Recovery of Bioenergy from Industrial Wastewater using Microbial Fuel Cell

Water problems and Energy demands are increasing particularly in developing countries. Researchers are looking for sustainable technologies that can address increasing energy and environmental concerns. Major reasons behind those emerging concerns are industrialization and rapid development. There is need of sustainable technology which can solve wastewater issues and fulfill energy demand. One of the emerging technologies that have been studied comprehensively is Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). It is a bio-electrochemical conversion technology that converts organic substrate into electrical energy. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is removed as a result of microbial metabolism of organic substrate. Even through technical and economic aspects of the technology is under consideration for commercialization. Problems such as inefficient electron transfer, low power density, expensive proton exchange membrane and electrode material have resisted the advancement of this technology. The objective of this study is to design, fabricate and analyze MFC with a few modifications to increase cell performance. MFC performance was analyzed with graphite electrode material and Saccharomyces cerevisiae microorganism. The setup was employed to recover energy from textile wastewater. During the 24-hour operating period, an average voltage of 0.075 V was generated, producing an average power output of 48 µW. Meanwhile, 234.4 mg/L of COD was removed from the wastewater, corresponding to a removal efficiency of 74.9%. Moreover, a constant pH and temperature was maintained during the operation.