Bioelectricity generation from brewery wastewater in a microbial fuel cell using chitosan/biodegradable copolymer membrane

Wastewater treatment with bioelectrical generation is an attractive feature with microbial fuel cells. The chitosan/biodegradable copolymer proton exchange membrane was used to assess its performance with brewery wastewater in a dual chambered microbial fuel cell. The biodegradable copolymer was made by thermal condensation of malic acid and citric acid in 3:1 ratio and then blended with chitosan to form a membrane via solution casting and solvent evaporation techniques. The performance of the chitosan/biodegradable copolymer membrane was evaluated in bioelectricity production with brewery effluent as an anolyte in a carbon electrode microbial fuel cell. Additionally, the competence of the prepared blend proton exchange membrane is compared with the commercial Nafion 117 membrane and Agar salt bridge in separate microbial fuel cell units with the same effluent and electrodes. At neutral pH, the effect of adding metabolites such as glucose and acetate to the anolyte was also investigated. The maximum current density and power density generated with chitosan/biodegradable copolymer membrane was 111.94 mA m^?2 and 3022.39 mW m^?2, respectively, whereas the Nafion 117 membrane had a maximum current density of 120.23 mA m^?2 and power density of 3486.73 mW m^?2.     

Whey as a substrate for generation of bioelectricity in microbial fuel cell using E.coli

While oil prices raise and the supply remains unsteady, it may be beneficial to use the high content of energy available in food processing wastes, such as cheese whey waste, by converting it to bioenergy. As well, there have been many new waste biotreatment technologies developed recently, which may well be used directly to food processing wastes. Microbial fuel cell represents a new technology for simultaneous use of waste materials and bioelectricity generation. In this study, bioelectricity generation with whey degradation was investigated in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell with mediators. E.coli was able to use the carbohydrate found in whey to generate bioelectricity. The open-circuit voltage in absence of mediator was 751.5mV at room temperature. The voltage was stable for more than 24 h. Riboflavin and humic acid were used as conceivable mediators. The results showed that humic acid was a few times more effective than Riboflavin. Additionally, four chemicals employed as catholyte. Based on polarization curve, FeCl₃ (III) was the best. Maximum power generation and current were 324.8 μW and 1194.6μA, respectively.     

Enhanced electricity generation from whey wastewater using combinational cathodic electron acceptor in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell

While energy consumption is increasing worldwide due to population growth, the fossil fuels are unstable and exhaustible resources for establishing sustainable life. Using biodegradable compounds present in the wastewater produced in industrial process as a renewable source is an enchanting approach followed by scientists for maintaining a sustainable energy production to vanquish this problem for ulterior generations. In this research, bioelectricity generation with whey degradation was investigated in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell with humic acid as anodic electron mediator and a cathode compartment including combinational electron acceptor. Escherichia coli was able to use the carbohydrate originated from whey to generate bioelectricity. The open-circuit potential in absence of mediator was 751.5?mV at room temperature. The voltage was stable for more than 24?h. Humic acid was used as a suitable mediator. In addition, some mixed chemicals were employed as catholyte. Based on polarization curve, the power and current values in the presence of a mixed solution of potassium iodide (KI), ferric chloride [FeCl₃ (??)] and manganese chloride tetrahydride (MnCl₂·4H₂O) with doubling of oxidant (oxygen) concentration using agitation with magnet stirrer in cathode compartment without any buffer solution were boosted to 562.9???W and 1906.1???A, respectively, and demonstrated the best result for power generation.     

Anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial diversity within wastewater stabilization plant during ‘red water’ phenomenon

The molecular diversity of the purple photosynthetic bacteria was assessed during temporal pigmentation changes in four interconnected wastewater stabilization ponds treating domestic wastewater by denaturant gel gradient electrophoresis method applying pufM gene. Results revealed high phylogenetic diversity of the purple phototrophic anoxygenic bacteria community characterized by the presence of the purple non-sulfur, purple sulfur, and purple aerobic photosynthetic anoxygenic bacteria. This phototrophic bacterial assemblage was dominated by the purple non-sulfur bacteria group (59.3 %) with six different genera followed by the purple sulfur community (27.8 %) with four genera and finally 12.9 % of the pufM gene sequences were assigned throughout the aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacterial group. The purple phototrophic bacterial community was characterized by the presence of salt-dependant bacterial species belonging to the genus Marichromatium, Thiorhodococcus, Erythrobacter, and Roseobacter. The wastewater treatment plant performances were unsatisfactory, and the biological and chemical parameters suggested that the purple photosynthetic bloom was correlated with the eutrophic state.     

Geochemical diversity in S processes mediated by culture-adapted and environmental-enrichments of Acidithiobacillus spp.

Coupled S speciation and acid generation resulting from S processing associated with five different microbial treatments, all primarily Acidithiobacillus spp. (i.e. autotrophic S-oxidizers) were evaluated in batch laboratory experiments. Microbial treatments included two culture-adapted strains, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, their consortia and two environmental enrichments from a mine tailings lake that were determined to be >95% Acidithiobacillus spp., by whole-cell fluorescent hybridization. Using batch experiments simulating acidic mine waters with no carbon amendments, acid generation, and S speciation associated with the oxidation of three S substrates (thiosulfate, tetrathionate, and elemental S) were evaluated. Aseptic controls showed no observable pH decrease over the experimental time course (1 month) for all three S compounds examined. In contrast, pH decreased in all microbial treatments from starting pH values of 4 to 2 or less for all three S substrates. Results show a non-linear relationship between the pH dynamics of the batch cultures and their corresponding sulfate concentrations, and indicate how known microbial S processing pathways have opposite impacts, ultimately on pH dynamics. Associated geochemical modeling indicated negligible abiogenic processes contributing to the observed results, indicating strong microbial control of acid generation extending over pH ranges from 4 to less than 2. However, the observed acid generation rates and associated S speciation were both microbial treatment and substrate-specific. Results reveal a number of novel insights regarding microbial catalysis of S oxidation: (1) metabolic diversity in S processing, as evidenced by the observed geochemical signatures in S chemical speciation and rates of acid generation amongst phylogenetically similar organisms (to the genus level); (2) consortial impacts differ from those of individual strain members; (3) environmental enrichments of Acidithiobacillus spp. catalyze different S reaction arrays than pure strain Acidithiobacillus spp.; and (4) microbial catalysis of S reactions involves significant disproportionation tied to substantial H⁺ consumption, with the formation of as yet, poorly characterized intermediate S species, most likely polythionates and polysulfane monosulfonic acids that are thought to be involved in microbial S storage mechanisms.     

Evaluating the production and bio-stimulating effect of 5-methyl 1, hydroxy phenazine on microbial fuel cell performance

The role of endogenous redox mediators has considerable importance in electron shuttling reactions and associated performance of microbial fuel cell. Single-chamber microbial fuel cell-II with dual air-cathode assembly (area = 18.84 cm²) supported highest bacterial (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) density (6.7 × 10⁹) and active biomass [4.4 ± 0.3 mg cm^?2 (carbon content = 0.48 ± 0.1 mg cm^?2)] on anode thereby resulting in maximum production of redox metabolite, 5-methyl 1, hydroxy phenazine (301 ppm) and voltage (595 ± 5 mV) than similar cells with relatively less surface area of cathode. It was further revealed that 5-methyl 1, hydroxy phenazine production was positively correlated with chemical oxygen demand removal rate (77 ± 2.5%) and power generation (66.6 ± 2.2 mW cm^?2) efficiency of single-chamber microbial fuel cell-II. Maximum power density of 258 ± 4.5 mW cm^?2 was generated when reactor was supplemented with 2 ml crude extract of 5-methyl 1, hydroxy phenazine metabolite, whereas power output was about 229 ± 2.5 mW cm^?2 when reactor was bio-stimulated with 1 ml pure extract of 5-methyl 1, hydroxy phenazine. With this concentration, the electrochemical response of mixed culture biofilm (sediment) was enhanced by 99.3%. However, further increase in concentration of endogenous mediator proved to be limiting on reactor performance. Pyrosequencing and phylogenetic analysis on the basis of partial 16S rRNA sequences demonstrated both culturable and unculturable bacterial species in anodic biofilm and relative abundance of family Pseudomonadaceae was found to be maximum, i.e., 61.7% followed by Rhodocyclaceae 19.2%, Xanthomonadaceae 6.3% and Opitutaceae 3.18%.     

Energy generation from domestic wastewater using sandwich dual-chamber microbial fuel cell with mesh current collector cathode

A sandwich domestic wastewater-fed dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was designed for energy generation and wastewater treatment. The generated power density by the MFC was observed to increase with increasing chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the domestic wastewater. The maximum power density was 251 mW m^?2 when the COD was 3400 mg L^?1 at a current density of 0.054 mA cm^?2 and external resistance of 200 Ω. These values dropped to 60 mW m^?2 (76 % lower) and 0.003 mA cm^?2 using wastewater 91 % diluted to 300 mg L^?1 COD. Maximum removals were: COD, 89 %; nitrite, 60 %; nitrate, 77 %; total nitrogen, 36 %; and phosphate, 26 %. Coulombic efficiency ranged from 5 to 7 %. The use of full-strength domestic wastewater reduces cost, and with improved reactor design, the ultimate goal of large-scale operation could be achieved.     

Effects of flow rate and chemical oxygen demand removal characteristics on power generation performance of microbial fuel cells

Two microbial fuel cells with different oxygen supplies in the cathodic chamber were constructed. Electrogenic capabilities of both cells were compared under the same operational conditions. Results showed that binary quadratic equations can express the relationships between chemical oxygen demand degradation rate and chemical oxygen demand loading and between chemical oxygen demand removal rate and chemical oxygen demand loading in both cells. Good linear relationships between power output (voltage or power density) and flow rate and between power output and chemical oxygen demand degradation rate were only found on the cell with mechanical aeration in the cathodic chamber, but not on the cell with algal photosynthesis in the cathodic chamber. The relationships between power output and chemical oxygen demand removal rate and between power output and effluent chemical oxygen demand concentration on both cells can be expressed as binary quadratic equations. The optimum flow rates to obtain higher power density and higher Coulombic efficiency in the cell with mechanical aeration in the cathodic chamber (=0.85?mW/m² and 0.063%) and in the cell with algal photosynthesis in the cathodic chamber (=0.65?mW/m² and 0.05%) are about 1000 and 1460???L/min, respectively. The optimum chemical oxygen demand removal rates to obtain higher power density and higher Coulombic efficiency in the cell with mechanical aeration in the cathodic chamber (=1.2?mW/m² and 0.064%) and in the cell with algal photosynthesis in the cathodic chamber (=0.81?mW/m² and 0.051%) are about 40.5 and 36.5%, respectively.     

Effect of organic carbon on the production of biofuel nitrous oxide during the denitrification process

The carbon source plays an important role in denitrification for nitrogen removal from wastewater. In this study, the denitrification performance and nitrous oxide (N₂O) generation in four sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) fed with methanol, ethanol, sodium acetate and glucose were investigated. The maximum N₂O generation was achieved when glucose was used as the carbon source, with a N₂O conversion ratio of 56%. The high conversion ratio was contributed from the organic carbon of glucose and the glucose-acclimated denitrifiers. The nitrite accumulation and N₂O generation during denitrification with glucose as the carbon source increased with increasing chemical oxygen demand to nitrogen ratios in the range of 2–8. The microbial community and their relative abundances varied greatly in the four reactors, and a low abundance of Thauera was found in the glucose-fed SBR, which might contribute to the greater N₂O production. Practical strategies for N₂O generation from the denitrification process using glucose as the carbon source were proposed so as to achieve energy recovery from nitrogen in wastewater.     

Isolation and characterization of a novel native Bacillus strain capable of degrading diesel fuel

The ability of native bacteria to utilize diesel fuel as the sole carbon and energy source was investigated in this research. Ten bacterial strains were isolated from the oil refinery field in Tehran, Iran. Two biodegradation experiments were performed in low and high (500 and 10000 ppm, respectively) concentration of diesel fuel for 15 days. Only two isolates were able to efficiently degrade the petroleum hydrocarbons in the first test and degraded 86.67% and, 80.60 % of diesel fuel, respectively. The secondary experiment was performed to investigate the toxicity effect of diesel fuel at high concentration (10000 ppm). Only one strain was capable to degrade 85.20 % of diesel fuel at the same time (15 days). Phenotype and phylogeny analysis of this strain was characterized and identified as diesel-degrading bacteria, based on gram staining, biochemical tests, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. These results indicate that this new strain was Bacillus sp. and could be considered as Bacillus Cereus with 98 % 16 S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The results indicate that native strains have great potential for in situ remediation of diesel-contaminated soils in oil refinery sites.     

Microbial sources of intact polar diacylglycerolipids in the Western North Atlantic Ocean

Intact polar membrane lipids are essential components of microbial membranes and recent work has uncovered a diversity of them occurring in the ocean. While it has long been understood that lipid composition varies across microbial groups, the microbial origins of the intact polar lipids in the surface ocean remain to be fully explained. This study focused on identifying the microbial sources of intact polar diacylglycerolipids (IP-DAGs) in the surface waters of the western North Atlantic Ocean. We used three approaches to define these microbial sources: (i) ¹³C tracing to identify photoautotrophic and heterotrophic production of the major classes of IP-DAGs, (ii) cell sorting flow cytometry of Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and heterotrophic bacteria to determine IP-DAG composition and (iii) regrowth incubations targeting IP-DAG production by heterotrophic bacteria. Stable isotope tracing indicated that sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) and diacylglyceryl-trimethyl-homoserine (DGTS) were produced predominantly by photoautotrophs, while phosphatidylglycerol (PG) production was dominated by heterotrophic bacteria. Of the cells sorted with flow cytometry, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus were found to have abundant glycolipids, while heterotrophic bacteria were dominated by phospholipids. The regrowth incubations showed that the growth of heterotrophic bacteria correlated with an increase in the concentration of PG, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and monoglycosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG). The finding of MGDG in heterotrophic bacteria differs from previous work, which had asserted that the membranes of heterotrophic bacteria in this environment were composed entirely of phospholipids. Overall, our findings indicate that phytoplankton are the primary source of SQDG and DGTS, while heterotrophic bacteria are the dominant source of PG, making these three compounds promising biomarkers for the study of microbes in the surface ocean.     

Exploratory Study of Archaebacteria and their Habitat in Underground,Opencast Coal Mines and Coal Mine Fire Areas of Dhanbad

Coal contains abundant microbial genera which include archaebacteria. The study of archaea kingdom in coal mines is a significant tool for knowing the relationship between coal and archaebacteria, the major role in geochemical cycle and application for further coal bio–beneficiation. The present study related to exploration of archaebacteria and their habitat in coal mining area of Dhanbad with reference to their ecology and nutrient availability that have evolve to grow under extreme conditions. Total six different sites such as two underground coal mines (Sudamdih shaft and Chasnalla underground mine), two opencast coal mines (Chandan project and Bhowra abandoned mine), Jharia mine fire and Sudamdih coal washery of Dhanbad was selected. Seven gram negative obligate anaerobic bacteria were isolated from the selected sites. The isolated species were rod and cocci shaped and the colony was round, smooth, off white in colour and with entire margin and little are cluster of cocci in shape. The isolated species were identified as Methanococcus spp, Methanobacterium spp and Methanosarcina spp. Apart from that two thermoacidophilic sulfur oxidizing bacteria Sulfolobus spp was also isolated from Jharia Coal Mine Fire. The physicochemical and biological characterization of the habitat was also studied for the entire selected area.     

The effect of pH and ionic strength on proton adsorption by the thermophilic bacterium Anoxybacillus flavithermus

Numerous studies have utilized surface complexation theory to model proton adsorption behaviour onto mesophilic bacteria. However, few experiments, to date, have investigated the effects of pH and ionic strength on proton interactions with thermophilic bacteria. In this study, we characterize proton adsorption by the thermophile Anoxybacillus flavithermus by performing acid-base titrations and electrophoretic mobility measurements in NaNO₃ (0.001-0.1 M). Equilibrium thermodynamics (Donnan model) were applied to describe the specific chemical reactions that occur at the water-bacteria interface. Acid-base titrations were used to determine deprotonation constants and site concentrations for the important cell wall functional groups, while electrophoretic mobility data were used to further constrain the model. We observe that with increasing pH and ionic strength, the buffering capacity increases and the electrophoretic mobility decreases. We develop a single surface complexation model to describe proton interactions with the cells, both as a function of pH and ionic strength. Based on the model, the acid-base properties of the cell wall of A. flavithermus can best be characterized by invoking three distinct types of cell wall functional groups, with pK_a values of 4.94, 6.85, and 7.85, and site concentrations of 5.33, 1.79, and 1.42 × 10⁻⁴ moles per gram of dry bacteria, respectively. A. flavithermus imparts less buffering capacity than pure mesophilic bacteria studied to date because the thermophile possesses a lower total site density (8.54 × 10⁻⁴ moles per dry gram bacteria).     

Dynamics of diesel fuel degradation in contaminated soil using organic wastes

Bioremediation is an effective measure in dealing with such contamination, particularly those from petroleum hydrocarbon sources. The effect of soil amendments on diesel fuel degradation in soil was studied. Diesel fuel was introduced into the soil at the concentration of 5 % (w/w) and mixed with three different organic wastes tea leaf, soy cake, and potato skin, for a period of 3 months. Within 84 days, 35 % oil loss was recorded in the unamended polluted soil while 88, 81 and 75 % oil loss were recorded in the soil amended with soy cake, potato skin and tea leaf, respectively. Diesel fuel utilizing bacteria counts were significantly high in all organic wastes amended treatments, ranging from 111 × 106 to 152 × 106 colony forming unit/gram of soil, as compared to the unamended control soil which gave 31 × 106 CFU/g. The diesel fuel utilizing bacteria isolated from the oil-contaminated soil belongs to Bacillus licheniformis, Ochrobactrum tritici and Staphylococcus sp. Oil-polluted soil amended with soy cake recorded the highest oil biodegradation with a net loss of 53 %, as compared to the other treatments. Dehydrogenase enzyme activity, which was assessed by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride technique, correlated significantly with the total petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and accumulation of CO₂. First-order kinetic model revealed that soy cake was the best of the three organic wastes used, with biodegradation rate constant of 0.148 day^?1 and half life of 4.68 days. The results showed there is potential for soy cake, potato skin and tea leaf to enhance biodegradation of diesel in oil-contaminated soil.     

Population structures shift during the biodegradation of crude and fuel oil by an indigenous consortium

Petroleum and fuel oil are complex mixtures of recalcitrant hydrocarbons. The biodegradation of these hydrocarbons needs the action of a vast variety of enzymatic capacities. A microbial consortium offers the capability to degrade complex substrates through the assembly of different biochemical reactions, providing a metabolic versatility superior to axenic cultures. In this work, the microbial population dynamics, taxonomy, and the catabolic capacity of a stabilized consortium exposed to fuel and crude oil was analyzed through metagenomics. The stabilized consortium degraded 59% of crude oil components after 8 days, and 34% of fuel oil components after 130 days. Population dynamics analysis indicates that in fuel oil the biodiversity richness was higher; however, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis similarity dendrogram shows significant changes in the microbial population during crude oil degradation. Taxonomy studies indicate a great genera divergence; only eight microbial genera were common in both samples. In crude oil, the Limnobacter sp. was the most abundant specie (15.6%), while Sphingomonas wittichii (7.9%) and Novosphingobium aromaticivorans (7.6%) were abundant in fuel oil. These microorganisms have been reported to participate in the degradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Functional analysis suggests that fuel and crude oil components changed the interactions between the consortium members affecting the collective metabolic functionality.     

Fate of bacterial biomass derived fatty acids in soil and their contribution to soil organic matter

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a major pool of the global C cycle and determines soil fertility. The stability of SOM strongly depends on the molecular precursors and structures. Plant residues have been regarded as the dominant precursors, but recent results showed a major contribution of microbial biomass. The fate of microbial biomass constituents has not yet been explored; therefore, we investigated the fate of fatty acids (FA) from ¹³C labeled Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) in a model soil study [Kindler, R., Miltner, A., Richnow, H.H., Kästner, M., 2006. Fate of gram negative bacterial biomass in soil—mineralization and contribution to SOM. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 38, 2860–2870]. After 224 days of incubation, the label in the total fatty acids (t-FA) in the soil decreased to 24% and in the phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) of living microbes to 11% of the initially added amount. Since the bulk C decreased only to 44% in this period, the turnover of FA is clearly higher indicating that other compounds must have a lower turnover. The ¹³C label in the t-FA reached a stable level after 50 days but the label of the PLFA of the living microbial biomass declined until the end of the experiment. The isotopic enrichment of individual PLFA shows that the biomass derived C was spread across the microbial food web. Modelling of the C fluxes in this experiment indicated that microbial biomass is continuously mineralized after cell death and recycled by other organisms down to the 10% level, whereas the majority of biomass derived residual bulk C (～33%) was stabilized in the non-living SOM pool.     

Competitive adsorption of metal cations onto two gram positive bacteria: testing the chemical equilibrium model

In order to test the ability of a surface complexation approach to account for metal-bacteria interactions in near surface fluid-rock systems, we have conducted experiments that measure the extent of adsorption in mixed metal, mixed bacteria systems. This study tests the surface complexation approach by comparing estimated extents of adsorption based on surface complexation modeling to those we observed in the experimental systems. The batch adsorption experiments involved Ca, Cd, Cu, and Pb adsorption onto the surfaces of 2 g positive bacteria: Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis. Three types of experiments were performed: 1. Single metal (Ca, Cu, Pb) adsorption onto a mixture of B. licheniformis and B. subtilis; 2. mixed metal (Cd, Cu, and Pb; Ca and Cd) adsorption onto either B. subtilis or B. licheniformis; and 3. mixed or single metal adsorption onto B. subtilis and B. licheniformis. %Independent of the experimental results, and based on the site specific stability constants for Ca, Cd, Cu, and Pb interactions with the carboxyl and phosphate sites on B. licheniformis and B. subtilis determined by Fein et al. (1997), by Daughney et al. (1998) and in this study, we estimate the extent of adsorption that is expected in the above experimental systems.Competitive cation adsorption experiments in both single and double bacteria systems exhibit little adsorption at pH values less than 4. With increasing pH above 4.0, the extent of Ca, Cu, Pb and Cd adsorption also increases due to the increased deprotonation of bacterial surface functional groups. In all cases studied, the estimated adsorption behavior is in excellent agreement with the observations, with only slight differences that were within the uncertainties of the estimation and experimental procedures. Therefore, the results indicate that the use of chemical equilibrium modeling of aqueous metal adsorption onto bacterial surfaces yields accurate predictions of the distribution of metals in complex multicomponent systems.     

Microbial community analysis for aerobic granular sludge reactor treating high-level 4-chloroaniline wastewater

A laboratory-scale sequencing airlift bioreactor continuously treating high-level 4-chloroaniline (4-ClA) wastewater was used for studying the effect of 4-ClA on the characteristics and microbial community of aerobic granular sludge. The granulation of aerobic sludge and efficient pollutant removal performance were developed via shortening sludge settling time and gradually increasing influent 4-ClA concentration to around 400 mg L^?1. However, the granular sludge reactor deteriorated with the 4-ClA loading rate above 0.8 kg m^?3 d^?1. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and real-time quantitative PCR were applied to investigate the microbial community succession during the start-up and recovery of bioreactor. The results showed that the performance of granular reactor was significantly influenced by the microbial community of aerobic granule, and stable aerobic granule was dominated with β-Proteobacteria (61.28 %), Flavobacteriales, Planctomycetales, Clostridiales, and Acidobacteria. Since Thauera (21.55 %) related to the genus β-Proteobacteria was abundant in the stable 4-ClA-degrading granular sludge, it was speculated as the main 4-ClA-degrading bacteria. Under high chloroaniline level, the sludge granulation may maintain the stability of the bioreactor via adjusting the composition of microbial community and abundance of functional microorganism. This paper provided useful information for better understanding the change of microbial community characteristics under high-level toxic organic pollutants and process optimizing.     

Microbial fuel cell operation using nitrate as terminal electron acceptor for simultaneous organic and nutrient removal

A double-chambered biocathode microbial fuel cell with carbon felt employed as electrodes was developed for wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation simultaneously. The system was operated in fed-batch mode for over eight batches. The effect of circuit connections on organic and nitrate reduction was investigated. The maximum power density recorded was 21.97 mW/m² at current density of 88.57 mA/m². The Coulombic efficiency and internal resistance of the system were 5% and 100 Ω. Up to 89.9 ± 5.9% of chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency achieved with an influent of 1123 ± 28 mg/L. There was no significant difference in the chemical oxygen demand reduction when system operated in either open or closed circuit. This study clearly showed that higher nitrate reduction efficiency obtained in closed circuit (74.7 ± 7.0%) due to bio-electrochemical denitrification compared to only 41.7% in the open circuit. The result also successfully demonstrated nitrate as terminal electron acceptor for the cathodic nitrate reduction.     

Precipitation of carbonates by bacteria isolated from wastewater samples collected in a conventional wastewater treatment plant

This research studied the precipitation of calcium carbonate by populations of bacteria from domestic wastewater cultivated in both natural and artificial solid culture media. The only carbonate-forming bacteria detected appeared in an artificial medium added with calcium acetate. Precipitation occurred three days after inoculation, and the percentage was slightly higher than 65 %. Our results showed that nine major carbonate-forming colony types were the dominant heterotrophic platable bacteria growing aerobically in artificial media added with calcium acetate. According to their taxonomic affiliations (based on partial sequencing of the 16S-rRNA), the nine strains belonged to the following nine genera of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria: Caulobacter, Blastomonas, Roseobacter, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Gemmatimonas, Saccharopolyspora, Microthrix, and Sphingomonas. All of these strains formed calcium carbonate, precipitated as calcite and vaterite in different proportions and shapes (spheres, hemispheres, dumbbells, and pseudopolyhedral forms). The results of this study suggest that in real domestic wastewater, the precipitation of carbonates through bacterial action could not take place in situ because the concentrations of calcium did not create the optimal circumstances for biomineralization. However, in the artificial media, it was possible to induce this process by adding calcium ions.