobium was found to be significantly less abundant (4%) and Methanobacterium practically absent (0.2%) on CG electrodes. Surprisingly, our results show that CG can achieve higher current-to-sulfide efficiencies at lower power consumption than the nano-modified three-dimensional MWCNT-RVC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Pozo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Sebastien Pongy
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Département Génie Energétique et Environnement, INSA Lyon, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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Xie S, O'Dwyer T, Freguia S, Pikaar I, Clarke WP. Effect of biomass concentration on methane oxidation activity using mature compost and graphite granules as substrata. Waste Manag 2016; 56:290-297. [PMID: 27515185 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2016.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Revised: 08/04/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Reported methane oxidation activity (MOA) varies widely for common landfill cover materials. Variation is expected due to differences in surface area, the composition of the substratum and culturing conditions. MOA per methanotrophic cell has been calculated in the study of natural systems such as lake sediments to examine the inherent conditions for methanotrophic activity. In this study, biomass normalised MOA (i.e., MOA per methanotophic cell) was measured on stabilised compost, a commonly used cover in landfills, and on graphite granules, an inert substratum widely used in microbial electrosynthesis studies. After initially enriching methanotrophs on both substrata, biomass normalised MOA was quantified under excess oxygen and limiting methane conditions in 160ml serum vials on both substrata and blends of the substrata. Biomass concentration was measured using the bicinchoninic acid assay for microbial protein. The biomass normalised MOA was consistent across all compost-to-graphite granules blends, but varied with time, reflecting the growth phase of the microorganisms. The biomass normalised MOA ranged from 0.069±0.006μmol CH4/mg dry biomass/h during active growth, to 0.024±0.001μmol CH4/mg dry biomass/h for established biofilms regardless of the substrata employed, indicating the substrata were equally effective in terms of inherent composition. The correlation of MOA with biomass is consistent with studies on methanotrophic activity in natural systems, but biomass normalised MOA varies by over 5 orders of magnitude between studies. This is partially due to different methods being used to quantify biomass, such as pmoA gene quantification and the culture dependent Most Probable Number method, but also indicates that long term exposure of materials to a supply of methane in an aerobic environment, as can occur in natural systems, leads to the enrichment and adaptation of types suitable for those conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Xie
- Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing, Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - T O'Dwyer
- Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing, Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - S Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - I Pikaar
- Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing, Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia
| | - W P Clarke
- Centre for Solid Waste Bioprocessing, Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
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Pozo G, Jourdin L, Lu Y, Keller J, Ledezma P, Freguia S. Cathodic biofilm activates electrode surface and achieves efficient autotrophic sulfate reduction. Electrochim Acta 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.07.100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Darus L, Ledezma P, Keller J, Freguia S. Marine phototrophic consortia transfer electrons to electrodes in response to reductive stress. Photosynth Res 2016; 127:347-354. [PMID: 26407568 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-015-0193-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2015] [Accepted: 09/17/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This work studies how extracellular electron transfer (EET) from cyanobacteria-dominated marine microbial biofilms to solid electrodes is affected by the availability of inorganic carbon (Ci). The EET was recorded chronoamperometrically in the form of electrical current by a potentiostat in two identical photo-electrochemical cells using carbon electrodes poised at a potential of +0.6 V versus standard hydrogen electrode under 12/12 h illumination/dark cycles. The Ci was supplied by the addition of NaHCO3 to the medium and/or by sparging CO2 gas. At high Ci conditions, EET from the microbial biofilm to the electrodes was observed only during the dark phase, indicating the occurrence of a form of night-time respiration that can use insoluble electrodes as the terminal electron acceptor. At low or no Ci conditions, however, EET also occurred during illumination suggesting that, in the absence of their natural electron acceptor, some cyanobacteria are able to utilise solid electrodes as an electron sink. This may be a natural survival mechanism for cyanobacteria to maintain redox balance in environments with limiting CO2 and/or high light intensity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libertus Darus
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
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Jourdin L, Freguia S, Flexer V, Keller J. Bringing High-Rate, CO2-Based Microbial Electrosynthesis Closer to Practical Implementation through Improved Electrode Design and Operating Conditions. Environ Sci Technol 2016; 50:1982-9. [PMID: 26810392 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b04431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The enhancement of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) of acetate from CO2 to performance levels that could potentially support practical implementations of the technology must go through the optimization of key design and operating conditions. We report that higher proton availability drastically increases the acetate production rate, with pH 5.2 found to be optimal, which will likely suppress methanogenic activity without inhibitor addition. Applied cathode potential as low as -1.1 V versus SHE still achieved 99% of electron recovery in the form of acetate at a current density of around -200 A m(-2). These current densities are leading to an exceptional acetate production rate of up to 1330 g m(-2) day(-1) at pH 6.7. Using highly open macroporous reticulated vitreous carbon electrodes with macropore sizes of about 0.6 mm in diameter was found to be optimal for achieving a good balance between total surface area available for biofilm formation and effective mass transfer between the bulk liquid and the electrode and biofilm surface. Furthermore, we also successfully demonstrated the use of a synthetic biogas mixture as carbon dioxide source, yielding similarly high MES performance as pure CO2. This would allow this process to be used effectively for both biogas quality improvement and conversion of the available CO2 to acetate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovic Jourdin
- Advanced Water Management Centre and ‡Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems, The University of Queensland , Gehrmann Building, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre and ‡Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems, The University of Queensland , Gehrmann Building, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Victoria Flexer
- Advanced Water Management Centre and ‡Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems, The University of Queensland , Gehrmann Building, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jurg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre and ‡Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems, The University of Queensland , Gehrmann Building, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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Jourdin L, Grieger T, Monetti J, Flexer V, Freguia S, Lu Y, Chen J, Romano M, Wallace GG, Keller J. High Acetic Acid Production Rate Obtained by Microbial Electrosynthesis from Carbon Dioxide. Environ Sci Technol 2015; 49:13566-13574. [PMID: 26484732 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b03821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
High product specificity and production rate are regarded as key success parameters for large-scale applicability of a (bio)chemical reaction technology. Here, we report a significant performance enhancement in acetate formation from CO2, reaching comparable productivity levels as in industrial fermentation processes (volumetric production rate and product yield). A biocathode current density of -102 ± 1 A m(-2) and an acetic acid production rate of 685 ± 30 (g m(-2) day(-1)) have been achieved in this study. High recoveries of 94 ± 2% of the CO2 supplied as the sole carbon source and 100 ± 4% of electrons into the final product (acetic acid) were achieved after development of a mature biofilm, reaching an elevated product titer of up to 11 g L(-1). This high product specificity is remarkable for mixed microbial cultures, which would make the product downstream processing easier and the technology more attractive. This performance enhancement was enabled through the combination of a well-acclimatized and enriched microbial culture (very fast start-up after culture transfer), coupled with the use of a newly synthesized electrode material, EPD-3D. The throwing power of the electrophoretic deposition technique, a method suitable for large-scale production, was harnessed to form multiwalled carbon nanotube coatings onto reticulated vitreous carbon to generate a hierarchical porous structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovic Jourdin
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrosynthesis, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Timothy Grieger
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Juliette Monetti
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Victoria Flexer
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrosynthesis, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jun Chen
- RC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong , Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Mark Romano
- RC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong , Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Gordon G Wallace
- RC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, AIIM Facility, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong , Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Jurg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , Level 4, Gehrmann Building (60), Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
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Darus L, Lu Y, Ledezma P, Keller J, Freguia S. Fully reversible current driven by a dual marine photosynthetic microbial community. Bioresour Technol 2015; 195:248-253. [PMID: 26099438 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.06.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2015] [Revised: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/12/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The electrochemical activity of two seawater microbial consortia were investigated in three-electrode bioelectrochemical cells. Two seawater inocula - from the Sunshine Coast (SC) and Gold Coast (GC) shores of Australia - were enriched at +0.6 V vs. SHE using 12/12 h day/night cycles. After re-inoculation, the SC consortium developed a fully-reversible cathodic/anodic current, with a max. of -62 mA m(-2) during the day and +110 mA m(-2) at night, while the GC exhibited negligible daytime output but +98 mA m(-2) at night. Community analysis revealed that both enrichments were dominated by cyanobacteria, indicating their potential as biocatalysts for indirect light conversion to electricity. Moreover, the presence of γ-proteobacterium Congregibacter in SC biofilm was likely related to the cathodic reductive current, indicating its effectiveness at catalysing cathodic oxygen reduction at a surprisingly high potential. For the first time a correlation between a dual microbial community and fully reversible current is reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libertus Darus
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jürg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Du F, Freguia S, Yuan Z, Keller J, Pikaar I. Enhancing toxic metal removal from acidified sludge with nitrite addition. Environ Sci Technol 2015; 49:6257-6263. [PMID: 25872418 DOI: 10.1021/es504507m] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The production of sludge (biosolids) during wastewater treatment is a major issue for water utilities. A main issue limiting its beneficial reuse on agricultural lands is the presence of toxic metals. The currently used metal reduction technologies achieve insufficient removal of metals that are bound to the organic fraction of the sludge. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a novel method that involves the addition of nitrite during sludge acidification to enhance metal removal. Using waste activated sludge collected from three full-scale wastewater treatment plants, we found that acidification to pH 2.0 achieved good Zn solubilization of around 70%, but only 3-7% of Cu was being dissolved. Nitrite addition to the acidified sludge at a concentration of 20 mg NO2(-)-N/L (equals to 19.2 mg HNO2-N/L), substantially enhanced Cu removal to 45-64%, while Zn removal was also increased to over 81%. Metal distribution analysis using sequential chemical extraction revealed that the improvement of Cu and Zn removal was mainly due to the release of the organically bound metal fraction. We hypothesize that free nitrous acid (HNO2, FNA) may assist in the (partial) disruption of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and the subsequent release and solubilization of fixed metals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangzhou Du
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Jürg Keller
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Ilje Pikaar
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC), Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
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Ledezma P, Kuntke P, Buisman CJ, Keller J, Freguia S. Source-separated urine opens golden opportunities for microbial electrochemical technologies. Trends Biotechnol 2015; 33:214-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2014] [Revised: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Zhou M, Freguia S, Dennis PG, Keller J, Rabaey K. Development of bioelectrocatalytic activity stimulates mixed-culture reduction of glycerol in a bioelectrochemical system. Microb Biotechnol 2015; 8:483-9. [PMID: 25817314 PMCID: PMC4408180 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.12240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2014] [Accepted: 10/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In a microbial bioelectrochemical system (BES), organic substrate such as glycerol can be reductively converted to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) by a mixed population biofilm growing on the cathode. Here, we show that 1,3-PDO yields positively correlated to the electrons supplied, increasing from 0.27 ± 0.13 to 0.57 ± 0.09 mol PDO mol−1 glycerol when the cathodic current switched from 1 A m−2 to 10 A m−2. Electrochemical measurements with linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) demonstrated that the biofilm was bioelectrocatalytically active and that the cathodic current was greatly enhanced only in the presence of both biofilm and glycerol, with an onset potential of −0.46 V. This indicates that glycerol or its degradation products effectively served as cathodic electron acceptor. During long-term operation (> 150 days), however, the yield decreased gradually to 0.13 ± 0.02 mol PDO mol−1 glycerol, and the current–product correlation disappeared. The onset potentials for cathodic current decreased to −0.58 V in the LSV tests at this stage, irrespective of the presence or absence of glycerol, with electrons from the cathode almost exclusively used for hydrogen evolution (accounted for 99.9% and 89.5% of the electrons transferred at glycerol and glycerol-free conditions respectively). Community analysis evidenced a decreasing relative abundance of Citrobacter in the biofilm, indicating a community succession leading to cathode independent processes relative to the glycerol. It is thus shown here that in processes where substrate conversion can occur independently of the electrode, electroactive microorganisms can be outcompeted and effectively disconnected from the substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mi Zhou
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane; Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China
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Ledezma P, Donose BC, Freguia S, Keller J. Oxidised stainless steel: a very effective electrode material for microbial fuel cell bioanodes but at high risk of corrosion. Electrochim Acta 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.01.175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Pozo G, Jourdin L, Lu Y, Ledezma P, Keller J, Freguia S. Methanobacterium enables high rate electricity-driven autotrophic sulfate reduction. RSC Adv 2015. [DOI: 10.1039/c5ra18444d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The autotrophic reduction of sulfate can be sustained with a cathode as the only electron donor in bioelectrochemical systems (BES).
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Pozo
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | - Ludovic Jourdin
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
- The University of Queensland
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | - Jurg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
- The University of Queensland
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Pozo G, Jourdin L, Lu Y, Ledezma P, Keller J, Freguia S. Correction: Methanobacterium enables high rate electricity-driven autotrophic sulfate reduction. RSC Adv 2015. [DOI: 10.1039/c5ra90096d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Correction for ‘Methanobacterium enables high rate electricity-driven autotrophic sulfate reduction’ by Guillermo Pozo et al., RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 89368–89374.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Pozo
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
| | - Ludovic Jourdin
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
| | - Yang Lu
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
| | - Pablo Ledezma
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
| | - Jurg Keller
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland
- St. Lucia
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
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Abstract
Nitrate reduction to ammonium is shown as a competitive pathway during cathodic denitrification at low potential, and is dependent on biofilm age and electron uptake capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa M. Sander
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland, Level 4
- Brisbane
- Australia
| | - Bernardino Virdis
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland, Level 4
- Brisbane
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
| | - Stefano Freguia
- Advanced Water Management Centre
- The University of Queensland, Level 4
- Brisbane
- Australia
- Centre for Microbial Electrochemical Systems
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Darus L, Ledezma P, Keller J, Freguia S. Oxygen suppresses light-driven anodic current generation by a mixed phototrophic culture. Environ Sci Technol 2014; 48:14000-14006. [PMID: 25364824 DOI: 10.1021/es5024702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes the detrimental effect of photosynthetically evolved oxygen on anodic current generation in the presence of riboflavin upon illumination of a mixed phototrophic culture enriched from a freshwater pond at +0.6 V vs standard hydrogen electrode. In the presence of riboflavin, the phototrophic biomass in the anodic compartment produced an electrical current in response to light/dark cycles (12 h/12 h) over 12 months of operation, generating a maximum current density of 17.5 mA x m(-2) during the dark phase, whereas a much lower current of approximately 2 mA x m(-2) was generated during illumination. We found that the low current generation under light exposure was caused by high rates of reoxidation of reduced riboflavin by oxygen produced during photosynthesis. Quantification of biomass by fluorescence in situ hybridization images suggested that green algae were predominant in both the anode-based biofilm (55.1%) and the anolyte suspension (87.9%) with the remaining biovolume accounted for by bacteria. Genus-level sequencing analysis revealed that bacteria were dominated by cyanobacterium Leptolyngbia (∼35%), while the prevailing algae were Dictyosphaerium, Coelastrum, and Auxenochlorella. This study offers a key comprehension of mediator sensitivity to reoxidation by dissolved oxygen for improvement of microbial solar cell performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Libertus Darus
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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Guo K, Donose BC, Soeriyadi AH, Prévoteau A, Patil SA, Freguia S, Gooding JJ, Rabaey K. Flame oxidation of stainless steel felt enhances anodic biofilm formation and current output in bioelectrochemical systems. Environ Sci Technol 2014; 48:7151-6. [PMID: 24911921 DOI: 10.1021/es500720g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Stainless steel (SS) can be an attractive material to create large electrodes for microbial bioelectrochemical systems (BESs), due to its low cost and high conductivity. However, poor biocompatibility limits its successful application today. Here we report a simple and effective method to make SS electrodes biocompatible by means of flame oxidation. Physicochemical characterization of electrode surface indicated that iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were generated in situ on an SS felt surface by flame oxidation. IONPs-coating dramatically enhanced the biocompatibility of SS felt and consequently resulted in a robust electroactive biofilm formation at its surface in BESs. The maximum current densities reached at IONPs-coated SS felt electrodes were 16.5 times and 4.8 times higher than the untreated SS felts and carbon felts, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum current density achieved with the IONPs-coated SS felt (1.92 mA/cm(2), 27.42 mA/cm(3)) is one of the highest current densities reported thus far. These results demonstrate for the first time that flame oxidized SS felts could be a good alternative to carbon-based electrodes for achieving high current densities in BESs. Most importantly, high conductivity, excellent mechanical strength, strong chemical stability, large specific surface area, and comparatively low cost of flame oxidized SS felts offer exciting opportunities for scaling-up of the anodes for BESs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Guo
- Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology, Ghent University , Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
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