Stable Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell Technology Treating Winery Wastewater Irrespective of Seasonal Variations
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 10
Abstract
The seasonality of wastewater production is a challenge for biological treatment systems due to the seasonal variation of wastewater volume and contaminant concentration. This study assessed the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) during changes in feed from winery wastewater (vintage season) to dog food (idle season). The lab-scale MFCs exhibited slightly different output power performance (410 versus ) with chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of and with winery wastewater and dog food, respectively. COD removal occurred prior to a decline in voltage production. The COD removal and total electrical energy recovered per cycle were both linearly proportional to the initial COD of each batch when the COD was increased from 1,000 to . An increase in COD increased the duration of power output but not the maximum output power. The energy recovery per kilogram COD improved with increasing COD concentration in the wastewater up to COD removed. This study demonstrated the efficacy of MFCs to treat agricultural wastewater and how dog food could be used as an ideal alternative feed to maintain effective reactor performance during the idle season of a seasonal agricultural wastewater system.
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Data Availability Statement
All data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was performed on the traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation; we thank them for sharing their territory. This research is designed to preserve the water: water is life. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant (RGPIN 2017 04411). T. L. acknowledges his Ph.D. scholarship from China Scholarship Council. A. V. N. acknowledges the postdoctoral fellowship from Science and Engineering Research Board Overseas Postdoctoral Fellowship (SERB-OPDF) (SB/OS/PDF-111/2015-16). We also would like to acknowledge the University of British Columbia (UBC) Work Study/Work Learn funding for partial funding for J. S.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 10 • October 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 25, 2021
Accepted: Jun 15, 2021
Published online: Aug 11, 2021
Published in print: Oct 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 11, 2022
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