Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Water Res. 2013 Feb 1;47(2):881-94. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.11.023. Epub 2012 Nov 23.
Integrating microbial fuel cell (MFC) into rotating biological contactor (RBC) creates an opportunity for enhanced removal of COD and nitrogen coupled with energy generation from wastewater. In this study, a three-stage rotating bioelectrochemical contactor (referred to as RBC-MFC unit) integrating MFC with RBC technology was constructed for simultaneous removal of carbonaceous and nitrogenous compounds and electricity generation from a synthetic medium containing acetate and ammonium. The performance of the RBC-MFC unit was compared to a control reactor (referred to as RBC unit) that was operated under the same conditions but without current generation (i.e. open-circuit mode). The effect of hydraulic loading rate (HLR) and COD/N ratio on the performance of the two units was investigated. At low (3.05 gCOD g⁻¹N) and high COD/N ratio (6.64 gCOD g⁻¹N), both units achieved almost similar COD and ammonia-nitrogen removal. However, the RBC-MFC unit achieved significantly higher denitrification and nitrogen removal compared to the RBC unit indicating improved denitrification at the cathode due to current flow. The average voltage under 1000 Ω external resistance ranged between 0.03 and 0.30 V and between 0.02 and 0.21 V for stages 1 and 2 of the RBC-MFC unit. Pyrosequencing analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene revealed high bacterial diversity at the anode and cathode of both units. Genera that play a role in nitrification (Nitrospira; Nitrosomonas), denitrification (Comamonas; Thauera) and electricity generation (Geobacter) were identified at the electrodes. Geobacter was only detected on the anode of the RBC-MFC unit. Nitrifiers and denitrifiers were more abundant in the RBC-MFC unit compared to the RBC unit and were largely present on the cathode of both units suggesting that most of the nitrogen removal occurred at the cathode.
将微生物燃料电池 (MFC) 集成到旋转生物接触器 (RBC) 中为从废水中增强 COD 和氮的去除并同时产生能量创造了机会。在这项研究中，构建了一个三级旋转生物电化学接触器（称为 RBC-MFC 单元），将 MFC 与 RBC 技术集成，用于从含有乙酸盐和铵盐的合成培养基中同时去除碳质和氮质化合物和发电。将 RBC-MFC 单元的性能与在相同条件下运行但没有电流产生（即开路模式）的对照反应器（称为 RBC 单元）进行了比较。研究了水力负荷率 (HLR) 和 COD/N 比对两个单元性能的影响。在低（3.05 gCOD g ⁻¹ N）和高 COD/N 比（6.64 gCOD g ⁻¹ N）下，两个单元都实现了几乎相似的 COD 和氨氮去除。然而，与 RBC 单元相比，RBC-MFC 单元实现了显着更高的反硝化和氮去除率，表明由于电流流动，阴极的反硝化得到了改善。在 1000 Ω 外部电阻下，RBC-MFC 单元的 1 级和 2 级的平均电压在 0.03 和 0.30 V 之间以及在 0.02 和 0.21 V 之间。对两个单元的阳极和阴极的细菌 16S rRNA 基因进行的焦磷酸测序分析显示出高细菌多样性。在电极上鉴定出参与硝化（Nitrospira；Nitrosomonas）、反硝化（Comamonas；Thauera）和发电（Geobacter）的属。Geobacter 仅在 RBC-MFC 单元的阳极上检测到。与 RBC 单元相比，RBC-MFC 单元中的硝化菌和反硝化菌更为丰富，并且主要存在于两个单元的阴极上，这表明大部分氮去除发生在阴极。
