Stable Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell Technology Treating Winery Wastewater Irrespective of Seasonal Variations

Abstract

The seasonality of wastewater production is a challenge for biological treatment systems due to the seasonal variation of wastewater volume and contaminant concentration. This study assessed the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) during changes in feed from winery wastewater (vintage season) to dog food (idle season). The 100-mL lab-scale MFCs exhibited slightly different output power performance (410 versus 290 mW/m3) with chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 84%±10% and 88%±1% with winery wastewater and dog food, respectively. COD removal occurred prior to a decline in voltage production. The COD removal and total electrical energy recovered per cycle were both linearly proportional to the initial COD of each batch when the COD was increased from 1,000 to 10,000 mg/L. An increase in COD increased the duration of power output but not the maximum output power. The energy recovery per kilogram COD improved with increasing COD concentration in the wastewater up to 0.042 kW·h/kg COD removed. This study demonstrated the efficacy of MFCs to treat agricultural wastewater and how dog food could be used as an ideal alternative feed to maintain effective reactor performance during the idle season of a seasonal agricultural wastewater system.