Pulp and paper industry produces large amount of wastewater that has high pollution potentials. Nowadays, development of renewable energy resources is being researched. Membrane-less Microbial Fuel Cell (ML-MFC) can be an alternative for wastewater treatment and bioenergy producers of renewable electricity. This study was subjected to evaluate the performance of ML-MFC in pulp and paper wastewater treatment and to analyze the potentials production of electricity energy. ML-MFC reactors in laboratory scale used in this experiment were made of acrylic, provided with electrodes functioning as anode and cathode which have surface area of 1.4778 x 10-2 m2 and 4.926 x 10-3 m2, respectively. In this experiment, wastewater from pulp and paper mill was continuously fed into the reactor with retention time of 48 hours and organic load about 0.23 – 0.51 kg COD/m3.day. The results showed that there was potential of electricity production from pulp and paper mill’s wastewater treatment by ML-MFC. The maximum COD reduction and maximum power supply voltage that could be achieved were 38.50% and 118.8 mV, respectively. The maximum electric power obtained on the anode surface area of 1.4778 x 10-2 m2 was 8.46 mW/m2 when the electric current value was 101.50 mA/m2 and the resistance was 500 Ω.Keywords: wastewater, organic, bioconversion, electricity, membrane-less microbial fuel cell (ML-MFC) ABSTRAKIndustri pulp dan kertas menghasilkan air limbah dalam jumlah besar yang memiliki potensi pencemaran tinggi. Saat ini, upaya pengembangan sumber energi terbarukan terus dilakukan. Membraneless Microbial Fuel Cell (ML-MFC) adalah salah satu alternatif pengolahan air limbah dan penghasil bioenergi listrik yang dapat terbarukan. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengevaluasi kinerja ML-MFC dalam pengolahan air limbah pulp dan kertas proses biologi dan menganalisa potensi produksi energi listrik. Reaktor ML-MFC skala laboratorium yang digunakan dalam percobaan terbuat dari akrilik dengan rangkaian elektroda yang berfungsi sebagai anoda dengan luas permukaan 1,4778 x 10-2 m2 dan katoda dengan luas permukaan 4,926 x 10-3 m2. Pada percobaan ini, air limbah industri pulp dan kertas dialirkan melalui reaktor secara kontinu dengan waktu tinggal 48 jam dan beban organik 0,23 – 0,51 kg COD/m3.hari. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat potensi produksi energi listrik dari proses pengolahan air limbah industri pulp dan kertas oleh ML-MFC. Reduksi maksimum nilai COD dan tegangan listrik maksimum yang dapat dicapai adalah 38,50% dan 118,8 mV. Daya listrik maksimum yang diperoleh pada luas permukaan anoda sebesar 1,4778 x 10-2 m2 adalah 8,46 mW/m2 pada saat nilai arus listrik 101,50 mA/m2 dan beban resistansi 500 Ω.Kata kunci: air limbah, organik, biokonversi, energi listrik, membrane-less microbial fuel cell (ML-MFC)
Treatment of Sewage (Domestic Wastewater or Municipal Wastewater) and Electricity Production by Integrating Constructed Wetland with Microbial Fuel Cell
