Integrated Distillery Wastewater Treatment With Simultaneous Bio Energy Production Using Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

The global concerns of climate change and energy crisis have newlineprovoked the research to develop energyefficient alternatives to conventional newlinewastewater treatment processes Recently Microbial fuel cells MFC have newlineemerged as a promising technology for energy recovery and wastewater newlinetreatment In MFC chemical energy in the form of organic compounds in newlinewastewater is directly converted into electricity The overall aim of this thesis newlineis to generate an understanding for the development of an energy recovering newlinewastewater treatment process using MFC newlineThe experiments were conducted using a laboratory scale newlinecylindrical dual chamber MFC equipped with a salt bridge An anode newlineinoculum was established from a soil and activated sludge of distillery plant newlineThe Primary treated distillery wastewater was used as a substrate throughout newlinethe study The cathodic electron acceptor was potassium permanganate The newlinefocus of the study is to improve the performance of an MFC includes newlineselection and acclimation of the microbial consortium solution conductivity newlineelectrode spacing and surface area cathodic electron acceptor concentration newlineand oxidation of fuel newlineThe electricity generation in the MFC with the provided higher newlinesurface area using perforated graphite electrode showed the voltage of 0279 newlinethan plain graphite electrode 0147 V Subsequently the COD of the newlinewastewater decreased from 2820 to 2304 mgL with the corresponding newlinegradual increased voltage 216 V whereas with plainMFC the substrate newlineconsumption range was limited to 2630 mgL The electrodes distance newlinebetween the anode and cathode also reduces the internal resistance 280 to newline194 and increase the voltage from 559 to 926mV when the electrode newlinedistance was decreased from 4cm to 2 cm As voltage dropped the current newlineincreased to 066 A in 2 cm spacing and 025 A in 4 cm spacing between newlineanode and cathode newlineOperation with mechanical stirring effect showed the OCV of newline0313 V and 0635 V in without stirring respectively On day 7 after newlineadditions of electron acceptor KMn4 a steady raise in OCV 1190 V was newlineobserved in