A hybrid microbial fuel cell membrane bioreactor with a conductive ultrafiltration membrane biocathode for wastewater treatment
Type
ArticleAuthors
Malaeb, LilianKaturi, Krishna
Logan, Bruce E.
Maab, Husnul
Nunes, Suzana Pereira

Saikaly, Pascal

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEnvironmental Biotechnology Research Group
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Nanostructured Polymeric Membrane Lab
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
KAUST Grant Number
KUS-I1-003-13Date
2013-09-25Online Publication Date
2013-09-25Print Publication Date
2013-10-15Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/563042
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A new hybrid, air-biocathode microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor (MFC-MBR) system was developed to achieve simultaneous wastewater treatment and ultrafiltration to produce water for direct reclamation. The combined advantages of this system were achieved by using an electrically conductive ultrafiltration membrane as both the cathode and the membrane for wastewater filtration. The MFC-MBR used an air-biocathode, and it was shown to have good performance relative to an otherwise identical cathode containing a platinum catalyst. With 0.1 mm prefiltered domestic wastewater as the feed, the maximum power density was 0.38 W/m2 (6.8 W/m3) with the biocathode, compared to 0.82 W/m2 (14.5 W/m3) using the platinum cathode. The permeate quality from the biocathode reactor was comparable to that of a conventional MBR, with removals of 97% of the soluble chemical oxygen demand, 97% NH3-N, and 91% of total bacteria (based on flow cytometry). The permeate turbidity was <0.1 nephelometric turbidity units. These results show that a biocathode MFC-MBR system can achieve high levels of wastewater treatment with a low energy input due to the lack of a need for wastewater aeration. © 2013 American Chemical Society.Sponsors
This work was supported by SABIC Fellowship (K.K.) and discretionary investigator funds (P.S.), and award KUS-I1-003-13 (B.E.L.) from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Dr. Cyril Aubry and Dr. Rachid Sougrat are acknowledged for their assistance with SEM and TEM analysis, respectively.Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)PubMed ID
24016059ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/es4030113
Scopus Count
Related articles
- In-situ integration of microbial fuel cell with hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment and membrane fouling mitigation.
- Authors: Tian Y, Li H, Li L, Su X, Lu Y, Zuo W, Zhang J
- Issue date: 2015 Feb 15
- Evaluation of energy-distribution of a hybrid microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor (MFC-MBR) for cost-effective wastewater treatment.
- Authors: Wang J, Bi F, Ngo HH, Guo W, Jia H, Zhang H, Zhang X
- Issue date: 2016 Jan
- In situ investigation of processing property in combination with integration of microbial fuel cell and tubular membrane bioreactor.
- Authors: Wang J, Zheng Y, Jia H, Zhang H
- Issue date: 2013 Dec
- Efficient decolorization of real dye wastewater and bioelectricity generation using a novel single chamber biocathode-microbial fuel cell.
- Authors: Kalathil S, Lee J, Cho MH
- Issue date: 2012 Sep
- Assessment of a novel overflow-type electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR) for wastewater treatment, energy recovery and membrane fouling mitigation.
- Authors: Zhou G, Zhou Y, Zhou G, Lu L, Wan X, Shi H
- Issue date: 2015 Nov