Studies on a Feasibility of Swine Farm Wastewater Treatment using Microbial Fuel Cell

In this study the feasibility of simultaneous electricity generation and treatment of swine farm wastewater using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was examined. Two single-chamber MFCs containing an anode filled with different ratio of graphite felt and stainless-steel cross strip was used in all tests. The proportion of stainless-steel cross strip to graphite felt in the anode of control microbial fuel cell (CMFC) was higher than that of swine microbial fuel cell (SMFC) to reduce construction costs. SMFCs produced a stable current of 18 mA by swine wastewater with chemical oxygen demand (COD) of after enriched. The maximum power density and current density of SMFCs were and , respectively. In the CMFC, power density and current density was lower than that of SMFC. CODs decreased by the SMFC and CMFC from to and , achieving 72.7% and 70.6% COD removal, respectively. The suspended solid (SS) of both fuel cells was also reduced over 99% ( to ). The concentration of nutritive salts, , , and , dropped by 65.4%, 57.5%, and 73.7% by the SMFC, respectively. These results were similar with those of CMFC. These results show that the microbial fuel cells using electrode with mix stainless-steel cross strip and graphite felt can treat the swine wastewater simultaneously with an electricity generation from swine wastewater.