Application of microbial electrolysis cells for the production of biogas and other valuables from industrial wastewater and sludge

Abstract

A microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) has been developed as an effective technology for the microbial conversion of organic matter contained in industrial wastes and sludge into valuable products such as biogas or biochemicals. Exploiting industrial wastewater to produce biogas or chemicals will improve circular economy and concurrently attract industries to pre-treat their wastewater before discharging. However, the products of an MEC such as CH4, H2, H2O2, and other chemicals are not thermodynamically favourable reactions; hence, an external voltage is required to support these reduction reactions. In this regard, optimizing MEC's different operational parameters and reactor configuration is obligatory to reduce the system's external energy demand, and associated energy loss and simultaneously achieving high conversion efficiency. The critical aspects of this chapter are discussing the basic concept of an MEC and its configurations with a detailed description of the thermodynamic aspect of the process. Furthermore, the description of industrial wastewater characteristics provides a better assessment regarding adopting this technology in industries. Overall, this chapter highlights the significance of MECs as a potential solution for transforming industrial wastewater and sludge into valuable resources, while encouraging environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2166/9781789063813_0175

Journal

Resource Recovery from Industrial Wastewater through Microbial Electrochemical Technologies

Year

2024