Bioelectricity production from acidic food waste leachate using microbial fuel cells: Effect of microbial inocula
2013
Li, Xiao Min | Cheng, Ka Yu | Selvam, Ammaiyappan | Wong, Jonathan W.C.
The effects of three different inocula (domestic wastewater, activated sludge, and anaerobic sludge) on the treatment of acidic food waste leachate in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were evaluated. A food waste leachate (pH 4.76; 1000mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L) was used as the substrate. The results indicate that the leachate itself can enable electricity production in an MFC, but the co-addition of different inocula significantly reduces the start-up time (approximately 7 days). High COD and volatile fatty acids removal (>87%) were obtained in all MFCs but with only low coulombic efficiencies (CEs) (14–20%). The highest power (432mW/m3) and CE (20%) were obtained with anaerobic sludge as the co-inoculum. Microbial community analysis (PCR-DGGE) of the established biofilms suggested that the superior performance of the anaerobic sludge-MFC was associated with the enrichment of both fermentative (Clostridium sp. and Bacteroides sp.) and electrogenic bacteria (Magnetospirillum sp. and Geobacter sp.) at the anode.
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