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Area of Science:

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Electrochemistry
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Secondary sludge return flows in wastewater treatment plants contain high pollutant concentrations.
  • These return flows can negatively impact treatment processes and effluent quality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the use of microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal from wastewater return flows.
  • To assess the feasibility and efficiency of MECs as a treatment technology for these challenging streams.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized three identical microbial electrolysis cell reactors in batch-fed experiments (72-hour cycles).
  • Monitored chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen removal efficiencies.
  • Evaluated reactor replicability and hydrogen production for energy recovery.

Main Results:

  • Achieved high removal efficiencies: 90% for COD and 80% for total nitrogen.
  • Demonstrated consistent performance across the three reactors, indicating good replicability.
  • Observed that hydrogen production could theoretically offset energy consumption when cathodic conversion efficiency exceeded 80%.

Conclusions:

  • Wastewater return flows are suitable substrates for bioelectrochemical treatment using MECs.
  • MECs show significant potential as a feasible technology for treating challenging return flows.
  • The system demonstrates potential for energy neutrality through hydrogen production, enhancing sustainability.