Denitrification of water in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) using seawater bacteria

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:178

Article

Samrat, Naga M. V. V.¹  Rao, Kesava K.¹  Ruggeri, Bernardo²  Tommasi, Tonia^2,3 

[1] Indian Inst Sci, Dept Chem Engn, Bengaluru 560012, India

[2] Politecn Torino, Appl Sci & Technol Dept, Cso Duca Abruzzi 24, I-10129 Turin, Italy

[3] Ist Italiano Tecnol, Politecn Torino, Ctr Sustainable Future Tehnol, Cso Trento 21, I-10129 Turin, Italy

关键词: Bicarbonate buffer;    Biological cathode;    Denitrification;    Microbial fuel cell;    Phosphate buffer;    Seawater bacteria;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.221

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The sea contains various microbes which have an ability to reduce and oxidize substances like iron, sulphur, and nitrate. Most of these processes happen in the seawater, but can also be applied for purification of wastewater. In the present work, a consortium of seawater bacteria has been used for the first time in a microbial fuel cell to reduce nitrate in synthetic water samples and produce electricity by oxidizing organic matter. The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite were reduced to well below their permissible limits. Moreover, the growth of the bacterial consortium in cathode causes an increased electricity production in the cell because of the increased bacterial activity. The performance of the cell with a bicarbonate buffered solution in the cathode was superior to that obtained with the commonly used phosphate buffered solution. As bicarbonate is the natural buffering agent found in the sea, the use of bicarbonate buffered solutions is eco-friendly. The same seawater bacterial consortium was used in both the anode and the cathode, confirming their adaptability to different environments. Unfortunately, denitrification was accompanied by the generation of high concentrations of ammonium in the anode and the cathode, probably because of the use of nitrogen gas for sparging the anolyte. This aspect merits further investigation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free