Performance of a semi-pilot tubular microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) under several hydraulic retention times and applied voltages

•A tubular MEC meets legal requirements for COD removal (domestic wastewater).•HRTs below 4h required the use of a second MEC module acting as a polishing step.•Net energy consumption was in a range between 0.2 and 0.9Whg-COD−1. The influence of applied voltage and hydraulic retention time on the pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioresource technology 2013-10, Vol.146, p.63-69
Main Authors: Gil-Carrera, L., Escapa, A., Carracedo, B., Morán, A., Gómez, X.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Bacteria - metabolism
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Bioreactors
Carbon - chemistry
Chemical oxygen demand
DNA - analysis
Domestic wastewater
Electric potential
Electrodes
Electrolysis
Electrolytic cells
Equipment Design
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gases
Hydraulic retention time
Hydrogen - chemistry
Hydrogen - metabolism
Hydrogen production
Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)
Microorganisms
Oxygen - chemistry
Oxygen demand
Pollution
Time Factors
Voltage
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Waste Water
Wastewaters
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Purification - methods
Water treatment and pollution
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Summary:•A tubular MEC meets legal requirements for COD removal (domestic wastewater).•HRTs below 4h required the use of a second MEC module acting as a polishing step.•Net energy consumption was in a range between 0.2 and 0.9Whg-COD−1. The influence of applied voltage and hydraulic retention time on the performance of a semi-pilot modular tubular wastewater-fed microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) with high scalability was investigated. A chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 80%, as well as an energy consumption of 0.3–1.1Whg-COD−1 removed, were achieved. Hydrogen production was limited by the reduced amounts of organic matter fed into the reactor, the poor performance of the cathode, and COD consuming by non electrogenic microorganisms. The presence of COD consuming microorganism that do not contribute to electrogenic metabolism severely affected the MEC performance.
ISSN:0960-8524
1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.07.020