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Updated: Jan 15, 2026

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery
Published on: January 22, 2015
Bio-induced hydroxylated magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitation drives non-biological ammonium removal in
Xin Zhang1, Mahmood Qaisar2, Fangjian Xu1
1Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Pollution Control and Resource Utilization, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
Abstract:
The sulfide-based autotrophic denitrification (SAD) process showed remarkable efficiency in nitrate (98.18 ± 2.13 %) and sulfide (97.4 ± 2.75 %) removal, while also resulting in unintentional ammonium elimination (18.92 ± 9.79 %) through a 138-day continuous-flow experiment. Batch tests demonstrated kinetic decoupling between ammonium removal and SAD activity, with ammonium elimination exhibiting a substantial dependence on pH (p < 0.01), indicating a chemically driven process. XRD and SEM-EDS analysis suggested biologically induced precipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate-like compounds (Mg3(NH4)2H4(PO4)4·8H2O). Metagenomic analysis further confirmed the absence of biological ammonium conversion pathways, as dominant functional genes were linked to sulfur-oxidizing denitrification (napAB and nosZ), driven by genus Sulfurovum (42.89 % relative abundance). No genes (hdh and hzsA) associated with ammonium oxidation were detected which ruled out the biological nitrogen transformation. These findings definitively confirm that magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitation was the principal mechanism for ammonium removal in SAD systems, offering essential insights for enhancing energy-efficient nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment.
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