Utilization of Wastewater from Different Sources as Potential Electrical Energy Source

Abstract

This study is about the generated electricity from wastewater using carbon electrodes with the absence/presence of salt bridge through the biofilm anode of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. The three wastewater samples used were from a pond, an abaca pulp mill, and rice fields. Results showed that one of the abaca pulp mill treatments, using carbon rod electrodes with salt bridge presence, reached the highest mean voltage and current to 578.7 mV and 0.2022 mV, respectively. The study revealed that the number of sensible power generation days, from start to end of experimentation, has a significant difference between treatments. Throughout the 20-day fermentation process, a total count of 8.94x105 colony forming units (CFU) per ml was found and purified from the biofilm anodes from pond wastewater. Likewise, 9.14x105 CFU per ml isolates from the abaca pulp mill, and 1.65x106 CFU per ml isolates from the rice field.