Microbial Structure and Energy Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Powered with Waste Anaerobic Digestate

Development of economical and environment-friendly Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) technology should be associated with waste management. However, current knowledge regarding microbiological bases of electricity production from complex waste substrates is insufficient. In the following study, microbial...

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Published inEnergies (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 18; p. 4712
Main Authors Nosek, Dawid, Cydzik-Kwiatkowska, Agnieszka
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2020
Subjects
Abundance
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic microorganisms
Anode sludge
anode surface
Bacteria
Biochemical fuel cells
Biofilms
Biomass
Carbon
Chemical oxygen demand
Efficiency
Electric power generation
Electricity
Electricity generation
Experiments
Fatty acids
Food waste
Fuel cells
Fuel technology
Loading rate
MFC
Microorganisms
NGS
Organic loading
Primary sludge
Properties
Reactors
Rhodopseudomonas
Sludge
Sludge digestion
Volatile fatty acids
Waste management
waste VFA
Water treatment
Poland
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Summary:Development of economical and environment-friendly Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) technology should be associated with waste management. However, current knowledge regarding microbiological bases of electricity production from complex waste substrates is insufficient. In the following study, microbial composition and electricity generation were investigated in MFCs powered with waste volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from anaerobic digestion of primary sludge. Two anode sizes were tested, resulting in organic loading rates (OLRs) of 69.12 and 36.21 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(g MLSS∙d) in MFC1 and MFC2, respectively. Time of MFC operation affected the microbial structure and the use of waste VFAs promoted microbial diversity. High abundance of Deftia sp. and Methanobacterium sp. characterized start-up period in MFCs. During stable operation, higher OLR in MFC1 favored growth of exoelectrogens from Rhodopseudomonas sp. (13.2%) resulting in a higher and more stable electricity production in comparison with MFC2. At a lower OLR in MFC2, the percentage of exoelectrogens in biomass decreased, while the abundance of genera Leucobacter, Frigoribacterium and Phenylobacterium increased. In turn, this efficiently decomposed complex organic substances, favoring high and stable COD removal (over 85%). Independent of the anode size, Clostridium sp. and exoelectrogens belonging to genera Desulfobulbus and Acinetobacter were abundant in MFCs powered with waste VFAs.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en13184712