Treatability studies on different refinery wastewater samples using high-throughput microbial electrolysis cells (MECs)

Ren, Lijiao; Siegert, Markus; Ivanov, Ivan; Pisciotta, John M.; Logan, Bruce E.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.03.060

Cited by 60 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…A variety of wastewaters have been used in MECs, including domestic, swine farm, winery, food processing, industrial, landfill, and refinery effluents (Cusick et al, 2010;Ivanov et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2005;Mahmoud et al, 2014;Ren et al, 2013;Tenca et al, 2013;Wagner et al, 2009). Solid biomass can also be used to generate hydrogen in a two-step process combining dark fermentation with electrohydrogenesis, with increased yields and conversion efficiencies compared to dark fermentation alone (Lalaurette et al, 2009;Lu et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chemical and biochemical oxygen demands are typical measures of organic strength and degradability in wastewater, but these tests are based on either complete chemical oxidation or biodegradation under aerobic conditions. MECs are anaerobic systems, and therefore treatment results using these tests may not directly relate to MEC performance (Ren et al, 2013). As a result, direct measurements in MECs are necessary to evaluate their performance with complex substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Test procedures using mini MECs are also relatively simple compared to those needed with larger reactors. Mini MECs have been previously used to evaluate treatment performance of industrial and domestic effluents Ren et al, 2013), but the treatability of these wastewaters has not been directly compared to that obtained with larger-scale reactors. In this study, the performance of mini MECs was directly compared with larger cube-type reactors used in many other MEC tests (Ambler & Logan, 2011;Cusick et al, 2010;Wagner et al, 2009) for a variety of complex wastewaters and simple substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of complex effluent treatability in different bench scale microbial electrolysis cells

Ullery

Logan

2014

Bioresource Technology

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A range of wastewaters and substrates were examined using mini microbial electrolysis cells (mini MECs) to see if they could be used to predict the performance of larger-scale cube MECs. COD removals and coulombic efficiencies corresponded well between the two reactor designs for individual samples, with 66-92% of COD removed for all samples. Current generation was consistent between the reactor types for acetate (AC) and fermentation effluent (FE) samples, but less consistent with industrial (IW) and domestic wastewaters (DW). Hydrogen was recovered from all samples in cube MECs, but gas composition and volume varied significantly between samples. Evidence for direct conversion of substrate to methane was observed with two of the industrial wastewater samples (IW-1 and IW-3). Overall, mini MECs provided organic treatment data that corresponded well with larger scale reactor results, and therefore it was concluded that they can be a useful platform for screening wastewater sources.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of complex effluent treatability in different bench scale microbial electrolysis cells

Ullery

Logan

2014

Bioresource Technology

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“…Ren et al [14] developed miniature microbial electrolysis cells to evaluate the effects of the inoculum and the wastewater source on treatment efficiency for a large number of samples with replicates. Mohler et al [15] developed a high-throughput workflow using sophisticated robotic equipment and automated digital image analysis to evaluate the settling behaviour of oil sands tailings treated with different flocculants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microscale flocculation test (MFT)—A high-throughput technique for optimizing separation performance

LaRue

Cobbledick

Aubry

et al. 2016

Chemical Engineering Research and Design

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In this work, a new microscale flocculation test (MFT) method was developed that is ideally-suited for optimizing separation performance. A critical and complicated task in wastewater treatment is to identify the flocculation conditions that yield the optimal separation of water from suspended solid materials. The standard 'jar test' method is inadequate for conducting a full process optimization because a typical set-up only allows for a maximum of 6 tests to be conducted at once, and fairly large volumes of materials (approximately 1 to 2 litres) are needed for each individual test. The microplate-based, parallel processing format of the MFT method allows for many dozens of flocculation tests to be conducted simultaneously, with each test requiring only a few millilitres of material. As a demonstration of the MFT method, ten cationic polymer flocculants were evaluated with various digestate types. The optimal separation performance, as determined by the lowest capillary suction time (CST) measurement, was found by rigorously evaluating the effect of flocculant type (including molecular weight and charge density) and dosage conditions (including total amount added and single versus staged addition).For example, the dose-dependent profiles for certain flocculants exhibited a nearly 10-fold greater decrease in CST compared to other flocculants. Process optimization in environmental separations is not trivial, but rather, is a complicated task that requires an extensive amount of experimental work for which the MFT method is ideally suited. For any dewatering process, an ongoing challenge involves selecting, from the vast number of possible flocculants, the 'best' one in terms of economics and performance. In our previous work, we found that the dewatering performance of twenty-four different flocculants from three suppliers varied considerably [4]. Notably, for anaerobic wastewater treatment, the cost of the polymer flocculant is the greatest component in the biosolids treatment operation [5].This leads to two important considerations: first, it is generally understood that there is no workable algorithm to relate flocculant properties to dewatering performance [3]. Secondly, wastewater sources from different treatment plants have diverse dewatering characteristics. So, the exact flocculant type and the optimum dose must be determined on a case-by-case basis for different treatment applications. Yet, the selection of the 'best' flocculant has been described as "one of the most demanding, frustrating, and time-consuming experiences for many operations personnel" [6].The benefit of optimizing the flocculant dose extends beyond the operating costs for a given treatment facility. Water-soluble polymers have been found to be toxic to aquatic lifeforms, even at low concentrations [7]. Thus, there are valid concerns about the effect of flocculant 'overdosing' in dewatering processes, given the potential for discharge into the aquatic environment, either directly via the liquid fraction, or indirectly via leachin...

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“…Reduction in energy requirements, simple design and operation of the cell are the priorities for configuration of MEC scale-up and successful application. Single-chamber membrane-free MECs are simple in design, easier to construct, and they are often used for screening experiments to evaluate biodegradability of different wastewaters (Call and Logan, 2008;Ren et al, 2013). Apart from the design of the cell, performance of MEC strongly depends on the activity and efficiency of the anode and cathode (bio) catalysts (Villano et al, 2011(Villano et al, , 2012Fiset and Puig, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of exoelectrogenic bioanode and study on feasibility of hydrogen production using abiotic VITO-CoRE™ and VITO-CASE™ electrodes in a single chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) at low current densities

Pasupuleti

Srikanth

Mohan

et al. 2015

Bioresource Technology

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Treatability studies on different refinery wastewater samples using high-throughput microbial electrolysis cells (MECs)

Cited by 60 publications

References 25 publications

Comparison of complex effluent treatability in different bench scale microbial electrolysis cells

Comparison of complex effluent treatability in different bench scale microbial electrolysis cells

The microscale flocculation test (MFT)—A high-throughput technique for optimizing separation performance

Development of exoelectrogenic bioanode and study on feasibility of hydrogen production using abiotic VITO-CoRE™ and VITO-CASE™ electrodes in a single chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) at low current densities

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