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Improvement of Wastewater Treatment Performance and Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells by Enhancing Hydrolysis and Acidogenesis, and by Reducing Internal Losses

Author

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  • Miguel Ángel López Zavala

    (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean. Av. Eugenio Garza Sada Sur No. 2501, Col. Tecnológico, Monterrey 64849, Mexico)

  • Pamela Renée Torres Delenne

    (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean. Av. Eugenio Garza Sada Sur No. 2501, Col. Tecnológico, Monterrey 64849, Mexico)

  • Omar Israel González Peña

    (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean. Av. Eugenio Garza Sada Sur No. 2501, Col. Tecnológico, Monterrey 64849, Mexico)

Abstract

In this study, biodegradation performance and power generation in MFCs were improved. Domestic wastewater was biodegraded in a dual-chamber MFC system equipped with a DupontTM Nafion ® 117 proton exchange membrane, graphite electrodes (8.0 cm × 2.5 cm × 0.2 cm) in both chambers and an external electric circuit with a 100 Ω resistor. Experiments were conducted using an anaerobic inoculum that was prepared onsite by acclimating mixed liquor from municipal wastewater. Aqueous hydrochloric acid (0.1 M HCl, pH 1.82) was used as the electrolyte in the cathode chamber. Free-oxygen conditions were promoted in both chambers by means of a vacuum (77.3 kPa). Low pH (< 5) and mixing conditions were maintained in the anode chamber and all the tests were carried out at 25 ± 1 °C. These conditions enhanced the hydrolysis and acidogenesis, inhibited the methanogenesis and reduced the internal losses. All of them together contributed to improve the treatment performance and power generation of the MFCs. Results of batch tests show COD reductions of up to 95%, voltages peaks of 0.954 V, maximum power densities on the order of 2.1 W·m −2 and 36.9 W·m − 3 , and energy generation peaks of 99.4 J·mg −1 COD removed. These values are greater than those reported in the MFCs’ literature for municipal wastewater (26 mW·m −2 –146 mW·m −2 ), industrial wastewater (419 mW·m −2 ) and culture medium solutions (1.17 W·m −2 ), and similar to those of glucose (3.6 W·m −2 ). Thus, these results can contribute to further enhancing the energy generated in MFCs and moving forward to make the MFCs more ready for practical applications of bioenergy production.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel Ángel López Zavala & Pamela Renée Torres Delenne & Omar Israel González Peña, 2018. "Improvement of Wastewater Treatment Performance and Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells by Enhancing Hydrolysis and Acidogenesis, and by Reducing Internal Losses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:9:p:2309-:d:167283
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ayyaru, Sivasankaran & Dharmalingam, Sangeetha, 2015. "A study of influence on nanocomposite membrane of sulfonated TiO2 and sulfonated polystyrene-ethylene-butylene-polystyrene for microbial fuel cell application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 202-208.
    2. Jannelli, Nicole & Anna Nastro, Rosa & Cigolotti, Viviana & Minutillo, Mariagiovanna & Falcucci, Giacomo, 2017. "Low pH, high salinity: Too much for microbial fuel cells?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 543-550.
    3. Gajda, Iwona & Greenman, John & Santoro, Carlo & Serov, Alexey & Melhuish, Chris & Atanassov, Plamen & Ieropoulos, Ioannis A., 2018. "Improved power and long term performance of microbial fuel cell with Fe-N-C catalyst in air-breathing cathode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1073-1079.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiayin Ling & Yanbin Xu & Chuansheng Lu & Weikang Lai & Guangyan Xie & Li Zheng & Manjunatha P. Talawar & Qingping Du & Gangyi Li, 2019. "Enhancing Stability of Microalgae Biocathode by a Partially Submerged Carbon Cloth Electrode for Bioenergy Production from Wastewater," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Miguel Ángel López Zavala & Omar Israel González Peña & Héctor Cabral Ruelas & Cristina Delgado Mena & Mokhtar Guizani, 2019. "Use of Cyclic Voltammetry to Describe the Electrochemical Behavior of a Dual-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-15, September.
    3. Asif Nadeem Tabish & Iqra Farhat & Muneeb Irshad & Muhammad Asif Hussain & Muhammad Usman & Tariq Nawaz Chaudhary & Yasser Fouad & Sohaib Raza & Waqar Muhammad Ashraf & Jaroslaw Krzywanski, 2023. "Electrochemical Insight into the Use of Microbial Fuel Cells for Bioelectricity Generation and Wastewater Treatment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-11, March.

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