Department of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80004, USA.
Bioresour Technol. 2012 Sep;120:187-93. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.06.054. Epub 2012 Jun 23.
Microbial desalination cell represents a new technology for simultaneous wastewater treatment, water desalination, and energy production. This study characterized the long-term performance of MDC during wastewater treatment and identified the key factors that caused performance decline. The 8-month operation shows that MDC performance decreased over time, as indicated by a 47% decline in current density, a 46% drop in Columbic efficiency, and a 27% decrease in desalination efficiency. Advanced electrochemical, microscopy, and spectroscopy analyses all confirmed biofouling on the anion exchange membrane, which increased system resistance and reduced ionic transfer and energy conversion efficiency. Minor chemical scaling was found on the cation exchange membrane surface. Microbial communities became less diverse at the end of operation, and Proteobacteria spp. was dominant on both anode and AEM fouling layer surface. These results provide insights into the viability of long-term MDC operation on reactor performance and direct system development through membrane optimization.
微生物脱盐电池是一种用于同时处理废水、海水淡化和能源生产的新技术。本研究对 MDC 在废水处理过程中的长期性能进行了表征，并确定了导致性能下降的关键因素。8 个月的运行表明，MDC 的性能随时间逐渐下降，电流密度下降了 47%，库仑效率下降了 46%，脱盐效率下降了 27%。先进的电化学、显微镜和光谱分析都证实了阴离子交换膜上的生物污垢，这增加了系统阻力，降低了离子迁移和能量转换效率。阳离子交换膜表面发现了少量的化学结垢。微生物群落的多样性在运行结束时降低，变形菌门在阳极和 AEM 污垢层表面占主导地位。这些结果为长期 MDC 运行对反应器性能的可行性以及通过膜优化直接进行系统开发提供了深入了解。
