Issue 30, 2018, Issue in Progress

Long-term performance of a microbial electrolysis cell operated with periodic disconnection of power supply

Abstract

This study describes a new approach for achieving stable long-term performance and maximizing the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC). In the proposed approach, the MEC power supply is periodically disconnected, e.g. at a frequency of 0.1–0.5 Hz and a duty cycle of 90–95%. To evaluate the impact of such periodic power supply disconnection (on/off mode) on MEC performance, experiments were carried out in two flow-through MECs with activated granular carbon electrodes. The on/off operating strategy was applied to one MEC, while the other one was operated at a fixed voltage (control MEC). Long-term on/off operation resulted in progressive increase in COD removal efficiency (from 80% to 90%) and MEC current over time, while the control MEC showed stable but inferior performance. Furthermore, by changing the operating strategies and applying the on/off approach to the control MEC, its COD removal was increased from 78% to 83% and internal resistance decreased. The proposed on/off mode of operation can be used to develop a high-rate MEC-based wastewater treatment system.

Graphical abstract: Long-term performance of a microbial electrolysis cell operated with periodic disconnection of power supply

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Mar 2018
Accepted
24 Apr 2018
First published
08 May 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 16842-16849

Long-term performance of a microbial electrolysis cell operated with periodic disconnection of power supply

S. A. Hussain, M. Perrier and B. Tartakovsky, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 16842 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA01863D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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