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Self-standing Electrochemical Set-up to Enrich Anode-respiring Bacteria On-site
Published on: July 24, 2018
Bioelectricity generation using microalgal biomass as electron donor in a bio-anode microbial fuel cell
Fabrice Ndayisenga1, Zhisen Yu1, Yang Yu1
1School of Environment, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China; Jilin Engineering Lab for Water Pollution Control and Resources Recovery, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China.
Abstract:
In this study, microalgal biomass waste (Chlorella regularis) was treated while simultaneously producing bioelectricity in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Algal biomass was the sole electron donor and was enriched with easily biodegradable proteins (46%) and carbohydrates (22%). The generated power density was 0.86 W/m2 and the columbic efficiency reached ∼61.5%.The power generation could be further increased to 1.07 W/m2 by using a biomass waste concentration enhancement strategy with maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of ∼65.2%. Via direct comparison, the power generation and COD removal capability of the algal-fed MFC was close to that of the commercial acetate-fed MFC. The algae-fed MFC presented superior electrochemical characteristics that were attributed to the complicated composition of the biomass anolyte. It possessed a multiple anode respiring bacterial group and diverse microbial community. Hence, this study provides a new strategy for the utilization of microalgal biomass as a bioresource.
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