Integration of MFC reduces CH4, N2O and NH3 emissions in batch-fed wetland systems

The combination of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with constructed wetlands (CWs) for enhancing water purifi-cation efficiency and generating bioelectricity has attracted extensive attention. However, the other benefits of MFC-CWs are seldom reported, especially the potential for controlling gaseous emissions. In this study, we have quantitatively compared the pollutant removal efficiency and the emission of multiple gases between MFC-CWs and batch-fed wetland systems (BF CWs). MFC-CWs exhibited significantly (p < 0.01) higher COD, NH4+-N, TN, and TP removal efficiencies and significantly (p < 0.01) lower global warming potential (GWP) than BF CWs. The integration of MFC decreased GWP by 23.88% due to the reduction of CH4 and N2O fluxes, whereas the CO2 fluxes were slightly promoted. The quantitative PCR results indicate that the reduced N2O fluxes in MFC-CWs were driven by the reduced transcription of the nosZ gene and enhanced the ratio of nosZ/(nirS + nirK); the reduced CH4 fluxes were related to pomA and mcrA. Additionally, the NH3 fluxes were reduced by 52.20% in MFC-CWs compared to BF CWs. The integration of MFC promoted the diversity of microbial community, especially Anaerolineaceae, Saprospiraceae and Clostridiacea. This study highlights a further benefit of MFC-CWs and provides a new strategy for simultaneously removing pollutants and abating multiple gas emissions in BF CWs.

Automated summary

The combination of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with constructed wetlands (CWs) has been found to enhance water purification efficiency and reduce gas emissions. Compared to batch-fed wetland systems (BF CWs), MFC-CWs showed higher pollutant removal efficiency and lower global warming potential (GWP). The reduced gas emissions in MFC-CWs were related to specific genes, and the integration of MFC also promoted microbial diversity.