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Bioelectricity generation and dewatered sludge degradation in microbial capacitive desalination cell

  • Water Reclamation and Reuse
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Abstract

Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new approach for the synergy in bioelectricity generation, desalination and organic waste treatment without additional power input. However, current MDC systems cause salt accumulation in anodic wastewater and sludge. A microbial capacitive desalination cell (MCDC) with dewatered sludge as anodic substrate was developed to address the salt migration problem and improve the sludge recycling value by special designed-membrane assemblies, which consisted of cation exchange membranes (CEMs), layers of activated carbon cloth (ACC), and nickel foam. Experimental results indicated that the maximum power output of 2.06 W/m3 with open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.942 V was produced in 42 days. When initial NaCl concentration was 2 g/L, the desalinization rate was about 15.5 mg/(L·h) in the first 24 h, indicating that the MCDC reactor was suitable to desalinize the low concentration salt solution rapidly. The conductivity of the anodic substrate decreased during the 42-day operation; the CEM/ACC/Ni assemblies could effectively restrict the salt accumulation in MCDC anode and promote dewatered sludge effective use by optimizing the dewatered sludge properties, such as organic matter, C/N, pH value, and electric conductivity (EC).

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from Project 51378144 supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China and the supports by State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (2016DX05), Harbin Institute of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Hygiene, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China

    Fanyu Meng & Xiaolin Na

  2. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Qingliang Zhao, Junqiu Jiang, Liangliang Wei & Jun Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resources and Environments (SKLUWRE), Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Qingliang Zhao

  4. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Zhen Zheng

Authors
  1. Fanyu Meng
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  2. Qingliang Zhao
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  3. Xiaolin Na
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  4. Zhen Zheng
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  5. Junqiu Jiang
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  6. Liangliang Wei
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  7. Jun Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qingliang Zhao or Xiaolin Na.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Meng, F., Zhao, Q., Na, X. et al. Bioelectricity generation and dewatered sludge degradation in microbial capacitive desalination cell. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 5159–5167 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6853-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6853-4

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