Skip to main content
Log in

Impacts of electron donor and acceptor on the performance of electrotrophic denitrification

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Electrotrophic denitrification is a novel nitrogen removal technique. In this study, the performance and the mechanism of electrotrophic denitrification were investigated at different nitrate concentrations and current intensities. The results showed that the performance of electrotrophic denitrification was good with a sludge loading of 0.39 kg N/kg VSS day. The half-saturation constant for nitrate-N was 1894.03 mg/L. The optimal nitrate-N concentration and current intensity were 1500 mg/L and 20 μA, respectively. Electrotrophic denitrification was defined as the process of direct use of electron for nitrate reduction, and electrotrophic denitrifier was proposed to be the microbe of using electricity as energy source directly. The present work will benefit the development and application of electrotrophic denitrification.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen J, Strous M (2013) Denitrification and aerobic respiration, hybrid electron transport chains and co-evolution. Biochim Biophys Acta 1827:136–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cherchi C, Onnis-Hayden A, El-Shawabkeh I, Gu AZ (2009) Implication of using different carbon sources for denitrification in wastewater treatments. Water Environ Res 81:788–799

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clauwaert P, Rabaey K, Aelterman P, Schamphelaire LD, Pham TH, Boeckx P, Boon N, Verstraete W (2007) Biological denitrification in microbial fuel cells. Environ Sci Technol 41:3354–3360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghafari S, Hasan M, Aroua MK (2008) Bio-electrochemical removal of nitrate from water and wastewater—a review. Bioresour Technol 99:3965–3974

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghazouani M, Akrout H, Bousselmi L (2014) Efficiency of electrochemical denitrification using electrolysis cell containing BDD electrode. Desalin Water Treat 53:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory LG, Karakas-Sen A, Richardson DJ, Spiro S (2000) Detection of genes for membrane-bound nitrate reductase in nitrate-respiring bacteria and in community DNA. FEMS Microbiol Lett 183:275–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hallin S, Lindgren P (1999) PCR detection of genes encoding nitrite reductase in denitrifying bacteria. Appl Environ Microb 65:1652–1657

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Henry S, Bru D, Stres B, Hallet S, Philippot L (2006) Quantitative detection of the nosZ gene, encoding nitrous oxide reductase, and comparison of the abundances of 16S rRNA, narG, nirK, and nosZ genes in soils. Appl Environ Microb 72:5181–5189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Henry S, Texier S, Hallet S, Bru D, Dambreville C, Cheneby D, Bizouard F, Germon JC, Philippot L (2008) Disentangling the rhizosphere effect on nitrate reducers and denitrifiers: insight into the role of root exudates. Environ Microbiol 10:3082–3092

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Z, Ong SL, Ng HY (2011) Submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor for low-strength wastewater treatment: effect of HRT and SRT on treatment performance and membrane fouling. Water Res 45:705–713

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov TV, Lalov IG, Yotova LK (2015) Denitrification of wastewater with immobilized cells of Pseudomonas denitrificans. Bulg Chem Commun 47:70–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim S, Jang A, Kim IT, Kim KS, Kim IS (2005) Kinetics of autotrophic denitrication for the biofilm formed on sulfur particles: evaluation of molecular technique on monitoring biomass growth. Environ Eng Res 10:283–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Zheng P, Wu YL, Zhan EC, Zhang ZH, Wang R, Xing YJ, Abbas G, Zeb BS (2014) Sludge bulking in a high-rate denitrifying automatic circulation (DAC) reactor. Chem Eng J 240:387–393

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Ren HQ, Xu M, Cao JS (2015) Study on anaerobic ammonium oxidation process coupled with denitrification microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and its microbial community analysis. Bioresource Technol 175:545–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Shan XY, Wang ZY, Lin XY, Li CX, Cai CY, Abbas G, Zhang M, Shen LD, Hu ZQ, Zhao HP, Zheng P (2016) Effect of self-alkalization on nitrite accumulation in a high-rate denitrification system: performance, microflora and enzymatic activities. Water Res 88:758–765

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin YF, Jing SR, Wang TW, Lee DY (2002) Effects of macrophytes and external carbon sources on nitrate removal from groundwater in constructed wetlands. Environ Pollut 119:413–420

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Logan BE (2009) Exoelectrogenic bacteria that power microbial fuel cells. Nat Rev Microbiol 7:375–381

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Michotey V, Mejean V, Boini P (2000) Comparison of methods for quantification of cytochrome cd1-denitrifying bacteria in environmental marine samples. Appl Environ Microb 66:1564–1571

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Envirenmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, 2015. Report on the state of the environment in China. http://www.zhb.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/qt/201606/t20160602_353078.htm

  • Nguyen VK, Park Y, Yang H, Yu J, Lee T (2016) Effect of the cathode potential and sulfate ions on nitrate reduction in a microbial electrochemical denitrification system. J Ind Microbiol Biot 43:783–793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oon YS, Ong SA, Ho LN, Wong YS, Oon YL, Lehl HK, Thung WE (2016) Long-term operation of double chambered microbial fuel cell for bio-electro denitrification. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 39:893–900

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prosnansky M, Sakakibara Y, Kuroda M (2002) High-rate denitrification and SS rejection by biofilm-electrode reactor (BER) combined with microfiltration. Water Res 36:4801–4810

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumino T, Isaka K, Ikuta H, Saiki Y, Yokota T (2006) Nitrogen removal from wastewater using simultaneous nitrate reduction and anaerobic ammonium oxidation in single reactor. J Biosci Bioeng 102:346–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vijay A, Vaishnava M, Chhabra M (2016) Microbial fuel cell assisted nitrate nitrogen removal using cow manure and soil. Environ Sci Pollut R 23:7744–7756

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Chu L (2016) Biological nitrate removal from water and wastewater by solid-phase denitrification process. Biotechnol Adv 34:1103–1112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xie Z, Chen H, Zheng P, Zhang J, Cai J, Abbas G (2013) Influence and mechanism of dissolved oxygen on the performance of ammonia-oxidation microbial fuel cell. Int J Hydrogen Energ 38:10607–10615

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YF, Angelidaki I (2013) A new method for in situ nitrate removal from groundwater using submerged microbial desalination-denitrification cell (SMDDC). Water Res 47:1827–1836

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Zheng P, Li W, Wang R, Ding S, Abbas G (2015) Performance of nitrate-dependent anaerobic ferrous oxidizing (NAFO) process: a novel prospective technology for autotrophic denitrification. Bioresour Technol 179:543–548

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Chen JX, Wen LL, Tang Y, Zhao HP (2016) Effects of salinity on simultaneous reduction of perchlorate and nitrate in a methane-based membrane biofilm reactor. Environ Sci Pollut R 23:24248–24255

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang (LZ15E080001) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (51608474).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ping Zheng.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ding, A., Zheng, P., Zhang, M. et al. Impacts of electron donor and acceptor on the performance of electrotrophic denitrification. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 19693–19702 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9455-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9455-x

Keywords

Navigation