Ammonium as a sustainable proton shuttle in bioelectrochemical systems

Cord‐Ruwisch, Ralf; Law, Yingyu; Cheng, Ka Yu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2011.07.100

Cited by 115 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In each batch cycle (2 days), 6.1 ± 0.1 mmol of NH3 gas was collected through ( Figure 6.2f), indicating that overall the transport of these ions contributes to ~10% of the total current. Since the transport of all other ions except NH 4 + ions through the CEM is very small, we thus conclude that the transport of NH 4 + ions through the CEM accounts for ~90% of the total current in our system, which is consistent with some earlier studies (Cord-Ruwisch et al 2011). …”

Section: Model Validationsupporting

confidence: 92%

Resource recovery by osmotic bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

Qin

2017

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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(academic)Recovering valuable resources from wastewater will transform wastewater management from a treatment focused to sustainability focused strategy, and creates the need for new technology development. An innovative treatment concept -osmotic bioelectrochemical system (OsBES), which is based on cooperation between bioelectrochemical systems (BES) and forward osmosis (FO), has been introduced and studied in the past few years. An OsBES can accomplish simultaneous treatment of wastewater and recovery of resources such as nutrient, energy, and water (NEW). The cooperation can be accomplished in either an integrated (osmotic microbial fuel cells, OsMFC) or coupled (microbial electrolysis cell-forward osmosis system, MEC-FO) configuration.In OsMFC, higher current generation than regular microbial fuel cell (MFC) was observed, resulting from the lower resistance of FO membrane. The electricity generation in OsMFC could greatly inhibit the reverse salt flux. Besides, ammonium removal was successfully demonstrated in OsMFC, making OsMFCs a promising technology for "NEW recovery" (NEW: nutrient, energy and water). For the coupled OsBES, an MEC-FO system was developed. The MEC produced an ammonium bicarbonate draw solute via recovering ammonia from synthetic organic solution, which was then applied in the FO for extracting water from the MEC anode effluent. The system has been advanced with treating landfill leachate. A mathematical model developed for ammonia removal/recovery in BES quantitatively confirmed that the NH4 + ions serve as effective proton shuttles across cation exchange membrane (CEM). Resource Recovery by Osmotic Bioelectrochemical Systems towards Sustainable Wastewater TreatmentMohan Qin Abstract (general audience)Nowadays, wastewater is no longer considered as waste. Instead, it is a pool for different kinds of resources, such as nutrient, energy, and water (NEW). Various technologies were developed to achieve NEW recovery from wastewater. A novel concept, osmotic bioelectrochemical system (OsBES) has been introduced and studied in the past few years. OsBES is based on two technologies: bioelectrochemical systems (BES) and forward osmosis (FO); and the corporation between these two technologies could accomplish simultaneous wastewater treatment and resource recovery. We investigated two kinds of OsBES: one is osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFC), and the other is microbial electrolysis cell-forward osmosis system (MEC-FO). For OsMFC, a mathematical model was built to understand the internal resistance, which will affect the current generation according to Om's law (I=U/R). The salt transport across the cation exchange membrane (CEM) is related to the current generation. The ion transport, especially ammonium/ammonia transport, across CEM membrane in BES was modelled, which will help the BES design and operation for ammonia recovery systems. The system performance for wastewater treatment and resource recovery in MEC-FO was fully investigated with both synthetic wastewater and landfill leach...

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Section: Model Validationsupporting

confidence: 92%

Resource recovery by osmotic bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

Qin

2017

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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“…In anolytes of MFC acidic conditions inhibits the oxidation activity of bacteria and reduces proton production [9][10][11][12] . According to the Nernst equation, the increased pH in the cathode compartment can significantly decrease current generation, while a balance of pH value between two chambers would be benefit for the potential of the oxygen reduction reaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of pH Spitting on the Internal Resistance in Microbial Fuel Cells

Zhang¹,

Hui²,

Han³

2015

Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Mechatronics, Electronic, Industrial and Control Engineering

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Abstract-Membrane separator in microbial fuel cell (MFCs) is one of the main factors that could significantly affect the performance of MFC. Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are typically used in two-chamber microbial fuel cells to separate the anode and cathode chambers while to allow the transfer of protons from anode to the cathode. However, protons will accumulate in the anode chamber, and therefore and the pH balance will be broken if the MFC works for a long time. In this study, effects of two types of separator membranes (Proton Exchange Membrane; 0.45μm Synthetic Fabric Membrane) on the pH spitting and MFC performance were investigated. Membrane internal resistance, membrane biofouling and oxygen diffusion were also analyzed. The fouling layer attached on membranes consisted of microorganisms was demonstrated from imaging analysis coupled with SEM. We found that pH splitting might influence MFC internal resistance more than biofouling. This was attributed to the proton transfer process, which was influenced by cathode pH value.

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“…The concentration of N-NH 4+ in the anode effluent was 65 ± 10 mg/L. The reduction of ammonium concentration in the anolyte occurred due to microbial consumption and ammonium diffusion to the cathode chamber through Nafion 117, to compensate charge balances between the anode and cathode chambers (concentration gradient) (Cord-Ruwisch et al, 2011). Moreover, the concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in the anode effluent were low and nearly the same as those in the anode influent, due to the anaerobic environment.…”

Section: Cathode and Membrane Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concurrent hydrogen production and phosphorus recovery in dual chamber microbial electrolysis cell

Almatouq

Babatunde

2017

Bioresource Technology

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Concurrent hydrogen (H 2 ) production and phosphorus (P) recovery were investigated in dual chamber microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). The aim of the study was to explore and understand the influence of applied voltage and influent COD concentration on concurrent H 2 production and P recovery in MEC. P was efficiently precipitated at the cathode chamber and the precipitated crystals were verified as struvite, using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The maximum P precipitation efficiency achieved by the MEC was 95%, and the maximum H 2 production rate was 0.28 m 3 -H 2 /m 3 -d. Response surface methodology showed that applied voltage had a great influence on H 2 production and P recovery, while influent COD concentration had a significant effect on P recovery only. The overall energy recovery in the MEC was low and ranged from 25 ± 1 to 37 ± 1.7 %. These results confirmed MECs capability for concurrent H 2 production and P recovery.Keywords: Bio-electrochemical System; Phosphorus Recovery; Microbial Electrolysis Cell; Struvite; Response Surface Methodology IntroductionDue to population growth, the global demand for unsustainable resources is rising. As a result, concerns around resource depletion are increasing. Phosphorus is one of the most 2 important unsustainable nutrients on our planet. Phosphorus is essential for all forms of life, especially for plant growth. Unfortunately, estimates show that phosphorus rocks will be depleted within the next 50-100 years (Cooper et al., 2011). Therefore, alternative sources of phosphorus should be discovered to balance the high demand for phosphorus. Magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite) is one of most common phosphate fertilizers that can be recovered from different streams of wastewater. Struvite is an efficient slow release fertilizer that can be used for crop growth, and is an excellent alternative for phosphate rocks (Rahman et al., 2014).Struvite precipitation occurs in the equimolecular concentration of magnesium (Mg), ammonium (NH 4 ) and (P); these elements combine with water to form struvite. The precipitation of these components is also highly dependent on pH, where struvite starts to precipitate at pH > 8 (Doyle & Parsons, 2002). The most common methods for P recovery as struvite are chemical addition and carbon dioxide stripping through aeration. These processes are effective for struvite precipitation; however, the operation cost is too high. Using chemical addition to raise the solution's pH can account for up to 97% of struvite cost (Jaffer et al., 2002;Morales et al., 2013).Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are a new and promising approach for hydrogen (H 2 ) production from organic matter, including wastewater and other renewable resources. In MECs, electrochemically active bacteria oxidise organic matter and generate CO 2 , electrons and protons. The bacteria transfer the electrons to the anode and the protons are released into the solution. The electrons then travel through a wire to a cathode and combine wit...

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Ammonium as a sustainable proton shuttle in bioelectrochemical systems

Cited by 115 publications

References 12 publications

Resource recovery by osmotic bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

Resource recovery by osmotic bioelectrochemical systems towards sustainable wastewater treatment

The Influence of pH Spitting on the Internal Resistance in Microbial Fuel Cells

Concurrent hydrogen production and phosphorus recovery in dual chamber microbial electrolysis cell

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