Abstract
Nutrient-rich waste streams from domestic and industrial sources and the increasing application of synthetic fertilizers have resulted in a huge-scale influx of reactive nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment. The higher concentrations of these pollutants induce eutrophication and foster degradation of aquatic biodiversity. Besides, phosphorus being non-renewable resource is under the risk of rapid depletion. Hence, recovery and reuse of the phosphorus and nitrogen are necessary. Over the years, nutrient recovery, low-carbon energy, and sustainable bioremediation of wastewater have received significant interest. The conventional wastewater treatment technologies have higher energy demand and nutrient removal entails a major cost in the treatment process. For these issues, bio-electrochemical system (BES) has been considered as sustainable and environment friendly wastewater treatment technologies that utilize the energy contained in the wastewater so as to recovery nutrients and purify wastewater. Therefore, this article comprehensively focuses and critically analyzes the potential sources of nutrients, working mechanism of BES, and different nutrient recovery strategies to unlock the upscaling opportunities. Also, economic analysis was done to understand the technical feasibility and potential market value of recovered nutrients. Hence, this review article will be useful in establishing waste management policies and framework along with development of advanced configurations with major emphasis on nutrient recovery rather than removal from the waste stream.
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Data availability
The data used in the review paper for the discussion are available within the article and in the supplementary material.
Abbreviations
- WWTPs:
-
Wastewater treatment plants
- GHGs:
-
Greenhouse gasses
- DO:
-
Dissolved oxygen
- BES:
-
Bioelectrochemical system
- MFC:
-
Microbial fuel cell
- EAB:
-
Electroactive bacteria
- FAO:
-
Food and agriculture organization
- TKN:
-
Total kjeldahl nitrogen
- MDC:
-
Microbial desalination cell
- MES:
-
Microbial electrosynthesis cell
- MEC:
-
Microbial electrolysis cell
- NOB:
-
Nitrite oxidizing bacteria
- AOB:
-
Ammonium oxidizing bacteria
- EET:
-
Extracellular electron transfer
- OLR:
-
Organic loading rate
- SND:
-
Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification
- ANAMMOX:
-
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation
- CNT:
-
Carbon nanotube
- TOC:
-
Total organic carbon
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- CB:
-
Carbon brush
- GF:
-
Graphite felt
- TN:
-
Total nitrogen
- TP:
-
Total phosphorus
- IEM:
-
Ion exchange membrane
- COD:
-
Chemical oxygen demand
- HRT:
-
Hydraulic retention time
- DNRA:
-
Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium
- ADB:
-
Aerobic denitrification bacterium
- MBER:
-
Membrane bioelectrochemical reactor
- EMP:
-
Electrochemically mediated precipitation
- HAP:
-
Hydroxyapatite
- PAFC:
-
Poly aluminum ferric chloride
- ORR:
-
Oxygen reduction reaction
- GAC:
-
Granular activated carbon
- PMFC:
-
Photoautotrophic microbial fuel cell
- MFC-IFAC:
-
Microbial fuel cell integrated fixed film activated sludge
- FO:
-
Forward osmosis
- AAFO-MFC:
-
Anaerobic acidification and FO membrane microbial fuel cell
- OsMFC:
-
Osmotic microbial fuel cell
- C/N:
-
Carbon/nitrogen
- MS:
-
Microbial separator
- ACMFC:
-
Air cathode microbial fuel cell
- MA-MFC:
-
Multi anode microbial fuel cell
- FA-MFC:
-
Flat panel microbial fuel cell
- ABMFC:
-
Algae biofilm microbial fuel cell
- SPEEK:
-
Sulfonated polyether ketone
- SMDC:
-
Submersible microbial desalination cell
- DC:
-
Direct current
- AC:
-
Alternating current
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The first author Ayushman Bhattacharya would like to acknowledge Ministry of Education (MoE), New Delhi for providing research fellowship and financial support through Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF).
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Bhattacharya, A., Garg, S. & Chatterjee, P. Examining current trends and future outlook of bio-electrochemical systems (BES) for nutrient conversion and recovery: an overview. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 86699–86740 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28500-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28500-1