Application of dual chamber microbial fuel cell with aeration cathode for bioelectricity generation and simultaneous industrial wastewater treatment

Background and Objective: Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new green technology that uses the catabolic ability of microorganisms to produce bioenergy while simultaneously removing organic matter and other wastewater contaminants. Electrode material is one of the factors affecting the performance of microbial fuel cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of microbial fuel cells in COD removal and bioenergy production from synthetic and real beverage wastewater. Materials and Methods: In this research, a two-chamber microbial fuel cell with Nafion membrane and aerated  cathode was set up using two electrodes made of carbon felt and flat graphite after being contacted by synthetic wastewater with a concentration of COD 5000  mg/L and real beverage wastewater. Organic matter removal efficiency and voltage, power density and maximum current were determine. Results: Experimental results showed that maximum COD removal efficiency of 92 % was achieved in synthetic wastewater and with a carbon felts electrode. In this condition, maximum voltage, power density and output current density of 469 mV, 175.28 mW/m2, and 855 mA/m2, were obtained, respectively. However, by using real industrial wastewater (beverage), maximum removal efficiency of COD, voltage, power density and output current density, related to carbon felt electrodes ‎were obtaines as 84 %, ‎460 mV, 91/65 mW/m2, and 635 mA/m2, respectively. Conclusion: The findings showed that synthetic wastewater outperforms microbial fuel cells in terms of bioelectric production and organic matter removal as compared to real wastewater (beverage). The reason for the decrease in the cell performance might be the presence of solids and other confounding pollutants in real wastewater.