Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for energy-efficient domestic wastewater treatment, but the effluent quality has typically not been sufficient for discharge without further treatment. A two-stage laboratory-scale combined treatment process, consisting of microbial fuel cells and an anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor (MFC-AFMBR), was examined here to produce high quality effluent with minimal energy demands. The combined system was operated continuously for 50 days at room temperature (∼25 °C) with domestic wastewater having a total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) of 210 ± 11 mg/L. At a combined hydraulic retention time (HRT) for both processes of 9 h, the effluent tCOD was reduced to 16 ± 3 mg/L (92.5% removal), and there was nearly complete removal of total suspended solids (TSS; from 45 ± 10 mg/L to
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4199-4206 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Environmental Science & Technology |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 10 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): KUS-I1-003-13
Acknowledgements: We thank David Jones for help with the analytical measurements, Dr. Xiaoyuan Zhang for preparing the photo of the two-stage MFCs-AFMBR system, and KOLON Inc.(South Korea) for providing hollow-fiber membranes for this research. This research is supported by Award KUS-I1-003-13 from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology(KAUST).
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.