ABSTRACT
Ammonium nitrogen (NH3-N) in wastewater can serve as a nitrogen source for photosynthetic algal growth. In this study, immobilized microalgae Chlorella vulgaris was used for NH3-N removal from an artificial wastewater in the cathode chamber with concomitant bioelectricity generation in a photosynthetic algal microbial fuel cell (PAMFC) with a glucose-containing buffer in the anolyte. The effects of different catholyte pH and initial NH3-N concentration on the removal efficiency and bioelectricity generation in the PAMFC were investigated. When the pH of the catholyte was neutral, maximum NH3-N removal efficiency and electricity generation were achieved. A removal efficiency of 98.8% was achieved with an initial NH3-N concentration of 90 mg/L. Maximum power density and coulombic efficiencies were 963 mW/m3 and 8.3%, respectively, with immobilized C. vulgaris in the PAMFC which were 73% and 24% higher than those with suspended C. vulgaris in the PAMFC. This lab-scale study demonstrated an effective approach to realize simultaneous NH3-N removal and bioelectricity generation using photosynthetic algae in a microbial fuel cell system.
