Wastewater Treatment Using Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Membrane Bioreactor Coupled with Microbial Fuel Cells for Circular Economy

Abstract

Wastewater treatment has been a problem in modern society due to negligence. It has led to the depletion of freshwater resources for human consumption and it is inevitable to search for ways to treat the wastewater effectively and economically. Domestic and industrial wastewaters are not treated well before letting into the freshwater sources. The freshwater gets polluted due to the presence of organic and inorganic substances that are known to be mutagenic, carcinogenic, and harmful to the environment. The conventional wastewater treatment systems are energy-intensive and inefficient. The use of membrane bioreactors is one of the breakthroughs in the field of wastewater treatment, where microorganisms are used to produce energy from the biomass present in the wastewater and utilize it as a substrate for their growth and development. The metabolic cycles of these microbes produce electrons/ions that are utilized in electricity/energy generation respectively. Wastewater usage to produce energy promotes circular economy, but this method alone is not very effective in treating the wastewater. Anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor with suspended granular activated carbon serves the purpose of a bio sorbent that facilitates the adsorption of low concentration pollutants and reduce the COD levels making it suitable for release into the freshwater resources. Coupling these two methods together seems to be effective and can be scaled up. This review article concentrates on coupling the two mechanisms to promote circular economy.