Microbial electricity driven anoxic ammonium removal.

Removal of nitrogen, mainly in form of ammonium (NH4+), in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a highly energy demanding process, mainly due to aeration. It causes costs of about half a million Euros per year in an average European WWTP. Alternative, more economical technologies for the removal of nitrogen compounds from wastewater are required. This study proves the complete anoxic conversion of ammonium (NH4+) to dinitrogen gas (N2) in continuously operated bioelectrochemical systems at the litre-scale. The removal rate is comparable to conventional WWTPs with 35 ± 10 g N m-3 d-1 with low accumulation of NO2-, NO3-, N2O. In contrast to classical aerobic nitrification, the energy consumption is considerable lower (1.16 ± 0.21 kWh kg-1 N, being more than 35 times less than for the conventional wastewater treatment). Biotic and abiotic control experiments confirmed that the anoxic nitrification was an electrochemical biological process mainly performed by Nitrosomonas with hydroxylamine as the main substrate (mid-point potential, Eox = +0.67 ± 0.08 V vs. SHE). This article proves the technical feasibility and reduction of costs for ammonium removal from wastewater, investigates the underlying mechanisms and discusses future engineering needs.

External Resistances Applied to MFC Affect Core Microbiome and Swine Manure Treatment Efficiencies.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be designed to combine water treatment with concomitant electricity production. Animal manure treatment has been poorly explored using MFCs, and its implementation at full-scale primarily relies on the bacterial distribution and activity within the treatment cell. This study reports the bacterial community changes at four positions within the anode of two almost identically operated MFCs fed swine manure. Changes in the microbiome structure are described according to the MFC fluid dynamics and the application of a maximum power point tracking system (MPPT) compared to a fixed resistance system (Ref-MFC). Both external resistance and cell hydrodynamics are thought to heavily influence MFC performance. The microbiome was characterised both quantitatively (qPCR) and qualitatively (454-pyrosequencing) by targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes. The diversity of the microbial community in the MFC biofilm was reduced and differed from the influent swine manure. The adopted electric condition (MPPT vs fixed resistance) was more relevant than the fluid dynamics in shaping the MFC microbiome. MPPT control positively affected bacterial abundance and promoted the selection of putatively exoelectrogenic bacteria in the MFC core microbiome (Sedimentibacter sp. and gammaproteobacteria). These differences in the microbiome may be responsible for the two-fold increase in power production achieved by the MPPT-MFC compared to the Ref-MFC.

Bidirectional microbial electron transfer: Switching an acetate oxidizing biofilm to nitrate reducing conditions.

Up to date a few electroactive bacteria embedded in biofilms are described to catalyze both anodic and cathodic reactions in bioelectrochemical systems (i.e. bidirectional electron transfer). How these bacteria transfer electrons to or from the electrode is still uncertain. In this study the extracellular electron transfer mechanism of bacteria within an electroactive biofilm was investigated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). First, a mature anodic electroactive biofilm was developed from an activated sludge sample (inoculum), acetate as electron donor and a poised electrode (+397mV vs. SHE). Later, this biofilm was "switched" to biocathodic conditions by feeding it with a medium containing nitrates and poising the electrode at -303mV vs. SHE. The electrochemical characterization indicated that both, acetate oxidation and nitrate reduction took place at a similar formal potential of -175±05 and -175±34mV vs. SHE, respectively. The biofilm was predominantly composed by Geobacter sp. at both experimental conditions. Taken together, the results indicated that both processes could be catalyzed by using the same electron conduit, and most likely by the same bacterial consortium. Hence, this study suggests that electroactive bacteria within biofilms could use the same electron transfer conduit for catalyzing anodic and cathodic reactions.

Microbiome characterization of MFCs used for the treatment of swine manure.

Conventional swine manure treatment is performed by anaerobic digestion, but nitrogen is not treated. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) allow organic matter and nitrogen removal with concomitant electricity production. MFC microbiomes treating industrial wastewaters as swine manure have not been characterized. In this study, a multidisciplinary approach allowed microbiome relation with nutrient removal capacity and electricity production. Two different MFC configurations (C-1 and C-2) were used to treat swine manure. In C-1, the nitrification and denitrification processes took place in different compartments, while in C-2, simultaneous nitrification-denitrification occurred in the cathode. Clostridium disporicum and Geobacter sulfurreducens were identified in the anode compartments of both systems. C. disporicum was related to the degradation of complex organic matter compounds and G. sulfurreducens to electricity production. Different nitrifying bacteria populations were identified in both systems because of the different operational conditions. The highest microbial diversity was detected in cathode compartments of both configurations, including members of Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexiaceae and Proteobacteria. These communities allowed similar removal rates of organic matter (2.02-2.09 kg COD m(-3)d(-1)) and nitrogen (0.11-0.16 kg Nm(-3)d(-1)) in both systems. However, they differed in the generation of electric energy (20 and 2 mW m(-3) in C-1 and C-2, respectively).