Biotreatment of slaughterhouse wastewater accompanied with electrcity generation and nutrients recovery in microbial fuel cell

Abstract EN

In recent years and decades, there is a great need for developing new alternative energy sources or renewable sustainable energy.

On the other hand, new technology approaches are growing towards benefits from the valuable nutrients in wastewater which are unrecoverable by traditional wastewater treatment processes.

In the current study, a novel integrated system of microbial fuel cell and anoxic bioreactor (MFC-ANB) was designed and constructed to investigate its potential for slaughterhouses wastewater treatment, nitrogen recovery, and power generation.

The system consisted of a double-chamber tubular type MFC with biocathode inoculated with freshly collected activated sludge.

The MFC-ANB system was continuously fed with real-field slaughterhouse wastewater, with initial concentrations of COD and ammonium were 990 mg/L and 200 mg-N/L, respectively.

The MFC-ANB system was operated for a total period of 43 days.

Maximum removal efficiencies of COD, ammonium, nitrate, nitrogen recovery, Columbic efficiency, and power generation were 99%, 99.3%, 100%, 100%, 13.37% and 162.22 mW/m2, respectively