Modelisation and Optimization of a Microbial Desalination Cell System

Abstract

In this work, we used a hybrid system composed of a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC). This system allows, at the same time, the treatment of wastewater and the production of electrical energy for the desalination of saltwater. MDC is a cleaning technology used to purify wastewater. This process has been driven by converting organic compounds contained in wastewater into electrical energy through biological, chemical, and electrochemical processes. The produced electrical energy was used to desalinate the saline water. The objective of this work is the desalination or pre-desalination of seawater. For this, we have established a theoretical model consisting of differential equations describing the behavior of this system. Subsequently, we developed a program on MAT-LAB software to simulate and optimized the operation of this system and to promote the production of electrical energy in order to improve the desalination efficiency of the MDC. The theoretical result shows that the electrical current production is maximal when the methanogenic growth rate equal to zero, increases with the increasing of influent substrate concentration and the efficiency of desalination increased with flow rate of saline water.