Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Waste Water Derived Electroactive Microbial Biofilms: Growth, Maintenance, and Basic Characterization
Published on: December 29, 2013
Long-term performance and acute toxicity assessment of scaled-up air-cathode microbial fuel cell fed by dairy
Rodrigo J Marassi1, Lucas G Queiroz2, Daniel C V R Silva3
1Postgraduate Program in Industrial Biotechnology, Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Lorena, São Paulo, 12602810, Brazil. rmarassi_bm@yahoo.com.br.
Abstract:
Long-term performance of a scaled-up air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) and toxicity removal were studied with dairy wastewater (DW) used as the substrate. The MFC in a semi-continuous flow was strategically inoculated with consortium of Shewanella oneidensis and Clostridium butyricum. The scaled-up approach delivered a maximum power density of 0.48 W/m3 (internal resistance of 73 Ω) removing 93% of total chemical oxygen demand and 95% of total biochemical oxygen demand at organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.9 kg COD/m3/d and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 21 days. It also achieved high removal efficiency of nitrate (100%), organic nitrogen (57%), sulfate (90%) and organic phosphorus (90%). The power generation and DW degradation performance decreased with OLR of 1.8 kg COD/m3/d and HRT of 10.5 days. Furthermore, testing of acute toxicity with the microcrustacean, Daphnia similis, revealed high toxic effect of the raw DW, but no toxic effects of the MFC effluent during 95 days of operation. These outcomes demonstrated that scaled-up MFC fed with high-strength DW should be an effective system for pollutants removal and simultaneously energy recovery.
