Dark fermentation effluents exploited as inoculum and substrate for electricity production in microbial fuel cells
Keywords:
Charge transfer resistance, Dark fermentation effluents, Inoculum-to-substrate ratio, Microbial community, Microbial fuel cell.Abstract
Direct linkage of dark fermentation with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) might be limited by the variability in the composition of actual dark fermentation effluents (DFE) and the use of an external inoculum. In this research two types of actual DFE were tested in three runs to determine the viability of the direct use of effluents as both inoculum and substrate in an MFC. The composition of the actual DFE, the inoculum-to-substrate ratio (ISR), microbial community, and charge transfer resistance in open and closed circuits were investigated in each test. The highest power density (0.4 to 0.5 mW m-2) was attributed to the content of volatile solids and a less complex DFE with an ISR of 0.35 and 0.52. The percentage of relative abundance of electroactive microorganisms was only 30%, indicating a need for an enrichment procedure for this type of microorganism. Measurements of charge transfer resistance were more accurate when the MFCs were in open circuit, and the distribution of resistances revealed that the cathode was the limiting electrode. Direct linkage of dark fermentation with MFC was feasible; nevertheless, improvements leading to enrichment of the electroactive community and decrease of the resistance at the cathode are still needed. The results of this investigation contribute to the use of wastewater from bioprocesses for electricity production.
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