Effect of organic loading rate on the recovery of nutrients and energy in a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell

Yuanyao Ye; Huu Hao Ngo; Wenshan Guo; Soon Woong Chang; Dinh Duc Nguyen; Yiwen Liu; Long Duc Nghiem; Xinbo Zhang; Jie Wang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.108

Effect of organic loading rate on the recovery of nutrients and energy in a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Jun:281:367-373. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.108. Epub 2019 Feb 25.

Authors

Yuanyao Ye¹, Huu Hao Ngo², Wenshan Guo³, Soon Woong Chang⁴, Dinh Duc Nguyen⁴, Yiwen Liu¹, Long Duc Nghiem¹, Xinbo Zhang⁵, Jie Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia.
² Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia; Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: ngohuuhao121@gmail.com.
³ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia; Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁴ Department of Environmental Energy and Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Joint Research Centre for Protective Infrastructure Technology and Environmental Green Bioprocess, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300387, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁶ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China.

PMID: 30831516
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.108

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the impacts of organic loading rate (OLR) (435-870 mgCOD/L·d) on nutrients recovery via a double-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) for treating domestic wastewater. Electricity generation was also explored at different OLRs, including power density and coulombic efficiency. Experimental results suggested the MFC could successfully treat municipal wastewater with over 90% of organics being removed at a wider range of OLR from 435 to 725 mgCOD/L·d. Besides, the maximum power density achieved in the MFC was 253.84 mW/m² at the OLR of 435 mgCOD/L·d. Higher OLR may disrupt the recovery of PO₄^3--P and NH₄⁺-N via the MFC. The same pattern was observed for the coulombic efficiency of the MFC and its highest value was 25.01% at the OLR of 435 mgCOD/L·d. It can be concluded that nutrients and electrical power can be simultaneously recovered from municipal wastewater via the dual-chamber MFC.

Keywords: Domestic wastewater; Energy recovery; Microbial fuel cell; Nutrients recovery.

MeSH terms

Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Electricity
Nutrients*
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Wastewater / chemistry

Substances

Waste Water