Harvesting energy from leachates in microbial fuel cells using an anion exchange membrane

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of a single chamber microbial fuel cells (SC-MFCs) equipped with an anion exchange membrane, Zirfon membrane (ZF) with actual leachate as substrate, in terms of the volumetric power (PV) delivered and chemical oxygen removal efficiency (ηCOD). The SC-MFCs were loaded with three different mixtures of leachate with sulphate-reducing inocula (SR-I) as biocatalyst: 30% leachate + 70% SR-I (Period I); 70% leachate + 30% SR-I (Period II) and 50% leachate + 50% SR-I (Period III).From the start of the operation of the SC-MFC equipped with ZF, the PV values shown were encouraging: 4260 and 8050 mW m−3 for Periods I and II, respectively. Finally, in the Period III, the PV reached was up to 10 380 mW m−3, whereas the SC-MFC fitted with Nafion 117 membrane (NF) used as reference, delivered a substantially lower PV of only 104 mW m−3.In conclusion, membrane type played a significant role: the SC-MFC fitted with ZF in terms of PV outperformed the SC-MFC fitted with NF. The proportion of leachate and inoculum seemed to have a positive effect on the power delivery of only the MFC equipped with ZF, likely related to increased organic matter availability with increased concentration of leachate.