Power Generation from Industrial Wastewater using Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

The paper presents the trend in power production from industrial wastewater using microbial fuel
cell. Four experimental setups with four types of MFC were developed for this study. For MFC 1,
25% of wastewater from Factory A were added to a fix concentration of cow manure to obtain a
solution of 300ml in the anodic chamber while distilled water was added to cathodic department
respectively. Similarly, for MFC 2, the wastewater was collected from Factory B. For MFC 3, 25%
of wastewater from Factory A and B was added to a fix concentration of cow manure to obtain a
solution of 300ml in the anodic chamber while distilled water mixed with about 15g of Potassium
Ferricyanide was added to cathodic chamber. For MFC 4, the wastewater was collected from
Factory B. Two tests were conducted where Test 1 was to compare the voltage readings from MFC
1 and MFC 2, whilst, Test 2 was for MFC 3 and MFC 4. The results for the Factory A wastewater
proved to be more efficient than that of wastewater from Factory B. In addition, the addition of
potassium ferricyanide provided more effective generation of voltage production. It can be
concluded that these wastes can be scaled up to provide energy for powering up small appliances
such as a LED, or other small sensors