Improved performance output of microbial fuel cell by supplements of ionic and non-ionic osmolytes using pressmud as inoculum

Abstract

The study reports beneficial effects of adding combination of NaCl and sucrose in different ratios to the feedwater in the anodic chamber of dual chamber microbial fuel cell (DMFC). Dilute distillery wastewater was used as substrate with its native microbes serving as inoculum in a short-term study (7 h). Maximum open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.57 V was generated in the MFC when 0.2% and 0.3% of salt and sucrose (2:3 ratio) were added to the substrate. In a long-term experiment (22d), using pressmud as a new inoculum source, and 2:3 NaCl-sucrose ratio, the maximum OCV increased to 0.88 V with a maximum power density generation of 129 mW/m3. The novel approach of using combined osmolyte NaCl-sucrose supplement to the distillery waste-feedwater suggests excellent promotional influence on output of the MFC, while using native microbes of distillery wastewater, and more prominently on using the new pressmud inoculum source.