Porous anodes with helical flow pathways in bioelectrochemical systems: The effects of fluid dynamics and operating regimes

Kim, Jung-Rae; Boghani, Hitesh C.; Amini, Negar; Aguey-Zinsou, Kondo Francois; Michie, Iain; Dinsdale, Richard M.; Guwy, Alan J.; Guo, Zhengxiao; Premier, Giuliano C.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.03.040

Cited by 48 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The tubular Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) with a helical anodic design (Figure 1) (Kim et al, 2012;Michie et al, 2014) used in this study were manufactured by the University of South Wales. Duplicate, four stage reactors were used in this study.…”

Section: Mfc Reactor Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of 4-Nitrophenol, a Model Toxic Compound, Using Multi-Stage Microbial Fuel Cells

Godain

Spurr

Boghani

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The upstream protection of the biomass present in biological treatment processes is a vital challenge as the consequences of failure could include exposure of water users to hazardous chemicals in addition to loss of treatment performance. Online detection of toxic compounds in wastewater could enable processes to be monitored in real-time and promote pro-active responses to pollution incidents. Recently, Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) which generate electricity from organic matter oxidation have shown potential as sensors for online detection of toxicity. In this study, the detection of a model toxicant (4-nitrophenol) was investigated using a multi-stage MFC-based toxicity sensor. MFCs were operated with synthetic wastewater to maintain realistic conditions while enabling organic carbon levels to be controlled. A positive correlation was observed between the 4-NP concentrations and the current drop area showing that the response was proportional to the toxicity level. In addition, the sensor anodic biofilm exhibited resilience to acute toxic events with recovery of 75% of the initial current following a toxic event comprising 500 mg/L 4-NP after 4 h. However, repetitive toxicity events could lead to the selection of resistant bacteria able to degrade the toxic compounds. In this study, a maximal 4-NP degradation rate of 36 mg/h was observed. This limitation could be overcome by re-calibration after a determined number of toxic events. An additional feature of the multi-stage configuration of the sensor is that a drop in output caused by the presence of a toxic compound could be distinguished from a drop in output caused by a decrease in BOD. The microbial community on the sensor anode was characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shown to comprise an anaerobic community of fermentative bacteria capable of producing volatile fatty acids and hydrogen that were consumed by electrogenic Geobacter spp (2.76 to 21.39% of the anode community) that generated the electrical signal in the sensor. The multi-stage MFC biosensor could provide an early warning system capable of alerting process operators to the presence and level of toxicity in influent wastewater.

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Section: Mfc Reactor Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of 4-Nitrophenol, a Model Toxic Compound, Using Multi-Stage Microbial Fuel Cells

Godain

Spurr

Boghani

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…BES mass transfer and associated over-potential limitations can be affected by flow regimes, which may simultaneously influence the electrochemical performance and pollution treatment capacities (Haeger et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2012;Liao et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2013). Taking into account of the fully utilization of cathode in the integrated system, this study executed a new operation mode by changing the planar catholyte distributor to be a spiral one, to further improve the performance of the 1/4 soaking integrated system with down-flow direction at HRT of 8 h.…”

Section: Optimization Of the Catholyte Flow Regimes Between Cathode Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimized matching modes of bioelectrochemical module and anaerobic sludge in the integrated system for azo dye treatment

Kong

Wang

Ren

2015

Bioresource Technology

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“…Recent studies have indicated that carbon‐based anode materials may significantly promote the interfacial microbial colonization and accelerate the formation of extracellular biofilms, which eventually enhance the electrical power density by providing a conductive microenvironment for extracellular electron transfer . In many studies, commercial carbon materials such as carbon paper, felts, or cloths are applied as electrode materials in MFCs .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon‐Based Microbial‐Fuel‐Cell Electrodes: From Conductive Supports to Active Catalysts

2016

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Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have attracted considerable interest due to their potential in renewable electrical power generation using the broad diversity of biomass and organic substrates. However, the difficulties in achieving high power densities and commercially affordable electrode materials have limited their industrial applications to date. Carbon materials, which can exhibit a wide range of different morphologies and structures, usually possess physiological activity to interact with microorganisms and are therefore fast-emerging electrode materials. As the anode, carbon materials can significantly promote interfacial microbial colonization and accelerate the formation of extracellular biofilms, which eventually promotes the electrical power density by providing a conductive microenvironment for extracellular electron transfer. As the cathode, carbon-based materials can function as catalysts for the oxygen-reduction reaction, showing satisfying activities and efficiencies nowadays even reaching the performance of Pt catalysts. Here, first, recent advancements on the design of carbon materials for anodes in MFCs are summarized, and the influence of structure and surface functionalization of different types of carbon materials on microorganism immobilization and electrochemical performance is elucidated. Then, synthetic strategies and structures of typical carbon-based cathodes in MFCs are briefly presented. Furthermore, future applications of carbon-electrode-based MFC devices in the energy, environmental, and biological fields are discussed, and the emerging challenges in transferring them from laboratory to industrial scale are described.

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Porous anodes with helical flow pathways in bioelectrochemical systems: The effects of fluid dynamics and operating regimes

Cited by 48 publications

References 28 publications

Detection of 4-Nitrophenol, a Model Toxic Compound, Using Multi-Stage Microbial Fuel Cells

Detection of 4-Nitrophenol, a Model Toxic Compound, Using Multi-Stage Microbial Fuel Cells

Optimized matching modes of bioelectrochemical module and anaerobic sludge in the integrated system for azo dye treatment

Carbon‐Based Microbial‐Fuel‐Cell Electrodes: From Conductive Supports to Active Catalysts

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