Nitrogen removal and electricity production at a double-chamber microbial fuel cell with cathode nitrite denitrification

Double-chamber microbial fuel cell was applied to investigate the performance of the electricity production and nitrite denitrification through feeding nitrite into the cathode. Factors influencing denitrification performance and power production, such as external resistance, influent nitrite concentration and Nitrite Oxygen Bacteria inhibitors, were studied. The results show that when the concentration of nitrite nitrogen and external resistance were 100 mg L-1 and 10 Omega, respectively, the nitrite denitrification reached the best state. The NaN3 can inhibit nitrite oxidation effectively; meanwhile, the nitrite denitrification with N2O as the final products was largely improved. The NO2- was reduced to NH4+, causing the cathode denitrification coulombic efficiency to exceed 100%. In chemoautotrophic bio-nitrification, microorganisms may utilize H2O to oxidize nitrite under anaerobic conditions. Proteobacteria might play a major role in the process of denitrification in MFC.