A-microbial-fuel-cell–membrane-bioreactor-integrated-system

Amicrobialfuelcell–membranebioreactorintegratedsystemforcost-effectivewastewatertreatmentYong-PengWanga,Xian-WeiLiua,Wen-WeiLib,⇑,FengLib,Yun-KunWangb,Guo-PingShengb,RaymondJ.Zengb,Han-QingYubaSchoolofEarthandSpaceSciences,UniversityofScienceandTechnologyofChina,Hefei230026,ChinabDepartmentofChemistry,UniversityofScienceandTechnologyofChina,Hefei230026,ChinaarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received9January2012Receivedinrevisedform9March2012Accepted12March2012Availableonline28April2012Keywords:Microbialfuelcell(MFC)Membranebioreactor(MBR)WastewatertreatmentBio-cathodeLow-costabstractMicrobialfuelcell(MFC)andmembranebioreactor(MBR)arebothpromisingtechnologiesforwastewa-tertreatment,butbothwithlimitations.Inthisstudy,anovelMFC–MBRintegratedsystem,whichcom-binestheadvantagesoftheindividualsystems,wasproposedforsimultaneouswastewatertreatmentandenergyrecovery.ThesystemfavoredabetterutilizationoftheoxygenintheaerationtankofMBRbytheMFCbiocathode,andenabledahigheffluentquality.Continuousandstableelectricitygeneration,withtheaveragecurrentof1.9±0.4mA,wasachievedoveralongperiodofabout40days.Themaximumpowerdensityreached6.0Wm�3.Moreover,low-costmaterialswereusedforthereactorconstruction.Thisintegratedsystemshowsgreatpromiseforpracticalwastewatertreatmentapplication.�2012ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionMicrobialfuelcells(MFCs)aredevicesthatusebacteriaascat-alyststooxidizevarioussubstratesandrecoverelectricity[1,2].MFCsarepromisingforwastewatertreatmentprocesses,buttoachievepracticalapplicationtherearestillmanytechnicalandcostobstaclestoovercome[3].OneapproachtoreducethebarriersandimproveitsapplicabilityistoincorporateMFCintoexistingwaste-watertreatmentprocesses[4,5].Inthisrespect,acontinuous-flowmodeofoperationisusuallyadopted,whichisregardedasmoresuitableforpracticalwastewatertreatmentandMFCapplication[6].AnintegrationofMFCwithconventionalactivatedsludgepro-cesswasfirstreportedbyChaetal.[7].Inthissystem,anaerationtankwasdirectlyusedasthecathodechamber,wheretheaerobicbiofi