Abstract
The discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment results in negative impacts on ecosystems and public health. Conventional wastewater treatment systems require large investments with no financial return. In this sense, bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) appear as a promising alternative to conventional methods. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are the most studied BES for wastewater treatment and simultaneous recovery of value-added products. This chapter presents an analysis of different designs and applications of BESs to remove/recovery electrical energy, fuels, and nutrients from wastewaters. MFCs have been used mainly to produce electricity and recover/remove nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), whereas MECs have been applied mainly for the recovery of biofuels (ethanol, methane, and hydrogen) from wastewater. Most research has applied BESs on a laboratory scale and have suggested more detailed studies. Thus the viability of these systems on a large scale is still a major challenge for practical application.
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