Treatment of industrial wastewater with emerging pollutants through microbial fuel cells

Hualpa-Cutipa E.; Maldonado-Jimenez I.; Yana-Neyra E.; Garcia L.C.S.; Julca N.G.; Mallma M.J.M.; Machari Y.K.R.; Alba S.R.R.; Tena L.K.C.; Ordoñez L.M.A. · Resource Recovery from Industrial Wastewater through Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (2024) · DOI: 10.2166/9781789063813_0245

Resumen

Currently, environmental pollution is on the rise because of industrial growth to fulfill the demands of a society that is undergoing rapid demographic growth. This population change triggers the use of more resources and the release of pollutants into the environment. From the range of pollutants generated, new hazardous pollutants are being released, these are known as emerging pollutants. Several efforts have been made to address the management, treatment, disposal, and elimination of industrial effluents containing high levels of persistent contaminants, but these efforts have not been effective. A few approaches and/or techniques have been developed to treat these pollutants to mitigate their negative effects. Among these methods, technologies based on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have proven to be an effective and suitable strategy for treating industrial wastewater containing recalcitrant pollutants (pharmaceuticals, hormones, pesticides, personal care products, etc.). In an MFC system, bacteria have an electroactive role, both in the degradation of these compounds and the donation of electrons for the generation of electricity in the process, this in turn accelerates the removal rate. In addition, emerging contaminants are organic compounds, that is, their composition contains carbon bonds, which can be used as a carbon source by bacteria and can also be degraded by electrochemical redox reaction processes. The aim of this chapter was to discuss the characteristics and properties of MFCs about their application in the treatment of wastewater rich in emerging pollutants that are resistant to spontaneous biodegradation. Finally, the prospects and future challenges of MFCs for applications in large-scale systems will be presented because studies are still being carried out at the laboratory level.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Nacional del Altiplano; Universidad Nacional de Piura; Universidad Nacional José Faustino Sánchez Carrión