Stacked-MFC into a Typical Septic Tank used in Public Housing
J.A.D. Maldonado, G. Cámara-Chalé, R.M. Cervera, L. Alzate-Gaviria
Abstract. We assessed the viability of incorporating a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Stack in a typical septic tank, eight MFCs with proton exchange membrane without catalysts were installed in a real system. Both chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and electricity generation using super capacitors for electricity storage were investigated under continuous flow mode. Three MFCs A1, B4 and C2 with 109.40±34.25 mW/m3, 131.58±27.75 mW/m3 and 124.01±27.57 mW/m3, respectively, were chosen for testing. The organic loading rate was 0.24, 0.52 and 1.05 Kg DQO/m3-d corresponding to the 200, 500 and 1000 ppm. Total COD removal and total columbic efficiency were 89.67±5.19% and 48.07±2.33%.The results of this study suggest that MFCs may be suitable for deployment in a septic tank. This research has demonstrated the great challenges in applying a stack of MFC in scale-up; however, the configuration seems to be indicated for this kind of depuration system. It is necessary to develop more research in real scale to test the feasibility of this implementation.
Keywords
Microbial Fuel Cell, Scale-up, Septic Tank, Wastewater Treatment
Published online , 11 pages
Copyright © 2018 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: J.A.D. Maldonado, G. Cámara-Chalé, R.M. Cervera, L. Alzate-Gaviria, ‘Stacked-MFC into a Typical Septic Tank used in Public Housing’, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 7, pp 108-118, 2018
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21741/9781945291838-11
The article was published as article 11 of the book Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies
References
[1] CONAGUA: National Water Commission, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.conagua.gob.mx/.
[2] Withers P, May L, Jarvie H, Jordan P, Doody D, Foy R, Bechmann M, Cooksley S, Dils R, Deal N. Nutrient emissions to water from septic tank systems in rural catchments: Uncertainties and implications for policy. Environ Sci Policy. 71-82 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.023
[3] Metcalfe C, Beddows P, Gold Bouchot G, Metcalfe T, Li H, Van Lavieren H. Contaminants in the coastal karst aquifer system along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Environ Pollution. 991-7 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.11.031
[4] Shah V. Emerging Environmental Technologies Volume II. Springer Netherlands, pp. 174. (ISBN 978-90-481-3352-9), 2010.
[5] Cusick R, Bryan B, Parker D, Merrill M, Mehanna M, Kiely P, Liu G, Logan B. Performance of a pilot-scale continuous flow microbial electrolysis cell fed winery waste water. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2053-2063 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-011-3130-9
[6] Jiang D, Curtis M, Troop E, Scheible K, McGrath J, Hu B, Suib S, Raymond D, Li B. A pilot-scale study on utilizing multi-anode/cathode microbial fuel cells MAC MFCs to enhance the power production in wastewater treatment. Int J hydrogen energy. 876-884 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.08.074
[7] Kim J., Premier G., Hawkes F., Rodríguez J., Dinsdale R., Guwy A., Modular tubular microbial fuel cells for energy recovery during sucrose wastewater treatment at low organic loading rate. Bioresour Technol. 1190-1198 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.09.023
[8] Ahn Y, Logan B. Domestic wastewater treatment using multi-electrode continuous flow MFCs with a separator electrode assembly design. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 409-416 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4455-8
[9] Yazdi H., Alzate-Gaviria L., Ren Z. Pluggable microbial fuel cell stacks for septic wastewater treatment and electricity production. Biores Technol. 258-263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.12.100
[10] Leong J, Daud W, Ghasemi M, Liew K, Ismail M. Ion exchange membranes as separators in microbial fuel cells for bioenergy conversion: A comprehensive review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 575-587 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.052
[11] Official Mexican Standard NOM-006-CNA-1997. Septic tanks – Specifications and test methods. Available from https://www.profepa.gob.mx/innovaportal/file/3302/1/nom-006-conagua-1997.pdf
[12] Gross A, Kaplan D, Baker K. Removal of chemical and microbiological contaminants from domestic greywater using a recycled vertical flow bioreactor (RVFB). Ecol Engine. 107-114 (2007).
[13] Eriksson E, Auffarth K, Henze M, Ledin A. Characteristics of grey wastewater. Urban Water. 85-104 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1462-0758(01)00064-4
[14] Canto-Canché B, Tzec-Simá M, Vázquez-Loría J, Espadas-Álvarez H, Chí-Manzanero B, Rojas-Herrera R, Valdez-Ojeda R, Alzate-Gaviria L. Simple and inexpensive DNA extraction protocol for studying the bacterial composition of sludges used in microbial fuel cells. Genetics and Molecular Res. 282-292 (2013). https://doi.org/10.4238/2013.February.4.2
[15] Sanchez-Herrera D, Pacheco-Catalan D, Valdez-Ojeda R, Canto-Canche B, Dominguez-Benetton X, Domínguez-Maldonado J, Alzate-Gaviria L. Characterization of anode and anolyte community growth and the impact of impedance in a microbial fuel cell. BMC Biotechnol. 102 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12896-014-0102-z
[16] G. Tchobanoglous, F. Burton, D. Stensel Wastewater Engineering: Treatment, Disposal and Reuse, 3rd ed., Metcalf & Eddy, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1991.
[17] Dewan A., Donovan C., Heo D., Beyenal H., Evaluating the performance of microbial fuel cells powering electronic devices. J Power Sources. 90-96 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2009.07.001
[18] J. Fleming, (Apr. 2010); doi:10.1117/12.850316; https://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.850316.
[19] Ahn Y, Logan B. A multi-electrode continuous flow microbial fuel cell with separator electrode assembly design. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2241-2248 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-3916-4
[20] Ieropoulos I, Greenman J, Melhuish C. Microbial fuel cells based on carbon veil electrodes: Stack configuration and scalability. Int J Energy Res. 1228-1240 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1002/er.1419
[21] Park J, Ren R. High efficiency energy harvesting from microbial fuel cells using a synchronous boost converter. J Power Sources. 322-327 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.02.035
[22] Wang B, Han J. A single chamber stackable microbial fuel cell with air cathode. Biotechnol Lett. 387-393 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-008-9877-0
[23] Wang H, Park J, Zhiyong J. Practical Energy Harvesting for Microbial Fuel Cells: A Review. Environ Sci Technol. 3267−3277 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1021/es5047765
[24] Shantaram A, Beyenal H, Raajan R, Veluchamy R, Lewandowski Z. Wireless sensors powered by microbial fuel cells. Environ Sci Technol. 5037-5042 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1021/es0480668
[25] Zhang F, Ge Z, Grimaud J, Hurst J, He Z. In situ investigation of tubular microbial fuel cells deployed in an aeration tank at a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Biores Technol. 316-321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.02.107
[26] Rabaey K, Clauwaert P, Aelterman P, Verstraete W. Environ. Tubular Microbial Fuel Cells for Efficient Electricity Generation. Sci Technol. 8077-8082 (2005).
[27] Zhan F. Novel cathode materials for microbial fuel cells. A Thesis in Environ. Engin. The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Engineering, U.S, 2010.
[28] He Z, Wagner N, Minteer S, Angenent L. An Upflow Microbial Fuel Cell with an Interior Cathode: Assessment of the Internal Resistance by Impedance Spectroscopy. Environ Sci Technol. 5212-5217 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1021/es060394f
[29] Cheng S, Logan B. Increasing power generation for scaling up single-chamber air cathode microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technol. 4468–4473 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.12.104
[30] Yuan X, Wang H, Sun J, Zhang J. AC impedance technique in PEM fuel cell diagnosis: A review. Int J Hydrogen Energy. 4365-4380 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2007.05.036
[31] Marcus A, Torres C, Rittmann B., Conduction-Based Modeling of the Biofilm Anode of a Microbial Fuel Cell. Biotech Bioeng. 1171-1182 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.21533
[32] Ha P, Moon H, Kim B, Ng H, Chang I. Determination of charge transfer resistance and capacitance of microbial fuel cell through a transient response analysis of cell voltage. Bios Bioelec. 1629-1634 (2010).
[33] Feng Y, Wang X, Logan B, Lee H. Brewery wastewater treatment using air-cathode microbial fuel cells. Appl. Microbiol. Biot. 873–880 (2008).
[34] Huang L, Logan B. Electricity generation and treatment of paper recycling wastewater using a microbial fuel cell. Appl. Microbiol. Biot. 349–355 (2008).
[35] Min B, Roman O, Angelidaki I. ‘Importance of temperature and anodic medium composition on microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance. Biotechnol. Lett. 1213–1218 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-008-9687-4
[36] Gil G, Chang I, Kim B, Kim M, Jang J, Park H, Kim H. Biosens. Bioelectron. 327–334 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5663(02)00110-0
[37] Nam J, Kim H, Lim K, Shin H, Logan B. Variation of power generation at different buffer types and conductivities in single chamber microbial fuel cells. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 1155–1159 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2009.10.005
[38] Liu H, Cheng S, Logan B. Power generation in fed-batch microbial fuel cells as a function of ionic strength, temperature, and reactor configuration. Environ. Sci. Technol. 5488–5493 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1021/es050316c
[39] Yin Y, Huang G, Tong Y, Liu Y, Zhang L. Electricity production and electrochemical impedance modeling of microbial fuel cells under static magnetic field. J Power Sources. 58-63 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.02.080
[40] Reshetenko T, Kim H, Lee H, Jang M, Kweon H. Performance of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) at low temperature: Cathode optimization. J Power Sources. 925-932 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.02.058
