Integrated bioelectroremediation: Simultaneous treatment of industrial effluents and bioenergy generation

Abstract

Bioelectroremediation technology (BERT) is a new age greener technology which is currently been heavily studied for treatment of persistent industrial effluents such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), perchloroethylene (PCE), perchlorate, nitrate and petroleum hydrocarbon (PHs) along with simultaneous generation of bioenergy. The focus of this review paper is on these industrial effluents because many of these effluents are toxic in nature and through contaminated water, soil or sediment enter the food chain and start to bioaccumulate thereby entering living organisms and causing severe fatal diseases. While PAHs and nitrates are major contaminant of both water and soil but their removal efficiency through BERT is much more in water sample than from soil samples, studies have shown that perchlorate and nitrate are usually co-contaminants and perchlorate, PCE and PHs are much more prevalent groundwater contaminant with good removal efficiency of these contaminants and simultaneous bioelectricity generation through BERT. Therefore, this review paper focus on role of microbial community structure as a biocatalyst in BERT along with a in-depth review of bioelectroremediation process for industrial effluent treatment involved in removing diverse pollutants integrated with energy generation from fundamentals, challenges, and future prospective dimensions.