Bioelectrochemical Systems for Wastewater Valorization

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 2473

Special Issue Editor

Department of Electrical Engineering and Automatic Systems, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain
Interests: bioelectrochemical systems; wastewater treatment; wastes valorization; power to gas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater treatment plants demand a significant amount of the total world energy budget. This is certainly a paradoxical situation considering that the energy content of the waste streams entering these facilities may exceed several times the power required for the treatment.

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES), which comprise a group of technologies derived from conventional electrochemical systems, have evolved during the past 15 years and become an alternative – and even a complement – to traditional wastewater treatment technologies (e.g., activated sludge and anaerobic digestion). They rely on the ability of certain microorganisms to exchange electrons with the solid surfaces of the electrodes, which is a significant feature as it can directly convert organic matter into electricity. However, the many challenges and issues (mostly techno-economic in nature) that still remain unresolved have prevented BES from making the leap to commercial scale.

This Special Issue covers basic and applied studies on all areas involved in the development of BES. More specifically, it welcomes contributions focused on up-scaling, energy efficiency, case studies, mathematical modeling, biofuel production, novel materials, alternative reactors configurations, life-cycle assessment, and techno-economic analyses.

Dr. Adrian Escapa
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bioelectrochemical systems
  • microbial electrochemical technologies
  • microbial fuel cell
  • microbial electrolysis cell
  • wastewater
  • wastes valorization
  • energy efficiency
  • biofuels

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 2829 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost Electrode Modification to Upgrade the Bioelectrocatalytic Oxidation of Tannery Wastewater Using Acclimated Activated Sludge
by Alae Elabed, Redouan El khalfaouy, Saad Ibnsouda, Régine Basseguy, Soumya Elabed and Benjamin Erable
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(11), 2259; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9112259 - 31 May 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2235
Abstract
Effective and eco-friendly technologies are required for the treatment of tannery wastewater as its biological toxicity and large volume leads toground water pollution. Hydrophobic (unmodified carbon felt) and hydrophilic modified carbon felt with Linde Type A zeolite (LTA zeolite) and bentonite were examined [...] Read more.
Effective and eco-friendly technologies are required for the treatment of tannery wastewater as its biological toxicity and large volume leads toground water pollution. Hydrophobic (unmodified carbon felt) and hydrophilic modified carbon felt with Linde Type A zeolite (LTA zeolite) and bentonite were examined for their effects on bacterial attachment, current generation, and tannery wastewater treatment efficiency. Chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry confirmed the higher electron transfer obtained with modified anodes. Maximum current densities of 24.5 and 27.9 A/m² were provided with LTA zeolite and bentonite-modified anodes, respectively, while the unmodified carbon felt gave a maximum current density of 16.9 A/m². Compared with hydrophobic unmodified carbon felt, hydrophilic modified electrodes increased the exploitation of the internal surface area of the 3D structure of the carbon felt by the electroactive biofilm. The study revealed 93.8 ± 1.7% and 96.3 ± 2.1% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction for LTA zeolite and bentonite, respectively. Simultaneous chromium removal was achieved with values of 94.6 ± 3.6 and 97.5 ± 2.2 for LTA zeolite and bentonite, respectively. This study shows the potential approach of carbon felt clay modification for the efficient tannery wastewater treatment using bioelectrochemicals systems (BESs) accompanied with high current recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioelectrochemical Systems for Wastewater Valorization)
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