Removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater using microbial fuel cell

Abstract

Removal efficiency of gold from a solution of pure tetrachloroaurate ions was investigated using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. The effects of type of catholyte solution and initial gold concentration on the removal efficiency were considered. Due to its presence at high levels in the gold wastewater, the effect of copper ions on the removal efficiency of the gold ions was also studied. The effects of pH and initial biomass concentration on the gold removal efficiency was also determined. The results showed that after 5 h contact time, 95% of gold removal efficiency from a wastewater containing 250 ppm of initial gold ions at ambient temperature using 80 g/L yeast concentration was achieved. After 48 h of the cell's operation under the same condition, 98.86% of AuCl4– ions were successfully removed from the solution. At initial gold concentration in the waste solution of 250 ppm, pH 2, and initial yeast concentration of 80 g/L, 100% removal efficiency of the gold was achieved. On the other hand, the most suitable condition for copper removal was found at a pH of 5.2, where 53% removal efficiency from the waste solution was accomplished.

An Overview of Microbial Fuel Cell Technology for Sustainable Electricity Production

“…Such a result was obtained using a separating membrane without affecting the power density and the internal cell resistance, as described in [64]. The main advantages of DC-MFCs are their capacity to produce high output power, voltage, and 100% reduction efficiency of heavy metals, such as hexavalent chromium Cr(VI), from municipal/industrial wastewater [64,65]. However, like SC-MFCs, DC-MFCs also have significant disadvantages.…”

Assessment of Remediation of Municipal Wastewater Using Activated Carbon Produced from Sewage Sludge

“…Adsorption normally occurs in three steps and this behavior was observed for all the explored initial concentrations. At an initial concentration of 50 mg/L for instance, the first step (0-1 h 25 min) was very fast and characterized by the rapid a achment of adsorbates onto the surface of the SAC material [52,55]. "…”

“…With an increase in initial dye concentrations from 50 to 500 mg/L, the adsorption capacity at equilibrium (Q e ) was found to increase from 8.91 to 312.50 mg/g in this study. The mass transfer driving force would increase as the initial concentration increased, resulting in higher adsorption [55].…”