Competition for electrons between reductive dechlorination and denitrification

It is common that 2,4,6-trichlorophenol （TCP） coexists with nitrate or nitrite in industrial wastewaters. In this work, simultaneous reductive dechlorination of TCP and denitrification of nitrate or nitrite competed for electron donor, which led to their mutual inhibition. All inhibitions could be relieved to a certain degree by augmenting an organic electron donor, but the impact of the added electron donor was strongest for TCP. For simultaneous reduction ofTCP together with nitrate, TCP＇s removal rate value increased 75% and 150%, respectively, when added glucose was increased from 0.4 mmol· L^-1 to 0.5 mmol· L^-1 and to 0.76 mmol· L^-1 For comparison, the removal rate for nitrate increased by only 25% and 114% for the same added glucose. The relationship between their initial biodegradation rates versus their initial concentrations could be represented well with the Monod model, which quantified their half-maximum-rate concentration （Ks value）, and Ks values for TCP, nitrate, and nitrite were larger with simultaneous reduction than independent reduction. The increases in Ks are further evidence that competition for the electron donor led to mutual inhibition. For bioremediation of wastewater containing TCP and oxidized nitrogen, both reduction reactions should proceed more rapidly if the oxidized nitrogen is nitrite instead of nitrate and if readily biodegradable electron acceptor is augmented.

Effects of cathode potentials and nitrate concentrations on dissimilatory nitrate reductions by Pseudomonas alcaliphila in bioelectrochemical systems

The effects of cathode potentials and initial nitrate concentrations on nitrate reduction in bio- electrochemical systems （BESs） were reported. These factors could partition nitrate reduction between denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium （DNRA）. Pseudomonas alcaliphilastrain MBR utilized an electrode as the sole electron donor and nitrate as the sole electron acceptor. When the cathode potential was set from -0.3 to -I.1 V （vs. Ag/AgC1） at an initial nitrate concentration of 100 mg NO^-N/L, the DNRA electron recovery increased from （10.76 ± 1.6）% to （35.06 ± 0.99）%; the denitrification electron recovery decreased from （63.42 ± 1,32）% to （44.33 ± 1.92）%. When the initial nitrate concentration increased from （29.09 ± 0.24） to （490.97 ± 3.49） mg NO3-N/L at the same potential （-0.9 V）, denitrification electron recovery increased from （5.88 ± 1.08）% to （50.19 ±2.59）%; the DNRA electron recovery declined from （48.79 ±1.32）% to （16.02 ± 1.41）%. The prevalence of DNRA occurred at high ratios of electron donors to acceptors in the BESs and denitrification prevailed against DNRA under a lower ratio of electron donors to acceptors. These results had a potential application value of regulating the transformation of nitrate to N2 or ammonium in BESs for nitrate removal.