Landfill leachate: A promising substrate for microbial fuel cells

Abstract

Landfill leachate emerges as a promising feedstock for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In the present investigation, direct airbreathing cathode-based MFCs are fabricated to investigate the potential of landfill leachate. Three MFCs that have different cathode areas are fabricated and investigated for 17 days under open circuit conditions. The maximum open circuit voltage (OCV) is observed to be as high as 1.29 V. The maximum cathode area specific power density achieved in the reactor is 1513 mW m-2. Further studies are under progress to understand the origin of high OCV obtained from landfill leachate-based MFCs.

Selecting Bacteria Candidates for the Bioaugmentation of Activated Sludge to Improve the Aerobic Treatment of Landfill Leachate

“…However, a major drawback of this practice is the generation of heavily polluted leachate, which can contaminate the soil, groundwater, and surface water in the immediate vicinity of the landfill with hazardous substances [1,2]. Owing to the frequent discharge of the landfill leachate to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), a variety of dynamically developing biological technologies in the world, including modern biological membrane reactors and bioelectrochemical systems, are implemented [3][4][5][6]. However, in the vast majority of WWTPs in Poland the landfill leachate treatment is still performed with the application of conventional activated sludge (AS) technology.…”

“…In order to develop an effective bioaugmentation strategy, the catabolic abilities of microorganisms recently isolated from the environment as well as bacterial strains already known as degraders of various aromatic compounds were characterized. The procedure for selecting attractive candidates for inoculating the AS co-treated with the KPL along with municipal effluents, included the following specific goals: (1) screening the catabolic traits of selected bacterial strains, (2) determining the acute toxicity of the KPL for the tested bacteria, (3) evaluating the ability of the bacteria to survive and remain in the AS, (4) gauging the capability of the bacteria to produce substances that facilitate the degradation of the contaminants, (5) establishing the relationships between the factors being studied and selecting the most efficient candidates for bioaugmentation, and finally (6) exploring the whole genomes of the best candidates for the presence of the genes that are associated with the degradation of pollutants and other features that enable them to acclimatize in the AS.…”

Wastewater and Mixed Microbial Consortia: a metastudy analysis of Optimal Microbial Fuel Cell configuration

“…This mixed microbial consortium may be undefined, such as that harvested from waste water, or a synthesised and therefore defined consortia [7]. Literature has shown that microbes are most often sourced from readily available, natural sources such as; wastewater (household, industrial & agricultural) [3,4,[8][9][10][11][12], landfill leachate [13], and manure [14]. Pure microbes are also readily used [9].…”

Bioelectrochemical treatment of municipal solid waste landfill mature leachate and dairy wastewater as co-substrates

“…Leachate characteristics are quite variable, affected by landfill construction and age, local meteorology, waste type, and composition, normally high in COD and ammonia content (Kulikowska and Klimiuk 2008 ; Youcai 2018 ). Typically, a leachate’s BOD/COD ratio decreases from around 0.7 to 0.04 with landfill aging (Sonawane et al 2017 ), becoming less suitable to biodegradation in time. Leachate contains organic constituents that may be degraded by bacteria already within the landfill, but it also contains ammonia at high concentrations (Kjeldsen et al 2002 ), heavy metals, and other refractory organic and inorganic compounds that may accumulate in it, inducing bio-toxicity or bio-inhibition (Renou et al 2008 ; Karrer et al 1997 ).…”