Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Simultaneous removal of organics, sulfide and ammonium coupled with electricity generation in a loop microbial fuel
Yanli Guo1, Xia Wei1, Shaohui Zhang1
1School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, PR China.
Abstract:
A loop microbial fuel cell (MFC) system consisting of a denitrifying organics/sulfide removal MFC and a nitrification chamber was developed, and its performance at different feeding ratios of total organic carbon to sulfide (TOC/S) and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels of cathodic feeding were investigated. High feeding TOC/S ratio favored elemental sulfur production and anodic electron recovery. Introducing oxygen into the cathode enhanced nitrogen removal and electricity generation but hindered elemental sulfur production. At the optimal feeding TOC/S mass ratio of 4.69 and cathodic feeding DO of 4.2 mg/L, 100% of TOC, 100% of sulfide and 82.6 ± 0.9% of total nitrogen were removed, achieving a sulfur production percentage of 35.1 ± 4.4% and a coulombic efficiency of 53.0 ± 2.2%. Cathodic nitrogen removal was catalyzed by denitrifiers, nitrifiers and anammox bacteria. This work provided a novel approach for simultaneously removing organics, sulfide and ammonium coupled with electricity generation from wastewater.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
Bioremediation
Amino Acid Catabolism
Batteries and Fuel Cells
Microbial Nutrition

