TY - JOUR
T1 - Fermentation pre-treatment of landfill leachate for enhanced electron recovery in a microbial electrolysis cell
AU - Mahmoud, Mohamed
AU - Parameswaran, Prathap
AU - Torres, Cesar
AU - Rittmann, Bruce
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to sincerely thank Mr. Clay Carroll for helping with sample procurement from the Northwest Regional Landfill facility. Mohamed Mahmoud was supported by an Egyptian government fellowship ( GM 0931 ).
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Pre-fermentation of poorly biodegradable landfill leachate (BOD5/COD ratio of 0.32) was evaluated for enhanced current density (j), Coulombic efficiency (CE), Coulombic recovery (CR), and removal of organics (BOD5 and COD) in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). During fermentation, the complex organic matter in the leachate was transformed to simple volatile fatty acids, particularly succinate and acetate in batch tests, but mostly acetate in semi-continuous fermentation. Carbohydrate had the highest degree of fermentation, followed by protein and lipids. j, CE, CR, and BOD5 removal were much greater for an MEC fed with fermented leachate (23A/m3 or 16mA/m2, 68%, 17.3%, and 83%, respectively) compared to raw leachate (2.5A/m3 or 1.7mA/m2, 56%, 2.1%, and 5.6%, respectively). All differences support the value of pre-fermentation before an MEC for stabilization of BOD5 and enhanced electron recovery as current when treating a recalcitrant wastewater like landfill leachate.
AB - Pre-fermentation of poorly biodegradable landfill leachate (BOD5/COD ratio of 0.32) was evaluated for enhanced current density (j), Coulombic efficiency (CE), Coulombic recovery (CR), and removal of organics (BOD5 and COD) in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). During fermentation, the complex organic matter in the leachate was transformed to simple volatile fatty acids, particularly succinate and acetate in batch tests, but mostly acetate in semi-continuous fermentation. Carbohydrate had the highest degree of fermentation, followed by protein and lipids. j, CE, CR, and BOD5 removal were much greater for an MEC fed with fermented leachate (23A/m3 or 16mA/m2, 68%, 17.3%, and 83%, respectively) compared to raw leachate (2.5A/m3 or 1.7mA/m2, 56%, 2.1%, and 5.6%, respectively). All differences support the value of pre-fermentation before an MEC for stabilization of BOD5 and enhanced electron recovery as current when treating a recalcitrant wastewater like landfill leachate.
KW - Anode respiring bacteria
KW - Coulombic efficiency
KW - Current density
KW - Microbial electrolysis cell
KW - Pre-fermentation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biortech.2013.10.053
DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2013.10.053
M3 - Article
C2 - 24231265
AN - SCOPUS:84887555111
SN - 0960-8524
VL - 151
SP - 151
EP - 158
JO - Bioresource Technology
JF - Bioresource Technology
ER -