Resource recovery from wastewater can be an application niche of microbial desalination cells. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Fubin; Moustafa, Hanan; El-Din Hassouna, Mohammed Salah; He, Zhen
• Is Part Of: Environment international. Volume 142(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Microbial desalination cell -- Bioenergy -- Resource recovery -- Wastewater treatment -- Nutrients; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental Monitoring -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Protection -- Périodiques; Hygiène du milieu -- Périodiques; Environnement -- Surveillance -- Périodiques; Environmental health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105855
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-4120

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: MDCs are being developed for simultaneous wastewater treatment and desalination. Desalination requires co-location of wastewater with saline water. Recovery of ionic resources from wastewater can be an application niche for MDCs. Those resources include ammonium, phosphate, and volatile fatty acids. MDC-based resource recovery requires lower energy input with further waste treatment. Abstract: Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) have been studied as an emerging technology to accomplish simultaneous wastewater treatment and saline water desalination. A good amount of effort has been invested to understand fundamental problems and develop functional systems of the MDC technology. However, a revisit of MDCs' desalination function reveals that the unique requirements like co-location of wastewater and saline water will greatly limit the application of this technology. In addition, the relatively low desalination rate of MDCs will result in a large reactor size and thus higher capital cost. Because of the need for wastewater (as a substrate for electricity generation), the MDC technology may have a promising niche of application for resource recovery from wastewater. A proper design of MDCs will allow the current-driven separation of ammonia, phosphorus, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from wastewater for further recovery. Based on the literature data, we conduct a case study analysis of mass flow for MDC-based resource recovery and demonstrate the potential of this function. Resource recovery can be a new function of interest to MDCs and worth further exploration of its technical and economic feasibility.