Performance and microbial diversity of palm oil mill effluent microbial fuel cell

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the bioenergy generation and the microbial community structure from palm oil mill effluent using microbial fuel cell. Methods and Results: Microbial fuel cells enriched with palm oil mill effluent (POME) were employed to harvest bioenergy from both artificial wastewater containing acetate and complex POME. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) showed maximum power density of 3004 mW m−2 after continuous feeding with artificial wastewater containing acetate substrate. Subsequent replacement of the acetate substrate with complex substrate of POME recorded maximum power density of 622 mW m−2. Based on 16S rDNA analyses, relatively higher abundance of Deltaproteobacteria (88·5%) was detected in the MFCs fed with acetate artificial wastewater as compared to POME. Meanwhile, members of Gammaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria codominated the microbial consortium of the MFC fed with POME with 21, 20 and 18·5% abundances, respectively. Conclusions: Enriched electrochemically active bacteria originated from POME demonstrated potential to generate bioenergy from both acetate and complex POME substrates. Further improvements including the development of MFC systems that are able to utilize both fermentative and nonfermentative substrates in POME are needed to maximize the bioenergy generation. Significance and Impact of the Study: A better understanding of microbial structure is critical for bioenergy generation from POME using MFC. Data obtained in this study improve our understanding of microbial community structure in conversion of POME to electricity.

Bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cell using natural microflora and isolated pure culture bacteria from anaerobic palm oil mill effluent sludge

“…The maximum power generated was 45 mW/m 2 with 45% of COD removal in 15 days. The microbial community structure from palm oil mill effluent in MFC have also been studied (Jong et al, 2011) in which electrochemically-active bacterial consortium was successfully enriched from POME in the anode chamber under anaerobic condition. Analysis using 16S rDNA showed that 88.5% of the community was from the group Deltaproteobacteria while members of Gammaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria codominated the microbial consortium.…”

Electricity generation potential of poultry droppings wastewater in microbial fuel cell using rice husk charcoal electrodes

“…Several studies have examined the use of carbon-based electrodes as components for electron transfers in MFCs. These include carbon cloth (Ishi et al 2012), graphite fibre brush (Yang et al 2013), and graphite felt (Jong et al 2011). However, no study has examined the potential of rice husk as a workable source of electrode material for electricity generation in MFCs.…”

Utilization of Wastewater for Corrosion Prevention of Carbon Steel Pipe Using Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells

“…The selection is due to the high current density and power density it can produce. The voltage produces by river, animal waste and palm oil effluent is 0.6-0.9 V, 0.6-0.8 V and 0.75-0.80 V respectively [4][5][6].…”