Enhanced biological nitrate removal by alternating electric current bioelectrical reactor: Selectivity and mechanism

Publication date: November 2017 Source:Journal of Molecular Liquids, Volume 246 Author(s): Edris Hoseinzadeh, Abbas Rezaee, Mahdi Farzadkia This work was aimed at investigating the performance of the biofilm inducing by applying an alternating current (AC) as an innovative bioelectrical reactor (BER) for simultaneous removal of hard biodegradable organic carbon (i.e., ibuprofen) as a model of pharmaceuticals and nitrate in a single chamber reactor. The performance of this system improved with the increase in the applied AC voltage until peak-to-peak voltage (Vp-p) reaches 8Vp-p. The results showed that the highest removal of (ibuprofen) Ibu and ~96% of nitrate reduction as high as 99% of N2 selectivity was achieved at a contact time of 6.5h, while for control reactor N2 selectivity as high as 78% obtained at 24h. The reactor effluent concentrations of nitrite and nitrate at a contact time of 6.5h were below the drinking water standards. FTIR spectra showed only a peak at 695.39cm−1 that corresponded to Ibu in the effluent. Therefore, this system provides an efficient process in which both Ibu and nitrate removals occur efficiently. This system can be considered a simple and powerful method to remove nitrate in the presence of hard biodegradable and toxic organic carbon sources, and thus can be valuable for industrial applications. Graphical abstract
Source: Journal of Molecular Liquids - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research