Multi-electrode microbial fuel cell with horizontal liquid flow

A plug flow multi-electrode bioelectrochemical reactor for wastewater treatment and simultaneous generation of electricity has been developed and its efficiency investigated. It employs a horizontally located anodic zone in which the anodic electrodes comprise porous graphite plates coated with palladium. The aerated immersed cathodic electrodes contain iron(II) phthalocyanine as a catalyst. The parameters of the device were obtained using glycerol and acetate as fuels and anaerobic sludge as an inoculum. The maximal volumetric power and current densities obtained, relative to the total volume of the anodic zone, were: glycerol: 73+/-1 mA/L; 43+/-1 mW/L; acetate: 75+/-1 mA/L; 40+/-1 mW/L. It was shown that biotransformation of glycerol into volatile fatty acids does not depend on the presence of anodic electrodes in the reaction zone, while acetate degradation takes place only if the reaction zone contains anodic electrodes as a final electron acceptor.