Effect of Electrostatic Field Strength on Bioelectrochemical Nitrogen Removal from Nitrogen-Rich Wastewater

Anna Joicy, Young-Chae Song, Jun Li, Sang-Eun Oh, Seong-Ho Jang and Yongtae Ahn
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Anna Joicy: Department of Energy Engineering, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju, Gyeongnam, Jinju 52725, Korea
Young-Chae Song: Department of Environmental Engineering, Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Busan 49112, Korea
Jun Li: Key Laboratory of Low-Grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, China
Sang-Eun Oh: Department of Biological Environment, Kangwon National University, Kangwon 24341, Korea
Seong-Ho Jang: Department of Bio-Environmental Energy, Pusan National University, Miryang 50463, Korea
Yongtae Ahn: Department of Energy Engineering, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju, Gyeongnam, Jinju 52725, Korea

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: The effect of electrostatic fields on the bioelectrochemical removal of ammonium and nitrite from nitrogen-rich wastewater was investigated at strengths ranging from 0.2 to 0.67 V/cm in bioelectrochemical anaerobic batch reactors. The electrostatic field enriched the bulk solution with electroactive bacteria, including ammonium oxidizing exoelectrogens (AOE) and denitritating electrotrophs (DNE). The electroactive bacteria removed ammonium and nitrite simultaneously with alkalinity consumption through biological direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) in the bulk solution. However, the total nitrogen (ammonium and nitrite) removal rate increased from 106.1 to 166.3 mg N/g volatile suspended solids (VSS).d as the electrostatic field strength increased from 0.2 to 0.67 V/cm. In the cyclic voltammogram, the redox peaks corresponding to the activities of AOE and DNE increased as the strength of the electrostatic field increased. Based on the microbial taxonomic profiling, the dominant genera involved in the bioelectrochemical nitrogen removal were identified as Pseudomonas , Petrimonas , DQ677001_g , Thiopseudomonas , Lentimicrobium , and Porphyromonadaceae_uc . This suggests that the electrostatic field of 0.67 V/cm significantly improves the bioelectrochemical nitrogen removal by enriching the bulk solution with AOE and DNE and promoting the biological DIET between them.

Keywords: bioelectrochemical; nitrogen removal; electrostatic field; direct interspecies electron transfer; electroactive bacteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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