Abstract
Three identically designed microbial fuel cell-constructed wetland (MFC-CW) systems were constructed and setup in this study for simultaneous biotreatment of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) and bioelectricity generation. MFC-CW1 and MFC-CW2 were planted with Canna indica, and Phragmites australis, respectively. MFC-CW3 was unplanted and considered as the control. These three systems were operated simultaneously in a batch mode for two cycles to evaluate the effect of PRW biotreatment on the growth and development of the selected plants and the potential of generated bioelectricity as well. The operation period for each cycle was 8 days. Results demonstrated that maximum removal efficiency of the organic content represented as chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 98.75%, 97.67%, and 97.83% observed in MFC-CW1, MFC-CW2, and MFC-CW3, respectively, whereby, the highest power generation were 19.86, 19.04, and 18.7 mW/m2, respectively. On the other hand, both types of plants exhibited notable growth and new sprouts appearance. The potential convergence of the results in the three MFC-CWs, and the healthy growth of both types of plants clearly and potentially indicated that the dominant mechanism of organic pollutant removal was via biodegradation process by the anodic biofilm in the MFC rather than being removed by phytoremediation process.
Highlights
Three identically designed microbial fuel cell-constructed wetland (MFC-CW) systems were constructed and setup in this study for simultaneous biotreatment of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) and bioelectricity generation
97.83% observed in Microbial fuel cells (MFCs)-CW1, MFC-CW2, and MFC-CW3, respectively, whereby, the highest power generation were 19.86, 19.04, and 18.7 mW/m2, respectively
The results demonstrated that maximum removal efficiencies of the organic content represented as chemical oxygen demand (COD) were
Summary
Each MFC-CW system was filled with gravel only to the height of 37cm. The upper ends of the MFC-CW systems were maintained open to atmosphere. The cathode was installed at the plant root zone at 30 cm from the base of the MFC-CW system MFC-CW1 was planted with common C. indica at a plant density of 4 plants/ reactor, which was placed on the upper surface of the cathode electrode. The cathode and anode electrodes in the MFC were connected to each other using copper wires to an external resistance 100Ω. Electrochemical measurements The cell voltage were monitored in order to determine the power generation and the performance of MFC-CWs. The potentials between the edges of the fixed external resistance (100 Ω) were measured data logger as well as a portable handheld digital multimeter (model: MT-1233C, Proskit, Taiwan) for double checking. H2 (cm) and H1 (cm) represent the total height of plants above the interface at the beginning and the end of the cycle, respectively (36)
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