Stacked-MFC into a Typical Septic Tank used in Public Housing

We assessed the viability of incorporating a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Stack in a typical septic tank, eight MFCs with proton exchange membrane without catalysts were installed in a real system. Both chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and electricity generation using super capacitors for electricity storage were investigated under continuous flow mode. Three MFCs Al, B4 and C2 with 109.40 +/- 34.25 mW/m3, 131.58 +/- 27.75 mW/m3 and 124.01 +/- 27.57 mW/m3, respectively, were chosen for testing. The organic loading rate was 0.24, 0.52 and 1.05 Kg DQO/m3-d corresponding to the 200, 500 and 1000 ppm. Total COD removal and total columbic efficiency were 89.67 +/- 5.19% and 48.07 +/- 2.33%.The results of this study suggest that MFCs may be suitable for deployment in a septic tank. This research has demonstrated the great challenges in applying a stack of MFC in scale-up; however, the configuration seems to be indicated for this kind of depuration system. It is necessary to develop more research in real scale to test the feasibility of this implementation.