Effective ammonium removal by anaerobic oxidation in microbial fuel cells.

Dual-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs), made of clayware cylinder, were operated at different chemical oxygen demands: ammonium-nitrogen (COD:NH4+) ratio (1:1, 10:1 and 5:1) under batch mode for simultaneous removal of ammonia and organic matter from wastewater. Ammonium-N removal efficiencies of 63-32.66% were obtained for COD:NH4+ ratio of 1:10, respectively. Average COD removal efficiencies demonstrated by these MFCs were about 88%; indicating effective use of MFCs for treatment of wastewater containing organic matter and high ammonia concentration. MFCs operated with COD:NH4+ ratio of 10:1 produced highest volumetric power density of 752.88 mW/m3. The ammonium-N removal slightly increased when microbes were exposed to only ammonium as a source of electron when organic source was not supplemented. When this MFC was operated with imposed potential on cathode and without aeration in the cathode chamber, oxidation of ammonium ions at a faster rate confirmed anaerobic oxidation. During the non-turnover condition of cyclic voltammetry, MFC operated with COD:NH4+ ratio of 10:1 gave higher oxidative and reductive currents than MFC operated with COD:NH4+ ratio of 1:1 due to higher redox species. Successful application of such an anammox process for ammonium oxidation in MFCs will be useful for treatment of wastewater containing higher ammonium concentration and harvesting energy in the form of electricity.