Nano-pumice derived from pumice mine waste as a low-cost electrode catalyst for microbial fuel cell treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater for bioenergy generation and reuse

Eslami, Fatemeh and Yaghmaeian, Kamyar and Shokoohi, Reza and Sajjadipoya, Roohallah and Rahmani, Alireza and Askarpur, Hedieh and Norouzian Baghani, Abbas and Jafari Mansoorian, Hossein and Jaberi Ansari, Farshid (2024) Nano-pumice derived from pumice mine waste as a low-cost electrode catalyst for microbial fuel cell treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater for bioenergy generation and reuse. Heliyon.

Text Nano-pumice derived from pumice mine waste as a low-cost electrode catalyst for microbial fuel cell treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater for bioenergy generation and reuse.pdf Download (8MB)

Abstract

This study aimed to assess nano-pumice (NP) from pumice mining waste as a local, cost-effective anode catalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater (EVORW) and generating bioenergy. Pumice mining waste was converted into nano in three stages: crushing up to ≤3 cm, reducing the size of the previous step particles to 150 μm and converting the previous step particles to <100 nm. Nano-pumice prepared was coated on the carbon cloth (CC) to increase anode surface area of MFC. Two MFCs were utilized, with MFC-1 serving as a control and MFC-2 incorporating a CC electrode coated with nano-pumice. The surface morphology, elemental and chemical composition, and textural characterization of CC, pumice, NP, and CC coated with NP were analyzed using FE-SEM, EDX, XRF, and BET techniques. MFC-2 achieved a maximum power density of 30±4W/m³ at a current density of 55±5A/m³. The MFC-1 reached a maximum power density of 18±4W/m³ at a current density of 35±6A/m³. In MFC-2, the EVORW treatment achieved maximum removals of COD (94 ± 2 %), NH4 +-N (85 ± 4 %), TP (76 ± 5 %), SO4 2- (68 ± 6 %), TSS (81 ± 2 %), and TDS (73 ± 1 %). MFC-1 achieved removal efficiencies of 66 ± 3 % for COD, 57 ± 6 % for NH4 +-N, 48 ± 3 % for TP, 45 ± 3 % for SO4 2-, 65 ± 3 % for TSS, and 61 ± 1 % for TDS. MFC-2 power density rose significantly, reaching 61 ± 3 % (1.6 times) higher than MFC-1and it also demonstrated a superior ability to improve raw wastewater quality compared to MFC-1. The MFC with the CC/NP anode exhibited both excellent power production and high COD removal efficiency, making nano-pumice a suitable anode catalyst for MFC applications. Keywords: Anode catalyst; Electrode surface area; Industrial wastewater; Microbial fuel cell; Pumice

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