Broad‐ranging review: configurations, membrane types, governing equations, and influencing factors on microbial desalination cell technology

Abstract

Seawater might serve as a fresh-water supply for future generations to help meet the growing need for clean drinking water. Desalination and waste management using newer and more energy intensive processes are not viable options in the long term. Thus, an integrated and sustainable strategy is required to accomplish cost-effective desalination via wastewater treatment. A microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new technology that can treat wastewater, desalinate saltwater, and produce green energy simultaneously. Bio-electrochemical oxidation of wastewater organics creates power using this method. Desalination and the creation of value-added by-products are expected because of this ionic movement. According to assessments, recent investigations on MDC configurations have led to significant changes in their operating characteristics, as well as their design and operational factors. Additionally, the study notes the expanding uses of MDC in bioremediation, nutrient recovery, water softening, and value-added chemical manufacturing. Significant results show that the MDC system produced outstanding desalination without the need for external power, in addition to achieving wastewater treatment and energy recovery without the need for intermediary processes. When it comes to its practical application, some of the technical obstacles include keeping pH stable in cathodic and anodic fluids, increasing internal resistance using catalysts as electrode fillers, along with issues of biofouling and durability. Although MDC technology is currently being developed and scaled up, additional research on membrane fouling avoidance, material feasibility, electron transport kinetics, growth of microorganisms, and catalyst durability is needed.

Microbial fuel cell review: thermodynamic and infuencing factors, exoelectrogenic bacteria, anode and cathode configuration

“…2(c). 11 Published papers and associated citations illustrate the increased interest in this specific issue, according to recent reviews and reports on the primary configurations utilized in microbial desalination cells 13,24,25 that have been published. These configurations include the use of biocathodes 26 and osmotic membranes 27 to prevent corrosion 28 and air-breathing.…”

“…37 The chemical energy of organic waste, such as low-strength wastewaters and lignocellulosic biomass, can be converted by BESs into electricity, hydrogen or other chemical products in MECs, MFCs or other systems such as MDCs. 11 MFCs are a technology that uses the catalytic activity of microbes to transform the chemical energy found in organic substances into electrical energy. In MFCs, free electrons and protons generated during the oxidation of organic molecules are collected from a cathode via an electric circuit and a selective proton exchange membrane, respectively, under anaerobic conditions.…”

Study of Microbial Desalination Cell Performance; Power Generation and Desalination Efficiency using Pure Oxygen in a Cathode Chamber

“…Energy has become an essential and integral part of society's life to maintain economic growth and a good quality of life. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published that the global need for energy in 2030 will be 50% higher than it is at now [1], [2]. In addition, there has always been an urgent need to discover meaningful and creative solutions to get fresh water in the previous years, until its true implications emerged in the last few years, since fresh water accounted for just around 2% of total surface water in the world, it has resulted in a genuine focus for researchers on developing innovative and effective methods for water purification and treatment with low waste [3].…”

“…: reverse osmosis process) requires about 3.7 watt per hours of electrical energy to treat 1 cubic meter of salt water [3]. This led to the development of a number of technologies, including the microbial desalination cell (MDC) system (8,9), a modified version of the microbial fuel system (MFC) and the bio-electrochemical system (BES) system [2], [4], [5]. Even with water that has less than 2000 mg/L of COD, MDC has shown excellent effectiveness in decreasing pollutants in wastewater by transforming it into electrical energy.…”

“…Over time, it has demonstrated encouraging outcomes in the generation of energy and wastewater treatment [6]. The anode chemical equation is expressed as: Active microorganisms + biodegradables organics + anaerobic condition → nCO2+ 4ne -+4nH + ---(1) [2], [7]. The cathode chemical equation is expressed as: O2 +4ne -+ 4nH + →2H2O ---(2) [8], [9].…”