Using olive mill wastewater to improve performance in producing electricity from domestic wastewater by using single-chamber microbial fuel cell

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sOlive mill wastewater (OMW) represents a problem for its disposal and treatment. Single-chamber MFC was used to produce electricity from OMW and wastewater (DW). MFCs fed with DW plus OMW gave 0.38 V (1 kO) and a power density of 124.6 mW m À2 . TCOD and BOD 5 of DW plus OMW mix was reduced of 65% and 50% respectively. Microbial characterization of electrodes bacterial communities indicate anode differences. Improving electricity generation from wastewater (DW) by using olive mill wastewater (OMW) was evaluated using single-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFC). Doing so single-chambers air cathode MFCs with platinum anode were fed with domestic wastewater (DW) alone and mixed with OMW at the ratio of 14:1 (w/w). MFCs fed with DW + OMW gave 0.38 V at 1 kO, while power density from polarization curve was of 124.6 mW m À2 . The process allowed a total reduction of TCOD and BOD 5 of 60% and 69%, respectively, recovering the 29% of the coulombic efficiency. The maximum voltage obtained from MFC fed with DW + OMW was 2.9 times higher than that of cell fed with DW. DNA-fingerprinting showed high bacterial diversity for both experiments and the presence on anodes of exoelectrogenic bacteria, such as Geobacter spp. Electrodes selected peculiar consortia and, in particular, anodes of both experiments showed a similar specialization of microbial communities independently by feeding used.

Recent progress and perspectives in microbial fuel cells for bioenergy generation and wastewater treatment

“…In this line, a single-chamber MFC was used to test domestic wastewater mixed with olive mill wastewater (14:1, w/w) as anodic substrate [134]. This medium produced 0.38 V at 1 kΩ, which is 2.9 times higher than when using domestic wastewater, and a power density of 124.6 mW·m −2 .…”

Suitability of olive oil washing water as an electron donor in a feed batch operating bio-electrochemical system

“…Maximum COD and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD 5 ) removal efficiencies of 65% and 50% respectively were reported in a single-chamber air cathode BES with platinum anode treating classical olive mill wastewater diluted with domestic wastewater at the ratio of 1:14 (COD: 4300 mg/L). DNA-fingerprinting showed the high bacterial diversity and the presence of exoelectrogenic bacteria on anodes, such as Geobacter spp (Sciarria et al, 2013).…”

“…The use of microorganisms to catalyze the electrochemical oxidation of organics is highly attractive as it allows taking advantage of the versatility and resilience which bacteria exert. Responsible for the process are specific bacterial species, the so-called "exoelectrogens", mainly belonging to the gammaand delta-subgroups of Proteobacteria (Sciarria et al, 2013). The potential of BESs is enormous since this technology has important operational and functional advantages over the current technologies used for generating energy and valuable compounds from organic matter (Hernández-Fernández et al, 2015).…”

Electricity generation using white and red wine lees in air cathode microbial fuel cells

“…A microbial fuel cell is a bioreactor that can convert the chemical energy of organic compounds into electrical energy through exoelectrogenic bacterial species metabolism [14]. MFC technology is commonly used in urban wastewater treatment facilities to break down organic matter and produce electrical energy [15] but recently some authors have reported good performances using MFCs for agro-industrial wastewater treatment, for instance beer wastewater [16], swine manure [17] or olive mill wastewater [18].…”