In collaboration with an international company expert in wastewater treatment, the aim of our work in France was to assess the potential of the MFC technology on the reduction of organic pollution of urban wastewater.  Specifically, the treatment of the total organic load (COD) of urban wastewater was studied in MFC prototypes (1 and 25 liters). Aerobic treatment pilots of the same size were also conducted in parallel. COD removal similar to those obtained in the aerobic reactor was achieved with the MFC technology optimizing the ratio between the electrode surface and the reactor volume. Throughout studies on COD oxidation, we followed the current generated on the bio-anodes in order to establish a correlation between the consumption of organic matter (biomass oxidized) and the production of electricity. The idea behind this monitoring of electrical current is to develop a biosensor for real time COD measurement.

Evaluation of MFC performances for the treatment of an urban wastewater: Comparison to aerobic treatment and direct electrolysis of biomass

239th National Meeting (2010)

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