Effect of wetland plant fermentation broth on nitrogen removal and bioenergy generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells

doi:10.1007/s11783-022-1592-x

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (12) : 157 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1592-x

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of wetland plant fermentation broth on nitrogen removal and bioenergy generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells

Yiting Chen^1,², Jun Yan^1,², Mengli Chen^1,², Fucheng Guo^1,², Tao Liu^1,², Yi Chen^1,²(

)

¹. Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
². College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China

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Abstract

● Fermentation broth facilitates N removal and energy yields in tertiary CW-MFC.

● Carbon sources are preferred for nitrogen removal over electricity generation.

● A mutual promotion relationship exists between acetic and humic acid in N removal.

● Humic acid boosts the abundances of functional genes relate to nitrogen metabolism.

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are widely used as a tertiary treatment technology, and the addition of carbon sources can significantly improve advanced nitrogen removal. However, excessive carbon sources would lead to an increase in the effluent chemical oxygen demand in CWs, and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can convert these into electricity. In this study, constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs) were built to achieve simultaneous nitrogen removal and electricity generation, using wetland plant litter fermentation broths as carbon sources. The total nitrogen removal in the groups with fermentation broth addition (FGs) reached 83.33%, which was 19.64% higher than that in the CG (group without fermentation broth), and the mean voltages in the FGs were at least 2.6 times higher than that of the CG. Furthermore, two main components of the fermentation broths, acetic acid (Ac) and humic acid (HA), were identified using a three-dimensional excitation emission matrix and gas chromatograph and added to CW-MFCs to explore the influence mechanism on the treatment performance. Denitrification and electrogenesis presented the same tendency: Ac&HA > Ac > CG’ (groups without Ac and HA). These results indicate that Ac and HA increased the abundance of functional genes associated with nitrogen metabolism and electron transfer. This study demonstrated that CW-MFC fermentation broth addition can be a potential strategy for the disposal of secondary effluent and bioelectricity generation.

Keywords Constructed wetland Microbial fuel cell Nitrogen removal Bioenergy generation Carbon source

Corresponding Author(s): Yi Chen

Issue Date: 23 June 2022

Cite this article:

Yiting Chen,Jun Yan,Mengli Chen, et al. Effect of wetland plant fermentation broth on nitrogen removal and bioenergy generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(12): 157.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-022-1592-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I12/157

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of experimental setup.

Fig.2 3D-EEM (The fermentation periods were 5 d, 10 d, 15 d, and 20 d).

Fig.3 The influent, effluent concentration and removal efficiency of COD, NH₄⁺-N, and TN in Period I. (CG: control group without fermentation broth, FG-5: fermentation group added with 5 d fermentation broth, FG-10: fermentation group added with 10 d fermentation broth, FG-15: fermentation group added with 15 d fermentation broth, FG-20: fermentation group added with 20-d fermentation broth).

Fig.4 The influent, effluent concentration and removal efficiency of COD, NH₄⁺-N, NO₃^?-N, and TN in Period II. (CG’: control group without Ac and HA, Ac: added with 30 mg/L Ac, Ac&HA: added with 30 mg/L Ac and 2.5 mg/L HA).

Fig.5 Mean voltage (a), polarization curves and power density curves (b) of Period I. (CG: control group without fermentation broth, FG-5: fermentation group added with 5 d fermentation broth, FG-10: fermentation group added with 10 d fermentation broth, FG-15: fermentation group added with 15 d fermentation broth, FG-20: fermentation group added with 20 d fermentation broth).

Tab.1 Bioelectricity performance of CW-MFCs in Period II

Fig.6 Relative abundance of bacterial community at phylum (a) and family (b) in Period II; functional genes abundances related to denitrification (c) and electron transfer (d) were predicted with PICRUSt2. (CG’: control group without Ac and HA, Ac: added with 30 mg/L Ac, Ac&HA: added with 30 mg/L Ac and 2.5 mg/L HA).

Tab.2 Effluent parameters of different groups during the experiment

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