Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser
Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser
This study presents a simple and sustainable Microbial Fuel Cell as a standalone, self-powered reactor for in situ wastewater electrolysis, recovering nitrogen from wastewater. A process is proposed whereby the MFC electrical performance drives the electrolysis of wastewater towards the self-generation of catholyte within the same reactor. The MFCs were designed to harvest the generated catholyte in the internal chamber, which showed that liquid production rates are largely proportional to electrical current generation. The catholyte demonstrated bactericidal properties, compared to the control (open-circuit) diffusate and reduced observable biofilm formation on the cathode electrode. Killing effects were confirmed using bacterial kill curves constructed by exposing a bioluminescent Escherichia coli target, as a surrogate coliform, to catholyte where a rapid kill rate was observed. Therefore, MFCs could serve as a water recovery system, a disinfectant/cleaner generator that limits undesired biofilm formation and as a washing agent in waterless urinals to improve sanitation. This simple and ready to implement MFC system can convert organic waste directly into electricity and self-driven nitrogen along with water recovery. This could lead to the development of energy positive bioprocesses for sustainable wastewater treatment.
Gajda, Iwona
943dd6bd-524b-4c7b-b794-dec5ee8014b7
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
12 May 2016
Gajda, Iwona
943dd6bd-524b-4c7b-b794-dec5ee8014b7
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Gajda, Iwona, Greenman, John, Melhuish, Chris and Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.
(2016)
Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser.
Scientific Reports, 6, [25571].
(doi:10.1038/srep25571).
Abstract
This study presents a simple and sustainable Microbial Fuel Cell as a standalone, self-powered reactor for in situ wastewater electrolysis, recovering nitrogen from wastewater. A process is proposed whereby the MFC electrical performance drives the electrolysis of wastewater towards the self-generation of catholyte within the same reactor. The MFCs were designed to harvest the generated catholyte in the internal chamber, which showed that liquid production rates are largely proportional to electrical current generation. The catholyte demonstrated bactericidal properties, compared to the control (open-circuit) diffusate and reduced observable biofilm formation on the cathode electrode. Killing effects were confirmed using bacterial kill curves constructed by exposing a bioluminescent Escherichia coli target, as a surrogate coliform, to catholyte where a rapid kill rate was observed. Therefore, MFCs could serve as a water recovery system, a disinfectant/cleaner generator that limits undesired biofilm formation and as a washing agent in waterless urinals to improve sanitation. This simple and ready to implement MFC system can convert organic waste directly into electricity and self-driven nitrogen along with water recovery. This could lead to the development of energy positive bioprocesses for sustainable wastewater treatment.
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srep25571
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Published date: 12 May 2016
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Local EPrints ID: 454067
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454067
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: e6d86829-f852-452b-99f8-cf36a4455395
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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2022 19:24
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:10
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Author:
Iwona Gajda
Author:
John Greenman
Author:
Chris Melhuish
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