MESSAI.iO

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This study presents a novel integrated microbial fuel cell-hydroponic (MFC-Hyp) system that simultaneously generates electricity, treats wastewater, and recovers nutrients for plant production. Using synthetic potato wastewater and Allium tuberosum (garlic chives), the system achieved 80.4% COD removal, 31.7% nitrate removal, and 7.5% phosphate recovery. The presence of plants increased power density by 19% to 250.7 mW/m² and enhanced nutrient diffusion through a ceramic separator, demonstrating the feasibility of integrated resource recovery systems.

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Distribution

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Coulombic efficiency4.9%

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

The world is predicted to face serious threats from the depletion of non-renewable energy resources, freshwater shortage, and food scarcity. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are innovative bio-electrochemical devices capable of directly converting chemical energy into electrical energy using microorganisms as a catalyst. This ability has been explored for generating electricity using wastewater as an energy source, while simultaneously treating wastewater. On the other hand, hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in water without soil. The goal of this study was to develop a novel integrated microbial fuel cell-hydroponic system (MFC-Hyp system) that possesses the ability to concurrently generate electricity while degrading organic pollutants (Chemical oxygen demand, COD) in wastewater, remove and recover nutrients (phosphorus, P and nitrogen, N) from the wastewater, and produce edible plants. The MFC-Hyp system developed in this study produced a power density of 250.7 mW/m². The power density increased by approximately 19% and the phosphorus recovery increased to 7.5% in the presence of Allium tuberosum compared to 4.9% without the plant (e.g., in the control). The removal efficiencies of nitrate, phosphate, and COD are 32%, 11%, and 80%, respectively. The results indicate that the novel integrated MFC-Hyp system can remove COD from wastewater, generate electricity using wastewater as an energy source, and utilize nutrients for growing plants; however, this system requires further improvement for field implementation.

Keywords

Microbial fuel cellWastewaterChemical oxygen demandRenewable energySewage treatmentNutrient

Identifiers

DOI
10.3390/en15239211
Journal
Energies
Year
2022