Microbial Electrolysis Cells for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment: The Next Steps
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Current Wastewater Treatment Methods and Limitations
1.2. Mechanism of Microbial Electrolysis Cells for Wastewater Treatment
2. Parameters Affecting the Design of MEC Systems for Industrial Wastewater Treatment
2.1. Feedstock
2.2. Inoculation
2.3. Anode Material
2.4. Cathode Material
2.5. Systems Architecture
3. Evaluation of the Barriers to Commercialisation of MECs for Wastewater Treatment
3.1. Economic and Cost Analysis
3.2. Scale-up Strategies
3.3. Analysis of Hydrogen or Methane Production and Its Implications for Industrial Implementation
4. Conclusions and Outlook
Supplementary Materials
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
BES | Bioelectrochemical System |
MEC | Microbial Electrolysis Cell |
MEC-AD | Microbial Electrolysis Cell Anaerobic Digester |
MMEC | Methanogenic Microbial Electrolysis Cell |
EMR | Electro-methanogenic Reactor |
AD | Anaerobic Digestion |
OLR | Organic Loading Rate |
CF | Carbon Fibre |
TRL | Technology Readiness Level |
EAB | Electro-active Bacteria |
NPV | Net Present Value |
SRT | Solid Retention Time |
CAPEX | Capital Expenditure |
OPEX | Operational Expenditure |
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Industry | COD Range (g/L) | Required HRT to Obtain OLR of 1400 mg COD/L/day (hrs) | BES Research Papers |
---|---|---|---|
Urban wastewater (WW) | 0.3–0.5 [28] | 5–9 | [29] |
Alcohol Refining | 5–22 [28] | 86–377 | [30] |
Beer & Malt | 2–7 [28] | 34–120 | [31] |
Coffee | 3–15 [28] | 51–257 | [32] |
Dairy Processing | 1.5–5.2 [28] | 26–89 | [33] |
Meat & Poultry | 2–7 [28] | 34–120 | [34,35] |
Fish Processing | 2.5 [28] | 43 | [36] |
Swine waste | 18.3 [37] | 314 | [38,39] |
Crude glycerol | 925–1600 [40] | 15,857–27,429 | [41,42,43] |
Cheese Whey | 50–102.1 [44] | 857–1750 | [44] |
Parameters | Scenario 2 | Scenario 3 |
---|---|---|
COD Removal | 44% | 44% |
Energy Consumption | 1 kWh/kg-COD | 0.9 kWh/kg-COD |
Cathodic Coulombic Efficiency (CCE) | 50% | 50% |
Hydrogen Production | 0.6 m3/m3/day | 0.8 m3 /m3/day |
Organic Loading Rate | 8.8 kg/m3/day | 17.5 kg/m3/day |
MEC Volume | 2200 m3 | 1100 m3 |
MEC Durability | >7 years | >7 years |
MEC Purchase Price | 396 *1 £/m3 | 1149 *1 £/m3 |
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Fudge, T.; Bulmer, I.; Bowman, K.; Pathmakanthan, S.; Gambier, W.; Dehouche, Z.; Al-Salem, S.M.; Constantinou, A. Microbial Electrolysis Cells for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment: The Next Steps. Water 2021, 13, 445. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040445
Fudge T, Bulmer I, Bowman K, Pathmakanthan S, Gambier W, Dehouche Z, Al-Salem SM, Constantinou A. Microbial Electrolysis Cells for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment: The Next Steps. Water. 2021; 13(4):445. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040445
Chicago/Turabian StyleFudge, Thomas, Isabella Bulmer, Kyle Bowman, Shangami Pathmakanthan, William Gambier, Zahir Dehouche, Sultan Majed Al-Salem, and Achilleas Constantinou. 2021. "Microbial Electrolysis Cells for Decentralised Wastewater Treatment: The Next Steps" Water 13, no. 4: 445. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040445