The anode is considered to be a key factor to improve
the single-chamber
bioelectrochemical system’s efficiency to degrade oily sludge
in sediment while generating electricity. There are few studies on
the effect of the anode structure on the performance of oily sludge
MFCs systematically. In this paper, an oily sludge bioelectrical system
was constructed using carbon felt and carbon plate as anode materials,
adjusting the anode material arrangement as transverse and longitudinal,
and using different anode materials from single to sextuple anodes.
The results of this study showed that the rate of degradation of oily
sludge was greater with carbon felt (17.04%) than with the carbon
plate (13.11%), with transverse (23.61%) than with the longitudinal
(19.82%) arrangement of anodes, and with sextuple anodes (33.72%)
than with a single anode (25.26%) in the sediment microbial fuel cells
(SMFCs). A similar trend was observed when the voltage, power density,
and electromotive force (EMF) of SMFCs were estimated between the
carbon felt and carbon plate, transverse and longitudinal arrangements,
single and sextuple anodes. It is concluded that the proper adjustment
of anode arrangements, using carbon felt as an anode material, and
increasing the number of anodes to six may accelerate the rate of
degradation of oily sludge in oily sludge sediment microbial fuel
cells (SMFCs). Furthermore, the electricity generation performance
was also improved.