Potential of Electricity Generation and Wastewater Treatment of Organic Brewery Effluent Using Inoculated H-Type Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

MFCs are bio-electrochemical devices that are capable of transforming chemical energy stored in waste organic matter into direct electrical energy through catalytic activity of microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. Bio-electrochemical systems, such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs), serve as greener alternatives to conventional fuel energy. In recent years, MFCs have drawn science community interest as a method for direct bioelectricity recovery from wastewater while simultaneously treating the wastewater. Moreover; they gain a competitive advantage over other water treatment technologies due to their unique features such as huge energy benefits, less environmental impact, good operating stability, and high economic efficiency. Reports reveal that MFCs are the subject of much interest to researchers, and the number of papers on MFCs in wastewater treatment is increasing. The ever-growing demand for green waste management and renewable sources of energy has enthused research efforts all over the world. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of process variables on the bio-electrical performance of H-type microbial fuel cells fueled with brewery wastewater and inoculated with distillery plant waste. From the experimental results, 1150mV maximum voltage output, 92.85%, 91.40%, 68.87%, and 70.10% removal efficiencies of COD, BOD, TN and TP respectively were obtained at 35ºC, pH 7, and 5 days. These results confirmed that brewery wastewater effectively treated would generate a considerable amount of direct bio-electricity. Results also revealed that the MFC provides an alternative insight into an effective treatment of wastewater that can simultaneously generate a direct bio-electricity in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner.