scholarly journals Assessing the factors influencing the performance of constructed wetland–microbial fuel cell integration

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huang Jingyu ◽  
Nicholas Miwornunyuie ◽  
David Ewusi-Mensah ◽  
Desmond Ato Koomson

Abstract Constructed wetland coupled microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) systems integrate an aerobic zone and an anaerobic zone to treat wastewater and to generate bioenergy. The concept evolves based on the principles of constructed wetlands and plant MFC (one form of photosynthetic MFC) technologies, of which all contain plants. CW-MFC have been used in a wide range of application since their introduction in 2012 for wastewater treatment and electricity generation. However, there are few reports on the individual components and their performance on CW-MFC efficiency. The performance and efficiency of this technology are significantly influenced by several factors such as the organic load and sewage composition, hydraulic retention time, cathode dissolved oxygen, electrode materials and wetland plants. This paper reviews the influence of the macrophyte (wetland plants) component, substrate material, microorganisms, electrode material and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on CW-MFC performance in wastewater treatment and electricity generation. The study assesses the relationship between these parameters and discusses progress in the development of this integrated system to date.

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 0007
Author(s):  
Yussur D Abdulwahab ◽  
Alaa Mohammed ◽  
Talib Abbas

The current study deals with the performance of constructed wetland (CW) incorporating a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for wastewater treatment and electricity generation. The whole unit is referred to as CW-MFC. This technique involves two treatments; the first is an aerobic treatment which occurs in the upper layer of the system (cathode section) and the second is anaerobic biological treatment in the lower layer of the system (anode section). Two types of electrode material were tested; stainless steel and graphite. Three configurations for electrodes arrangement CW-MFC were used. In the first unit of CW-MFC, the anode was graphite plate (GPa) and cathode was also graphite plate (GPc), in the second CW-MFC unit, the anode was stainless steel mesh (SSMa) and the cathode was a couple of stainless steel plain (SSPc). The anode in the third CW-MFC unit was stainless steel mesh (SSMa) and the cathode was graphite plate (GPc). It was found that the maximum performance for electricity generation (9 mW/m3) was obtained in the unit with stainless steel mesh as anode and graphite plate as cathode. After 10 days of operation, the best result for COD removal (70%) was obtained in the unit with stainless steel mesh as anode and stainless steel plain as cathode. The effect of temperature was also investigated. The performance of unit operation for electricity generation was tested at three values of temperature; 30, 35 and 40oC. The best result was obtained at 40oC, at which the current density obtained was 80 mA/m3. A culture of Algae could grow in the unit in order to supply the cathodic region with oxygen.


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