title: pH-dependent ammonia removal pathways in microbial fuel cell system.
abstract: In this work, ammonia removal paths in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) under different initial pH conditions (pH 7.0, 8.0, and 8.6) were investigated. At a neutral pH condition (pH 7.0), MFC used an electrical energy of 27.4% and removed 23.3% of total ammonia by electrochemical pathway for 192h. At the identical pH condition, 36.1% of the total ammonia was also removed by the biological path suspected to be biological ammonia oxidation process (e.g., Anammox). With the initial pH increased, the electrochemical removal efficiency decreased to less than 5.0%, while the biological removal efficiency highly increased to 61.8%. In this study, a neutral pH should be maintained in the anode to utilize MFCs for ammonia recovery via electrochemical pathways from wastewater stream.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Taeyoung
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Junyeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeryeong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Energy and Environmental Engineering Division, National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju-si 54875, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Kyung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ischang@gist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: In Seop
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004560:Electricity; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Ammonia recovery; Ammonia removal; Anammox; Microbial fuel cell; pH