Desalination and removal of organic pollutants using electrobiochemical reactor

Abstract

Electrobiochemical reactor is one of the energy sustainable technologies for desalination which simultaneously treats waste water by microorganisms that are used as the catalyst for removal of salts and energy production. The microbial-induced electrochemical reaction occurring during the process and the energy produced in the reactor induce desalination. The reactor used in this study consists of 3 chambers: anode, middle and cathode which are separated using the ion exchange membranes. In this study, an air cathode with two different catholytes was used and comparative studies were carried out. The use of acidic water in the cathode chamber showed more efficiency than the phosphate-buffered solution. There were maximum removal of 60% electrical conductivity and 100% hardness during treatment. The maximum current of 1 mA and voltage of 850 mV were generated using this reactor. Apart from this, there is a reduction in 45% BOD removal in the anode chamber. The maximum power density and current density obtained were 251.8 mW/m2 and 296.29 mA/m2, respectively. The characterization of the deposited sludge on the membranes during the reaction was performed using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.