Comparative Performance Analysis of Constructed Wetland-Microbial Fuel Cells Operated under Batch and Continuous Mode for Treating Wastewater with RO Concentrate
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
Comparative analysis of hybridized microbial fuel cell (MFC) with constructed wetland systems (CW) as continuous and batch flow in with/without plant setups has been done. The sewage-generated WW was spiked with reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate [1:1] and was used as the substrate. The effects of RO-induced salinity and efficiency of wastewater (WW) biomass conversion to energy have been analyzed. The analysis was based on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), voltage generation, and energy recovery (NERs) to find out the performance efficiency of the four systems. Systems consisted of two batch setups with the downflow regime, batch setup with plant (BWP) and batch setup without plant (BWOP) and two continuous setups with the upflow regime, continuous setup with plant (CWP) and continuous setup without plant (CWOP). The maximum COD removal and energy recoveries in BWP, BWOP, CWP, and CWOP were 91.66%, 86.45%, 90.62%, and 83.33% and 6.20, 1.98, 0.98, and 0.72 W·h/kgCOD, respectively. The incorporation of RO concentrate positively influenced the performance of CW-MFCs by its induced salinity specifically in presence of Canna indica, thus increasing the energy output as indicated by the voltage generation and energy recoveries.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. (All original data regarding experimentation analysis and electrochemical behavior including energy recoveries.)
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the help of VIT, Vellore, India, for the financial support provided under Seed Money for Research (RGEMS), FY: 2017–2018, to carry out this research work.
References
APHA, AWWA, and WEF (American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation). 2017. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 23rd ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.
Araneda, I., N. F. Tapia, K. Lizama Allende, and I. T. Vargas. 2018. “Constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells for sustainable greywater treatment.” Water 10 (7): 940. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070940.
Bose, D., A. Bose, S. Mitra, H. Jain, and P. Parashar. 2018. “Analysis of sediment-microbial fuel cell power production in series and parallel configurations.” Nat. Environ. Pollut. Technol. 17 (1): 311–314.
Chang, T. J., Y. H. Chang, W. L. Chao, W. N. Jane, and Y. T. Chang. 2018. “Effect of hydraulic retention time on electricity generation using a solid plain-graphite plate microbial fuel cell anoxic/oxic process for treating pharmaceutical sewage.” J. Environ. Sci. Health, Part A Toxic/Hazard. Subst. Environ. Eng. 53 (13): 1185–1197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10934529.2018.1530338.
Chen, W., Z. Chen, Q. He, X. Wang, C. Wang, D. Chen, and Z. Lai. 2007. “Root growth of wetland plants with different root types.” Acta Ecol. Sin. 27 (2): 450–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2032(07)60017-1.
Cheng, S., and B. E. Logan. 2011. “Increasing power generation for scaling up single-chamber air cathode microbial fuel cells.” Bioresour. Technol. 102 (6): 4468–4473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.12.104.
Corbella, C., M. Guivernau, M. Viñas, and J. Puigagut. 2015. “Operational, design and microbial aspects related to power production with microbial fuel cells implemented in constructed wetlands.” Water Res. 84 (Nov): 232–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.06.005.
CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board). 2015. Ministry of environment, forest and climate change. Shahdara, India: CPCB.
Das, B., S. Thakur, M. S. Chaithanya, and P. Biswas. 2019. “Batch investigation of constructed wetland microbial fuel cell with reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate and wastewater mix as substrate.” Biomass Bioenergy 122 (Mar): 231–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.01.017.
Debabov, V. G. 2008. “Electricity from microorganisms.” Microbiology 77 (2): 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1134/S002626170802001X.
Doherty, L., and Z. Yaqian. 2015. “Operating a two-stage microbial fuel cell-constructed wetland for fuller wastewater treatment and more efficient electricity generation.” Water Sci. Technol. 72 (3): 421–428. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2015.212.
Doherty, L., X. Zhao, Y. Zhao, and W. Wang. 2015. “The effects of electrode spacing and flow direction on the performance of microbial fuel cell-constructed wetland.” Ecol. Eng. 79 (Jun): 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2015.03.004.
Engel, C., F. Schattenberg, K. Dohnt, U. Schröder, S. Müller, and R. Krull. 2019. “Long-term behavior of defined mixed cultures of Geobacter sulfurreducens and Shewanella oneidensis in bioelectrochemical systems.” Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 7: 60. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00060.
Fang, Z., H. Song, R. Yu, and X. Li. 2016. “A microbial fuel cell-coupled constructed wetland promotes degradation of azo dye decolorization products.” Ecol. Eng. 94 (Sep): 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.06.020.
Fang, Z., H. L. Song, N. Cang, and X. N. Li. 2013. “Performance of microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland system for decolorization of azo dye and bioelectricity generation.” Bioresour. Technol. 144 (Sep): 165–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.06.073.
Gao, F., Z. H. Yang, C. Li, and W. H. Jin. 2015. “Saline domestic sewage treatment in constructed wetlands: Study of plant selection and treatment characteristics.” Desalin. Water Treat. 53 (3): 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2013.848673.
Ge, Z., J. Li, L. Xiao, Y. Tong, and Z. He. 2014. “Recovery of electrical energy in microbial fuel cells: Brief review.” Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 1 (2): 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1021/ez4000324.
Goto, Y., and N. Yoshida. 2019. “Scaling up microbial fuel cells for treating swine wastewater.” Water 11 (9): 1803. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11091803.
Hartl, M., M. J. García-Galán, V. Matamoros, M. Fernández-Gatell, D. P. Rousseau, G. Du Laing, M. Garfí, and J. Puigagut. 2021. “Constructed wetlands operated as bioelectrochemical systems for the removal of organic micropollutants.” Chemosphere 271 (May): 129593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129593.
Jingyu, H., N. Miwornunyuie, D. Ewusi-Mensah, and D. A. Koomson. 2020. “Assessing the factors influencing the performance of constructed wetland–microbial fuel cell integration.” Water Sci. Technol. 81 (4): 631–643. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2020.135.
Kumar, M., and S. Rajesh. 2020. “Sewage water treatment with energy recovery using constructed wetlands integrated with a bioelectrochemical system.” Environ. Sci. Water Res. Technol. 6 (3): 795–808. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ew00867e.
Lal, D. 2013. “Microbes to generate electricity.” Indian J. Microbiol. 53 (1): 120–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-012-0343-2.
Lefebvre, O., Z. Tan, S. Kharkwal, and H. Y. Ng. 2012. “Effect of increasing anodic NaCl concentration on microbial fuel cell performance.” Bioresour. Technol. 112 (May): 336–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.02.048.
Li, T., Z. Fang, R. Yu, X. Cao, H. Song, and X. Li. 2016. “The performance of the microbial fuel cell-coupled constructed wetland system and the influence of the anode bacterial community.” Environ. Technol. 37 (13): 1683–1692. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2015.1127292.
Liu, F., L. Sun, J. Wan, A. Tang, M. Deng, and R. Wu. 2019. “Organic matter and ammonia removal by a novel integrated process of constructed wetland and microbial fuel cells.” RSC Adv. 9 (10): 5384–5393. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA10625H.
Logan, B. E., and J. M. Regan. 2006. “Electricity-producing bacterial communities in microbial fuel cells.” Trends Microbiol. 14 (12): 512–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2006.10.003.
Lovley, D. R. 2008. “The microbe electric: Conversion of organic matter to electricity.” Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 19 (6): 564–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2008.10.005.
Lu, M., and S. F. Y. Li. 2012. “Cathode reactions and applications in microbial fuel cells: A review.” Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42 (23): 2504–2525. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2011.592744.
Moreno, L., M. Nemati, and B. Predicala. 2018. “Biodegradation of phenol in batch and continuous flow microbial fuel cells with rod and granular graphite electrodes.” Environ. Technol. 39 (2): 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2017.1296895.
Najafpour, G. 2007. Biochemical engineering and biotechnology. 1st ed. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Science.
Ncube, P., M. Pidou, T. Stephenson, B. Jefferson, and P. Jarvis. 2016. “The effect of high hydraulic loading rate on the removal efficiency of a quadruple media filter for tertiary wastewater treatment.” Water Res. 107 (Dec): 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.10.060.
Qurie, M., J. Abbadi, L. Scrano, G. Mecca, S. A. Bufo, M. Khamis, and R. Karaman. 2013. “Inland treatment of the brine generated from reverse osmosis advanced membrane wastewater treatment plant using epuvalisation system.” Int. J. Mol. Sci. 14 (7): 13808–13825. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms140713808.
Rahimnejad, M., A. A. Ghoreyshi, G. Najafpour, and T. Jafary. 2011. “Power generation from organic substrate in batch and continuous flow microbial fuel cell operations.” Appl. Energy 88 (11): 3999–4004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.04.017.
Ren, B., T. Wang, and Y. Zhao. 2021. “Two-stage hybrid constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells for swine wastewater treatment and bioenergy generation.” Chemosphere 268 (Apr): 128803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128803.
Saavedra, E. R., A. G. Gotor, S. O. Pérez Báez, A. R. Martín, A. Ruiz-García, and A. C. González. 2013. “A design method of the RO system in reverse osmosis brackish water desalination plants (procedure).” Desalin. Water Treat. 51 (25–27): 4790–4799. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2013.774136.
Shannon, M. A., P. W. Bohn, M. Elimelech, J. G. Georgiadis, B. J. Marinas, and A. M. Mayes. 2008. “Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades.” Nature 452 (7185): 301–310. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06599.
Singh, A., S. Sharma, and M. T. Shah. 2018. “Successful cultivation of salicornia brachiata—A sea asparagus utilizing RO reject water: A sustainable solution.” Int. J. Waste Resour. 8 (1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.4172/2252-5211.1000322.
Song, H. L., Y. Zhu, and J. Li. 2019. “Electron transfer mechanisms, characteristics and applications of biological cathode microbial fuel cells—A mini review.” Arabian J. Chem. 12 (8): 2236–2243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2015.01.008.
Srivastava, P., A. K. Yadav, V. Garaniya, T. Lewis, R. Abbassi, and S. J. Khan. 2020. “Electrode dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation in microbial fuel cell integrated hybrid constructed wetlands: A new process.” Sci. Total Environ. 698 (Jan): 134248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134248.
Strik, D. P., H. V. M. Hamelers, J. F. Snel, and C. J. Buisman. 2008. “Green electricity production with living plants and bacteria in a fuel cell.” Int. J. Energy Res. 32 (9): 870–876. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.1397.
Tchobanoglus, G., F. L. Burton, and H. D. Stensel. 2003. Wastewater engineering: Treatment and reuse. 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thakur, S., and B. Das. 2021. “Performance evaluation of microbial fuel cell with sewage wastewater and RO concentrate using composite anode made of Luffa aegyptiaca.” Environ. Prog. Sustainable Energy 40 (1): e13504. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13504.
Thepsuparungsikul, N., N. Phonthamachai, and H. Y. Ng. 2012. “Multi-walled carbon nanotubes as electrode material for microbial fuel cells.” Water Sci. Technol. 65 (7): 1208–1214. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2012.956.
Venkata Mohan, S., G. Mohanakrishna, and P. Chiranjeevi. 2011. “Sustainable power generation from floating macrophytes based ecological microenvironment through embedded fuel cells along with simultaneous wastewater treatment.” Bioresour. Technol. 102 (14): 7036–7042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.04.033.
Villaseñor, J., P. Capilla, M. A. Rodrigo, P. Cañizares, and F. J. Fernández. 2013. “Operation of a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland—Microbial fuel cell treating wastewater under different organic loading rates.” Water Res. 47 (17): 6731–6738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2013.09.005.
Villaseñor Camacho, J., L. Rodríguez Romero, C. M. Fernández Marchante, F. J. Fernández Morales, and M. A. Rodrigo Rodrigo. 2017. “The salinity effects on the performance of a constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell.” Ecol. Eng. 107 (Oct): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.06.056.
Wu, Y., T. He, C. Chen, X. Fang, D. Wei, J. Yang, R. Zhang, and R. Han. 2019. “Impacting microbial communities and absorbing pollutants by canna indica and cyperus alternifolius in a full-scale constructed wetland system.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16 (5): 802. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050802.
Xiao, L., Z. Ge, P. Kelly, F. Zhang, and Z. He. 2014. “Evaluation of normalized energy recovery (NER) in microbial fuel cells affected by reactor dimensions and substrates.” Bioresour. Technol. 157 (Apr): 77–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.01.086.
Yadav, A. K., P. Dash, A. Mohanty, R. Abbassi, and B. K. Mishra. 2012. “Performance assessment of innovative constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell for electricity production and dye removal.” Ecol. Eng. 47 (Oct): 126–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.06.029.
Yadav, A. K., P. Srivastava, N. Kumar, R. Abbassi, and B. K. Mishra. 2018. “Constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell: An emerging integrated technology for potential industrial wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation.” In Constructed wetlands for industrial wastewater treatment, edited by A. I. Stefanakis, 493–510. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119268376.ch22.
Yu, C. P., Z. Liang, A. Das, and Z. Hu. 2011. “Nitrogen removal from wastewater using membrane aerated microbial fuel cell techniques.” Water Res. 45 (3): 1157–1164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.11.002.
Zaman, B., and I. W. Wardhana. 2018. “Potential of electric power production from microbial fuel cell (MFC) in evapotranspiration reactor for leachate treatment using alocasia macrorrhiza plant and eleusine indica grass.” In Proc., E3S Web Conf, 2nd Int. Conf. on Energy, Environmental and Information System (ICENIS 2017). Les Ulis, France: EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183102010.
Zhao, Y., S. Collum, M. Phelan, T. Goodbody, L. Doherty, and Y. Hu. 2013. “Preliminary investigation of constructed wetland incorporating microbial fuel cell: Batch and continuous flow trials.” Chem. Eng. J. 229 (Aug): 364–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2013.06.023.
Zhao, Y. Q., A. O. Babatunde, Y. S. Hu, J. L. G. Kumar, and X. H. Zhao. 2011. “Pilot field-scale demonstration of a novel alum sludge-based constructed wetland system for enhanced wastewater treatment.” Process Biochem. 46 (1): 278–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2010.08.023.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 29, 2021
Accepted: Jul 8, 2021
Published online: Aug 28, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 28, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Somil Thakur, Bhaskar Das, Multi-stage constructed wetland microbial fuel cells: A new perspective for potential high-strength wastewater treatment under continuous operation, Scaling Up of Microbial Electrochemical Systems, 10.1016/B978-0-323-90765-1.00020-4, (377-391), (2022).
- Somil Thakur, Sovik Das, Bhaskar Das, Application of upflow constructed wetland microbial fuel cell for treating sewage spiked with reverse osmosis concentrate with the concomitant generation of green electricity, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 10.1007/s13399-022-03270-x, (2022).