Enhanced biodegradation of aged petroleum hydrocarbons in soils by glucose addition in microbial fuel cells

Abstract

BACKGROUND Bioelectrochemical remediation of soils contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons has received increasing attention as an effective approach to remove pollution with simultaneous electricity generation. RESULTS Here, glucose was added as a co‐substrate in this system. The charge output of soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was enhanced by 262%, and the total petroleum hydrocarbon degradation rate increased by 200%. According to the increased dehydrogenase and polyphenol oxidase activities, the exogenetic glucose substantially activated hydrocarbon degradation bacteria (such as Alcanivorax). The Shannon–Wiener Index and richness of soil microbial community decreased after glucose addition, indicating that a selective enrichment of specific communities was imposed by glucose. Correlation analysis showed the biodiversity in soil far from the cathode was mainly determined by the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons, while that in soil close to the cathode was dominated by the current. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that an exogenetic carbon source enhanced the bioelectrochemically assisted degradation of aged petroleum hydrocarbons in saline soils, providing an effective approach to remove contaminations from soil in barren areas or extreme environments. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry

Sand amendment enhances bioelectrochemical remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil

“…It was noted that the band 35 (Alcanivorax, a strain of typical hydrocarbon degradation bacteria (Cui et al, 2008)) was distinctly stimulated in Layer 4 of LS and HS, indicating that the improved mass transport by sand promoted the population of hydrocarbon degradation bacteria (Li et al, 2015). The H and S of LS and HS were lower than those of CK, showing a selective enrichment of functional communities (Li et al, 2014b; Lu et al, 2014b).…”

Impact of electrocoagulation on membrane filtration resistance under different proportions of industrial wastewater

“…Dehydrogenase is responsible for the biological oxidation of organic compounds, and its activity can assess the protons catalysed by intermediate products . Some studies indicated that electric field and iron ions were able to enhance dehydrogenase activity . Additionally, previous research showed that electrocoagulation has the capability to increase the relative abundances of nitrogen removal microorganisms to improve the nitrogen removal performance .…”

Microbial Fuel Cells for Organic‐Contaminated Soil Remedial Applications: A Review

“…A charge output of 918 C was transferred, and 37 mW m −2 (366 mV, 102 mA m −2 , across 1000 Ω resistor) of the maximum power density was achieved, which was consistent with that previously reported (39 mW m −2 ; Table ). With the help of sand amendment and glucose addition, the performance of multianode soil MFCs was further promoted ,. Additionally, Zhang et al.…”

“…Moreover, it should be noted that the power production of soil MFCs (≈80 mA m −2 , 1000 Ω) was around 10‐fold lower than those of liquid medium MFCs (≈800 mA m −2 , 1000 Ω); this suggests that a fixed‐area cathode can afford a much larger area anode in soil than that in water applications . In view of the abovementioned advantages, a multianode air‐cathode soil MFC with one cathode was designed to extend the anode in soil contaminated with aged petroleum hydrocarbons (Figure d) ,,. More than three anode layers in this type of soil MFC could be explored to test the possibility of long‐range bioremediation with much regard for practicality and cost.…”

“…A discrepant result indicated that the amount of hydrocarbon‐degrading bacteria was less in soil adjacent to the anode, possibly due to the depletion of biodegradable substances, which showed that the reaction activity of functional microbes was determined by the amount of bioaccessible substrate. Correlation analysis showed that biodiversity in soil far from the cathode was mainly determined by the concentration of biodegradable substrates, whereas that in soil close to the cathode was dominated by the biocurrent …”