Advancing membrane bioelectrochemical reactor (MBER) with hollow‐fiber membranes installed in the cathode compartment

Abstract BACKGROUND Synergistic cooperation between membrane technology and microbial fuel cells ( MFCs ) creates a membrane bioelectrochemical reactor ( MBER ) that can produce electricity directly from organics while maintaining a high‐quality effluent. This study aims to advance the MBER concept with hollow‐fiber membranes installed in a cathode compartment for alleviating membrane fouling . RESULTS The MBER achieved 90% removal of the chemical oxygen demand ( COD ), and 69% removal of the total inorganic nitrogen; the turbidity of the membrane permeate was mostly below 2 NTU . The operation of this MBER theoretically consumed 0.09 kWh m ‐3 , significantly lower than the energy consumption in membrane bioreactors ( MBRs ). The energy production in the MBER was 0.011–0.039 kWh m ‐3 from the synthetic solution, or 0.032–0.064 kWh m ‐3 from the cheese wastewater. The Coulombic efficiency varied between 10 and 30%, affected by the substrate type and loading rates . CONCLUSIONS The MBER with ultrafiltration membranes installed in the cathode greatly improved membrane performance with a constant low trans‐membrane pressure (which drives water through the membrane) during the testing period, when treating either a synthetic solution or real wastewater from a cheese plant. The MBER technology has potential advantages in energy consumption/production compared with MBRs , and may offer better handling of operating conditions than AnMBRs . © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry