Optimization of bioenergy generation and chemical oxygen demand reduction in dual-chamber microbial fuel cells using active soil microbes

Abstract

This study focused on the optimization of a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) system using carbon fiber brush and titanium electrodes, meat processing wastewater as substrate, and active soil microbes as biocatalyst. Significant findings revealed promising results on the MFC performance. The active soil microbes contain viable bacteria that worked effectively in the anode chambers. Peak open-circuit voltages (OCV) of the MFCs were as high as 1.05 V using titanium mesh and 1.03 V using carbon fiber brush. In closed-circuit conditions, the current obtained were 1.04 mA and 1.38 mA, and the power densities were 1.22 Wm−2 and 0.34 Wm−2, correspondingly. The power densities were normalized based on the surface areas of the anodes. The bioenergy generation profiles also revealed the MFCs can produce peak potentials of 30.109 kJ and 19.415 kJ using carbon fiber brush and titanium mesh, respectively. Furthermore, the results showed that the reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) was highest at 24.32 percent using carbon brush and lowest at 13.34 percent using titanium mesh electrodes.