title: Simultaneous carbon removal, denitrification and power generation in a membrane-less microbial fuel cell.
abstract: A membrane-less microbial fuel cell (ML-MFC) was developed to investigate the simultaneous carbon removal and denitrification. The removal rates of 0.64 kg COD m(-3) of liquid cathode volume (LCV) d(-1) and 0.186 g NO3(-)-N m(-3) of LCV d(-1) were achieved, which resulted in the maximal COD and nitrate removal rates of 100% and 36.7%, respectively. The ML-MFC also achieved a maximal power output of 0.0712 W m(-3) of LCV and 0.844 A m(-3) of LCV in approximately 24h. The maximal coulombic efficiency of anode (CEAn) and cathode (CECa) was 5.1% and 475%, respectively. The anodic gas phase was consisted of 77.2±4.0% CH4, 3.9±0.5% CO2, and 3.9±1.5% N2, which indicated that the low anode coulombic efficiency was due to anodic methane production. The results of this study demonstrated the potential application of ML-MFC in simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal and energy (electricity) production.
authors.affiliation: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210096, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0512, USA. Electronic address: gc-zhu@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guangcan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0512, USA; Center for Regional Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Onodera
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0512, USA.
authors.forename: Madan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tandukar
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0512, USA.
authors.forename: Spyros G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Pavlostathis
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources; D058440:Denitrification; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D005740:Gases; D009566:Nitrates / Q000737:chemistry; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D009566:Nitrates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Bio-cathode; Electrochemical denitrification; Membrane-less; Microbial fuel cells