Value-added gaseous fuel recovery from industrial wastewater and sludge using microbial electrochemical technology

Abstract

Synthesis of value-added gases using biological systems has been accepted as one of the important scientific endeavors for many decades. The generation of electricity and the production of acetic acid, formic acid, methane, hydrogen, and other value-added products can all be done with the help of recent technological advancements that use wastewater as a raw material. These optimized biosynthesis processes which are environmentally friendly and cost effective can be considered for scale-up level experiments. Microbial electrochemical technology combines microbes, electrochemistry, and material science that can be amalgamated to efficiently convert the chemical energy contained in the organic molecules. The wastewater and sludge effluent from industrial sector can be used as a probable nutrient source for the microbes. Factors such as nutrient availability, toxicity, variation in microbial population, operating parameters, and so on, have great influence on the yield and quality of the gaseous fuel. This chapter summarizes recent updates on microbial electrochemical systems being utilized for gaseous recovery and parameters that influence productivity of gases.