Effectiveness of domestic wastewater treatment using microbial fuel cells at ambient and mesophilic temperatures

Domestic wastewater treatment was examined under two different temperature (23 ± 3 °C and 30 ± 1 °C) and flow modes (fed-batch and continuous) using single-chamber air–cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Temperature was an important parameter for treatment efficiency and power generation. The highest power density of 422 mW/m2 (12.8 W/m3) was achieved under continuous flow and mesophilic conditions, at an organic loading rate of 54 g COD/L-d, achieving 25.8% COD removal. Energy recovery was found to depend significantly on the operational conditions (flow mode, temperature, organic loading rate, and HRT) as well as the reactor architecture. The results demonstrate that the main advantages of using temperature-phased, in-series MFC configurations for domestic wastewater treatment are power savings, low solids production, and higher treatment efficiency.