title: Examining sludge production in bioelectrochemical systems treating domestic wastewater.
abstract: Sludge production in microbial bioelectrochemical systems (BES) was assessed in conjunction with anaerobic and aerobic control reactors. Effluent after primary settling tank (EAPS) and depleted EAPS spiked with acetate were treated. The reactors were loaded with total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) at average loading rates of 22 mg TSS d(-1)L(-1) and 86 mg COD d(-1)L(-1), respectively. Carbon cloth anode equipped BES reactors delivered the highest performance. They achieved on average a COD removal of 80%, a Coulomb efficiency of 77% for EAPS, a maximum current density of 39 μA cm(-)(3)/175 μA cm(-)(2) for EAPS and a TSS removal of 59%, yielding a sludge production of only 80 mg TSS per g ΔCOD. This study provides further evidence that BES can improve the economics of wastewater treatment via lower sludge production as well as providing a framework for understanding sludge production in BES.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert Keith
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Falk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Harnisch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Pockelsstr. 2a, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dockhorn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany. Electronic address: uwe.schroeder@tu-braunschweig.de.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schröder
mesh_terms: D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Bioelectrochemical systems; COD removal; Sludge production; Total suspended solids; Wastewater treatment