Bioelectricity generation using two chamber microbial fuel cell treating wastewater from food processing

Hossein Jafari Mansoorian, Amir Hossein Mahvi, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Mohammad Mehdi Amin, Ahmad Rajabizadeh, Narges Khanjani

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116 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Electricity generation from microbial fuel cells which treat food processing wastewater was investigated in this study. Anaerobic anode and aerobic cathode chambers were separated by a proton exchange membrane in a two-compartment MFC reactor. Buffer solutions and food industry wastewater were used as electrolytes in the anode and cathode chambers, respectively. The produced voltage and current intensity were measured using a digital multimeter. Effluents from the anode compartment were tested for COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO4 and alkalinity. The maximum current density and power production were measured 527mA/m2 and 230mW/m2 in the anode area, respectively, at operation organic loading (OLR) of 0.364g COD/l.d. At OLR of 0.182g COD/l.d, maximum voltage and columbic efficiency production were recorded 0.475V and 21%, respectively. Maximum removal efficiency of COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO4 and alkalinity were 86, 79, 73, 18, 68, 62, 30 and 58%, respectively. The results indicated that catalysts and mediator-less microbial fuel cells (CAML-MFC) can be considered as a better choice for simple and complete energy conversion from the wastewater of such industries and also this could be considered as a new method to offset wastewater treatment plant operating costs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)352-357
Number of pages6
JournalEnzyme and Microbial Technology
Volume52
Issue number6-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 May 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bioelectricity
  • Bioreactors
  • Food processing bioconversion
  • Microbial fuel cell
  • Wastewater treatment

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