title: Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a novel membrane bioelectrochemical reactor with low membrane fouling tendency.
abstract: Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can use nitrate as a cathodic electron acceptor for electrochemical denitrification, yet there is little knowledge about how to apply them into current wastewater treatment process to achieve efficient nitrogen removal. In this study, two dual-chamber MFCs were integrated with an aerobic membrane bioreactor to construct a novel membrane bioelectrochemical reactor (MBER) for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification under specific aeration. The effects of chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rate, COD/N ratio, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and external resistance on the system performance were investigated. High effluent quality was obtained in the MBER in terms of COD and ammonium. During the operation, denitrification simultaneously occurred with nitrification at the bio-cathode of the MBER, achieving a maximal nitrogen removal efficiency of 84.3 %. A maximum power density of 1.8 W/m3and a current density of 8.5 A/m3were achieved with a coulombic efficiency of 12.1 %. Furthermore, compared to the control system, the MBER exhibited lower membrane fouling tendency due to mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSSs) and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) reductions, EPSp/EPSc ratio decrease, and particle size increase of the sludge. These results suggest that the MBER holds potential for efficient nitrogen removal, electricity production, and membrane fouling mitigation.
authors: School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China.
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (SKLUWRE, HIT), Harbin, 150090, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Zuo
authors: School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China. hittianyu@163.com.|State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (SKLUWRE, HIT), Harbin, 150090, China. hittianyu@163.com.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Tian
authors: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology (SKLUWRE, HIT), Harbin, 150090, China.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science in Shanxi, Taiyuan, 030009, China.
authors: Shijing
authors: S
authors: Di
authors: School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China.
authors: Lipin
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: School of Food Engineering, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, 150076, China.
authors: Xinying
authors: X
authors: Su
mesh_terms: D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D058440:Denitrification; D004566:Electrodes; D009566:Nitrates; D058465:Nitrification; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D009566:Nitrates; D009584:Nitrogen; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Denitrification; Energy recovery; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling; Microbial fuel cell; Nitrification