Center for Agricultural Systems Biology, Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Bang Khun Thian), Bangkok, Thailand.
Pilot Plant Development and Training Institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Bang Khun Thian), Bangkok, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2024 Jun 18;19(6):e0305673. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305673. eCollection 2024.
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are innovative eco-friendly technologies that advance a circular economy by enabling the conversion of both organic and inorganic substances in wastewater to electricity. While conceptually promising, there are lingering questions regarding the performance and stability of MFCs in real industrial settings. To address this research gap, we investigated the influence of specific operational settings, regarding the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance of MFCs used for treating sulfide-rich wastewater from a canned pineapple factory. Experiments were performed at varying hydraulic retention times (2 days and 4 days) during both low and high seasonal production. Through optimization, we achieved a current density generation of 47±15 mA/m2, a COD removal efficiency of 91±9%, and a sulfide removal efficiency of 86±10%. Microbiome analysis revealed improved MFC performance when there was a substantial presence of electrogenic bacteria, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, and methanotrophs, alongside a reduced abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogens. In conclusion, we recommend the following operational guidelines for applying MFCs in industrial wastewater treatment: (i) Careful selection of the microbial inoculum, as this step significantly influences the composition of the MFC microbial community and its overall performance. (ii) Initiating MFC operation with an appropriate OLR is essential. This helps in establishing an effective and adaptable microbial community within the MFCs, which can be beneficial when facing variations in OLR due to seasonal production changes. (iii) Identifying and maintaining MFC-supporting microbes, including those identified in this study, should be a priority. Keeping these microbes as an integral part of the system's microbial composition throughout the operation enhances and stabilizes MFC performance.
微生物燃料电池（MFC）是一种创新的环保技术，通过将废水中的有机和无机物质转化为电能，推动循环经济的发展。虽然从概念上讲很有前景，但在实际工业环境中，MFC 的性能和稳定性仍存在一些问题。为了解决这一研究空白，我们研究了特定操作条件（水力停留时间（HRT）和有机负荷率（OLR））对用于处理来自菠萝罐头厂的富硫废水的 MFC 性能的影响。实验在低季节性生产和高季节性生产期间分别在不同的水力停留时间（2 天和 4 天）下进行。通过优化，我们实现了 47±15 mA/m2 的电流密度生成、91±9%的 COD 去除效率和 86±10%的硫化物去除效率。微生物组分析表明，当存在大量的电生成细菌、硫化物氧化菌和甲烷营养菌，同时硫酸盐还原菌和产甲烷菌的丰度降低时，MFC 的性能得到了改善。总之，我们建议在工业废水处理中应用 MFC 时遵循以下操作指南：（i）仔细选择微生物接种物，因为这一步骤会显著影响 MFC 微生物群落的组成及其整体性能。（ii）以适当的 OLR 启动 MFC 运行至关重要。这有助于在 MFC 中建立一个有效和适应性强的微生物群落，当由于季节性生产变化导致 OLR 变化时，这对系统有益。（iii）确定和维护 MFC 支持的微生物，包括本研究中鉴定的微生物，应作为优先事项。在整个运行过程中，将这些微生物作为系统微生物组成的一个组成部分保留，可增强和稳定 MFC 的性能。
