Anaerobic biological fermentation of urine as a strategy to enhance the performance of a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)

Barbosa, Sónia; Rodrigues, Telma; Peixoto, L.; Kuntke, Philipp; Alves, M. M.; Pereira, M. A.; Heijne, Annemiek ter

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.120

Cited by 33 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Moreover, higher NH 4 + ‐N removal was measured. This study suggests that a double stage anaerobic digester/MEC is a more effective option for increasing the organics degradation and improving the BES electrochemical output …”

Section: Bioelectrochemical Systems Fed With Urinementioning

confidence: 85%

Urine in Bioelectrochemical Systems: An Overall Review

et al. 2020

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In recent years, human urine has been successfully used as an electrolyte and organic substrate in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) mainly due of its unique properties. Urine contains organic compounds that can be utilised as a fuel for energy recovery in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and it has high nutrient concentrations including nitrogen and phosphorous that can be concentrated and recovered in microbial electrosynthesis cells and microbial concentration cells. Moreover, human urine has high solution conductivity, which reduces the ohmic losses of these systems, improving BES output. This review describes the most recent advances in BESs utilising urine. Properties of neat human urine used in state‐of‐the‐art MFCs are described from basic to pilot‐scale and real implementation. Utilisation of urine in other bioelectrochemical systems for nutrient recovery is also discussed including proofs of concept to scale up systems.

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Section: Bioelectrochemical Systems Fed With Urinementioning

confidence: 85%

Urine in Bioelectrochemical Systems: An Overall Review

et al. 2020

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“…Observing these results, the question arises whether low COD removal efficiencies are the result of non-readily biodegradable organic matter. Recent studies have shown that the concentration of easily degradable volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in urine can be increased after a pre-fermentation step, to a limited extent [188,189]. Barbosa et al (2019) reported that after fermentation of raw urine, its composition changed from mainly urea and creatinine to mainly methylamine (a result of creatinine hydrolysis), acetate and propionate.…”

Section: Biodegradability Of Organic Compounds In Urinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies have shown that the concentration of easily degradable volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in urine can be increased after a pre-fermentation step, to a limited extent [188,189]. Barbosa et al (2019) reported that after fermentation of raw urine, its composition changed from mainly urea and creatinine to mainly methylamine (a result of creatinine hydrolysis), acetate and propionate. Acetate concentration was higher in the fermented urine compared to the raw urine (4.7 and 2.8 g COD L -1 , respectively), demonstrating that other complex organic compounds had been converted to acetate.…”

Section: Biodegradability Of Organic Compounds In Urinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been demonstrated that anaerobic digestion in particular is inhibited at TAN concentrations ranging from 1.5-2.5 g L -1 when the microbial consortia are not adapted to high TAN concentrations, whereas gradual adaptation to high TAN concentrations has resulted in tolerance levels exceeding 4 g L -1 [190]. Barbosa et al (2019) reported that methane production was inhibited during the fermentation of urine, and that this inhibition was more pronounced with increasing ammonium concentrations (the experiments were done with different urine dilutions). At a TAN concentration of 4.3 g L -1 and a pH of 8.45, methane production was completely inhibited.…”

Section: Biodegradability Of Organic Compounds In Urinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of complex, non-readily biodegradable compounds in real wastewaters increases the chances of fermentative processes to occur, which can lead to lower coulombic efficiencies compared to synthetic wastewaters based on simpler organic compounds [200]. Pre-fermentation of complex wastewaters, as mentioned previously, can be beneficial when the fermentation products are directly oxidized at the bioanode by electrochemically active bacteria [188]. In practice, however, the fermentation products can also be used by other microorganisms, which results in lower Coulombic efficiencies.…”

Section: -Coulombic Efficienciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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(Bio)electrochemical recovery of ammonia from urine

Arredondo¹

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Results and discussion 5.4 Supporting information CHAPTER 6. General discussion and future perspectives 6.1 TAN recovery in (B)ES: State-of-the-art and limitations of the load ratio concept 6.2 Urine in (B)ES: opportunities and obstacles 6.3 Future perspectives and recommendations References Summary List of publications Acknowledgements CHAPTER 1 General introduction General introduction | 11 1 The invention of the Haber-Bosch process was a collaboration between Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch. Fritz Haber successfully synthesized ammonia from N 2 and hydrogen (H 2) in 1908, and only four years later, his laboratory setup had been upscaled to an industrial level by Carl Bosch [3, 4]. Around 80% of the ammonia produced globally by the Haber-Bosch process is used for the production of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers [4-6]. The role of the Haber-Bosch process in our modern agriculture is so crucial that, by 2008, almost half of the world's population was sustained by food produced with synthetic nitrogen fertilizers [3]. The production of ammonia via the Haber-Bosch process is energetically very demanding: it consumes 1-2% of the global energy supply [3, 6-9] and accounts for 3-5% of the global natural gas consumption [10]. N 2 is widely available in the atmosphere, where it accounts for 78% of all gases, but it is inert and very stable due to the strong triple bond shared by the two nitrogen atoms [9, 11, 12]. The nitrogen bond needs to be split up in order to reduce N 2 to bioavailable NH 3 , which requires a catalyst, high temperatures and pressures (α-iron or ruthenium catalyst, 350-550 °C, 150-350 atm [13]). Furthermore, the H 2 used in the Haber-Bosch process is mostly obtained from fossil fuels (mainly natural gas (72%) and coal (22%) [6]), which makes the process energy-intensive and results in emissions of large amounts of CO 2. In the Netherlands, for example, the CO 2 emissions from ammonia production account for 2% of all greenhouse gas emissions [14]. Even though the Haber-Bosch process has been optimized by using novel catalysts [11] or hydrogen produced by more sustainable processes (such as by water electrolysis [7]), its use of fossil fuels is currently the most economical and mature option [6, 15]. Consequences of our intervention on the nitrogen cycle The introduction of the Haber-Bosch process significantly increased the amount of biologically available nitrogen on Earth, causing an imbalance in the nitrogen cycle (Figure 1.1). Nowadays, over half of the nitrogen received by the world's crops comes from synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, so the amount of global nitrogen fixation has doubled [4]. This has led to an accumulation of reactive nitrogen in natural ecosystems, resulting in severe environmental consequences. General introduction | 13 1 1.2 Ammonia removal from wastewater 1.2.1 Why do we need to remove it? Apart from volatilization, denitrification, leaching, and runoff from agriculture, nitrogen also ends up in the environment via the discharge of wastewater. As plants are consumed by animals and...

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Bio‐electro‐Fenton systems for sustainable wastewater treatment: mechanisms, novel configurations, recent advances, LCA and challenges. An updated review

Hua

et al. 2020

J of Chemical Tech & Biotech

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Bio‐electro‐Fenton processes use biological electrons produced from bioelectrochemical systems to treat wastewater. The most significant advantages of bio‐electro‐Fenton systems are high effectiveness, low toxicity, gentle operation conditions, environmentally friendly treatment without sludge accumulation and energy conservation. Though promising, bio‐electro‐Fenton systems still face several challenges, such as high power density, H2O2 concentration, cathode materials, Fe2+ concentration and pH. This review comprehensively discusses the mechanisms of bio‐electro‐Fenton systems. Then, structural configurations are critically reviewed, including microbial fuel cells coupled with electro‐Fenton systems, microbial electrolysis cells coupled with electro‐Fenton systems and other bioelectrochemical systems coupled with electro‐Fenton systems. Furthermore, recent advances in bio‐electro‐Fenton systems for wastewater treatment are introduced, including dye solution, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, oily wastewater, landfill leachate and other pollutants. In addition, the current challenges and specific future prospects of bio‐electro‐Fenton, such as possible mechanisms for improving the power output, electrode materials that are potentially useful, self‐designed electrodes and methods of maintaining circumneutral pH values, are also explored. Heretofore, great progress in bio‐electro‐Fenton has been made, but further improvements are still needed in order to make this system more economical and practical. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

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Anaerobic biological fermentation of urine as a strategy to enhance the performance of a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)

Cited by 33 publications

References 36 publications

Urine in Bioelectrochemical Systems: An Overall Review

Urine in Bioelectrochemical Systems: An Overall Review

(Bio)electrochemical recovery of ammonia from urine

Bio‐electro‐Fenton systems for sustainable wastewater treatment: mechanisms, novel configurations, recent advances, LCA and challenges. An updated review

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