Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques
2020, Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages: 915-924
J. Environ. Treat. Tech.
ISSN: 2309-1185
Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com
Microbial Fuel Cell: An Emerging Technology for
Wastewater Treatment and Energy Generation
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Karan Singh and Dharmendra
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, (H.P.), India - 177005
Received: 13/02/2020 Accepted: 07/04/2020 Published: 20/05/2020
Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are enticing surprising attention due to their dual functions of energy generation and waste removal
from wastewaters. Microbial fuel cells use microbial metabolism to convert biochemical metabolic energy into electrical current by
using different substrates. Microbes are fed in the anode with the substrate (e.g., domestic, industrial, leachates, etc.) to enhance the
performance of microbial fuel cells. It provides an opportunity for the feasible production of energy from bio-degradable organic matters
while treating wastewater. In recent years, despite the extensive efforts to improve the efficiency of the cell, energy production is still
low, especially in scaled-up systems. However, the construction cost of microbial fuel cells is relatively higher than fossil fuel prices, so
it makes doubtful that power generation can ever be competitive with existent energy generation approaches but improvements in power
densities, reductions in materials costs may make microbial fuel cells real-world for electricity generation. In-depth review of literature,
the study summarizes the role of microorganisms and substrate in the anode chamber. It includes types, components, mechanism and
operation of microbial fuel cells. This review highlights various parameters affecting microbial fuel cells, current challenges and
applications in the production of electrical energy in a sustainable way.
Keywords: Biodegradable; Metabolic energy; Microbial fuel cell; Nutrient removal; Wastewater treatment
Introduction1
architectures for maximizing the columbic efficiency and
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power generation is the main challenge for an MFC. Further
challenges coming in the way are to reduce the cost and make
architecture for MFC that are intrinsically scalable (25-28).
This study highlights different factors affecting the
performance of MFC, its benefits, limitations, and role of
substrates and microorganisms.
The demand for renewable energy will possibly comprise a
huge portion of global energy production and their usage in the
future (1-2). Present prospects for global energy have been
direct us to move towards non-renewable energy (3-4). Now a
day; non-renewable resources of energy are exhausting at a
much faster rate which suggests the development of different
cost-effective renewable energy technologies. India has
abundant sources of renewable energy, biomass (organic
matters) is one of them (5). The total available volume for
electricity generation in India was about 2670 GW till 2013 in
which the contribution of renewable energy was 10.5%.
Biomass contributes 12.83% of total renewable energy
generation (6). Hence, a lot of biomass (substrate) is available,
which has a high potential to generate energy with the help of
microbial fuel cell (MFC). The MFC is one of the technologies
with the potential for promoting self-sustainability and
resource efficiency in the treatment of wastewater (7-12). MFC
comprises anode and cathode compartment. The
proton/cation/anion membrane or salt bridge divides the anodic
and cathodic compartments. Anode creates biofilm at its
surface which acts as a catalyzer to transform biochemical
energy into electrons, while the oxygen acts as an electron
acceptor to form water at the cathode (13-15). MFC has the
capability to transform biochemical energy which is present in
waste biological matter into electrical energy with bacterial
2 Classification of microbial fuel cells (MFC)
The classification of MFC is essential because it states
about the efficiency of MFC, i.e. coulombic efficiency,
permanency, robustness, and power output. The design which
produces high power and coulombic efficiency based on cost-
effective materials are required for practical applications,
which can be implemented on a large scale (25). There are a