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This study demonstrates that H-type microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can simultaneously generate electricity and remove nitrogen from anaerobic digestate without requiring anode preconditioning. An unconditioned MFC achieved 172.2 mW/m² power density and 60% COD removal, while anammox bacteria naturally present in digestate contributed to 32–40% nitrogen removal. Results suggest MFCs could serve as bioremediation units in anaerobic digester plants, enabling recovery of anammox bacteria from natural sources while producing electricity.

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

Microbial Fuel cells (MFCs) have been proposed for nutrient removal and energy recovery from different wastes. In this study the anaerobic digestate was used to feed H-type MFC reactors, one with a graphite anode preconditioned with Geobacter sulfurreducens and the other with an unconditioned graphite anode. The data demonstrate that the digestate acts as a carbon source, and even in the absence of anode preconditioning, electroactive bacteria colonise the anodic chamber, producing a maximum power density of 172.2 mW/m². The carbon content was also reduced by up to 60%, while anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria, which were found in the anodic compartment of the reactors, contributed to nitrogen removal from the digestate. Overall, these results demonstrate that MFCs can be used to recover anammox bacteria from natural sources, and it may represent a promising bioremediation unit in anaerobic digestor plants for the simultaneous nitrogen removal and electricity generation using digestate as substrate.

Keywords

DigestateMicrobial fuel cellAnammoxGeobacterGeobacter sulfurreducensAnodePulp and paper industryChemistryAnaerobic digestionEnergy sourceAnaerobic bacteriaEnvironmental chemistryEnvironmental scienceNitrogenBiofilmBacteriaCoalMethaneDenitrificationBiologyElectrodeOrganic chemistry

Identifiers

DOI
10.1155/2015/351014
Journal
BioMed Research International
Year
2015