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Updated: May 14, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
The effect of C/N ratio on nitrogen removal in a bioelectrochemical system
Baocheng Huang1, Huajun Feng, Meizhen Wang
1College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310012, China.
Abstract:
The effect of C/N ratios of 2, 2.7, and 3.5 on nitrogen removal in a bioelectrochemical system (BES) was investigated. Starch was used as a carbon source for the electrogenesis phenomenon we observed in a previous study. The results showed that an increased C/N ratio helped the BES to remove nitrate and depress nitrite accumulation but did not increase autotrophic denitrification. Nitrate and total nitrogen removal were increased from 0.69±0.02gm(-3)h(-1) to 1.09±0.16gm(-3)h(-1), and from 0.52±0.08gm(-3)h(-1) to 0.97±0.06gm(-3)h(-1), respectively, when the C/N ratio was increased from 2.0 to 3.5. However, the autotrophic denitrification ratio decreased from 72.74% to 50.23% with the same increase in the C/N ratio. High C/N ratios postponed the excretion of soluble microbial products and increased electrogenesis, but did not improve the anode transformation efficiency.
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