Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Wastewater by Microbial Fuel Cell

Date Received: Apr 27, 2023

Date Published: Dec 29, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31817/vjas.2023.6.4.03

Views

431

Download

161

Issue: Vol. 6 No. 4 (2023): Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Section:

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

How to Cite:

Cong, V., Vien, T., & Hang, H. (2023). Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Wastewater by Microbial Fuel Cell. Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(4), 1924–1930. https://doi.org/10.31817/vjas.2023.6.4.03

Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Wastewater by Microbial Fuel Cell

Vo Huu Cong (*) 1 , Tran Duc Vien 1   , Ho Thi Thuy Hang 1

  • Corresponding author: vhcong@vnua.edu.vn
  • 1 Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi 131000, Vietnam

    • Keywords

    Microbial fuel cell, domestic wastewater, renewable energy, electricity generation, Bacillus subtilis

    Abstract


    Combined systems for wastewater treatment and resource recovery have been developed in many countries. However, systems for energy generation are still underdeveloped. This research was conducted to evaluate the possibility of electric potential generation from wastewater using a microbial fuel cell system (MFC). The simple two-chamber apparatus (2 liters) was fed with wastewater collected from dormitory discharge. Three batch experiments were carried out with 2 liters of wastewater with an influent concentration of 518 mg L-1 BOD5 and 750 mg L-1 COD. The results showed that the microbial fuel cell system generated a potential from 0.29 to 0.45 V for 7 days in the presence of 1.0-1.5% (v/v) Bacillus subtilis while this potential was not obtained in the case when microbes were not added. The highest removal efficiencies of BOD5 and COD reached 56% and 63%, respectively. It was found that the potential dropped to almost zero in all of the treatments while the ratio of BOD:COD was 0.83 and the concentration of BOD was around 230 mg L-1, indicating that other governing factors may have an impact on potential electricity generation. Therefore, further studies on the effects of the operating conditions and equipment should be comprehensively studied.

    References

    Allen R. M. & Bennetto H. P. (1993). Microbial Fuel-Cells electricity production from Carbohydrates. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 39/40: 27-40.

    Bond D. R. & Lovley D. R. (2003). Electricity production by Geobacter sulfurreducens attached to electrodes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 69(3): 1548-1555.

    Chaudhuri S. K. & Lovley D. R. (2003). Electricity generation by direct oxidation of glucose in mediatorless microbial fuel cells. Nature Biotechnology. 21(10): 1229-1232.

    Davis J. B. & Yarbrough H. F. J. (1962). Preliminary Experiments on a Microbial Fuel Cell. Science. 137: 615-616.

    Du Z., Li H. & Gu T. (2007). A state of the art review on microbial fuel cells: A promising technology for wastewater treatment and bioenergy. Biotechnology Advances. 25(5): 464-482.

    Hoa T. T. H. (2017). Study on ammonium removal in domestic wastewater from dormitory of National University of Civil Engineering. Journal of Science and Technology in Civil Engineering. 11(6): 191-197.

    Ieropoulos I. A., Greenman J., Melhuish C. & Hart J. (2005). Comparative study of three types of microbial fuel cell. Enzyme and Microbial Technology. 37(2): 238-245.

    Ikeda T. & Kano K. (2003). Bioelectrocatalysis-based application of quinoproteins and quinoprotein-containing bacterial cells in biosensors and biofuel cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics. 1647(1-2): 121-126.

    Ismail Z. Z. & Jaeel A. J. (2013). Sustainable power generation in continuous flow microbial fuel cell treating actual wastewater: influence of biocatalyst type on electricity production. Scientific World Journal. 2013: 713515.

    Kim B. H., Ikeda T., Park H. S., Kim H. J., Hyu M. S., Kano K., Takagi K. & Tatsumi H. (1999). Electrochemical activity of an Fe(III)-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens IR-1, in the presence of alternative electron acceptors. Biotechnology Techniques. 13: 475-478.

    Liu G., Yates M. D., Cheng S., Call D. F., Sun D. & Logan B. E. (2011). Examination of microbial fuel cell start-up times with domestic wastewater and additional amendments. Bioresources Technology. 102(15): 7301-7306.

    Min B., Cheng S. & Logan B. E. (2005). Electricity generation using membrane and salt bridge microbial fuel cells. Water Research. 39(9): 1675-1686.

    Min B. & Logan B. (2004). Continuous Electricity Generation from Domestic Wastewater and Organic Substrates in a Flat Plate Microbial Fuel Cell. Environmental Science and Technology. 38: 5809-5814.

    Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (2016). Special issue: Urban Environment. National Environmental Status Report. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/EAP/Vietnam/vn-urbanwastewater-summary-EN-final.pdf on December 5, 2022.

    Niessen J., Schroder U. & Scholz F. (2004). Exploiting complex carbohydrates for microbial electricity generation ? a bacterial fuel cell operating on starch.Electrochemistry Communications. 6(9): 955-958.

    Nimje V. R., Chen C.-Y., Chen C.-C., Jean J.-S., Reddy A. S., Fan C.-W., Pan K.-Y., Liu H.-T. & Chen J.-L. (2009). Stable and high energy generation by a strain of Bacillus subtilis in a microbial fuel cell. Journal of Power Sources. 190(2): 258-263.

    Nong Minh Tuan (2014). Research and development of microbial fuel cells used as biosensors to assess wastewater quality, Master thesis, Vietnam National University (in Vietnamese).

    Pandit S. & Das D. (2018). Principles of Microbial Fuel Cell for the Power Generation. 2: 21-41. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-66793-5.

    Park D. H. & Zeikus J. G. (2000). Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Neutral Red as an Electronophore. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 66(4): 1292-1297.

    Son C. T., Giang N. T. H., Nui N. H., Thao T. P., Lam N. T. & Cong V. H. (2020). Assessment of Cau River water quality assessment using a combination of water quality and pollution indices. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua. 69(2): 160-172.

    Duyen T. M. T., Ngoc P. & Hoa T. P. (2021). Evaluating the effects of chloride on the performance of microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment. Environmental Sciences. 64: 99-104.

    Vega C. A. & Fernández I. (1987). Mediating effect of ferric chelate compounds in microbial fuel cells with Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus lactis, and Erwinia dissolvens. Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics. 17(2): 217-222.

    Vo Huu Cong & Phung Thi Hang (2019). Waste audit of cattle production in Minh Chau commune, Ba Vi district, Hanoi. TNU Journal of Science and Technology. 207(14): 129-134.

    World Bank (2013). Vietnam Urban Wastewater Review Executive Summary. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/EAP/Vietnam/vn-urbanwastewater-summary-EN-final.pdf on December 1, 2022.

    Yoganathan K. & Ganesh P. (2015). Electrogenicity assessment of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium using Microbial Fuel Cell technology. International Journal of Applied Research. 1(13): 435-438.