Modeling Bioelectrochemical Treatment of Aquifer Water

Abstract

The aim of this work is to theoretically explore the use of Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MEC) as a potential remediation strategy for nitrate-contaminated aquifer water. Nitrate is the most common chemical pollutant in groundwater globally, and its presence can cause significant environmental and health problems. A rigorous model that is able to describe mechanistically the chemical and thermodynamic interactions that occur in such cells is developed. The model seeks to improve upon earlier models found in literature, while retaining a practical structure that allows it to be used as a platform for possible industrial implementation in the future. The model was implemented on a MATLAB-excel platform; it successfully simulated the electrochemical phenomena and trends that occur in a MEC, and produced meaningful polarisation and voltammetry curves. In addition, the model provided sensible insight on how intermediate species in series electrochemical reactions behave near the surface of an electrode. Finally, the model was applied to evaluate the use of such a bioelectrochemical system for denitrifying groundwater in the UAE as a case study. The evaluation includes removal rate and energy expenditure, as well as the effect of key design parameters on the system‟s performance. Increasing the applied voltage and/or hydraulic retention time significantly improved the system‟s performance in terms of removal rate and effluent quality, while increasing the electrode area had much less impact on effluent quality, but more effect on energy expenditure.

Date of Award	May 2017
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Jorge Rodriguez (Supervisor)