Effect Of Cathodic Culture On Wastewater Treatment And Power Generation In A Photosynthetic Sediment Microbial Fuel Cell (Smfc): Canna Indica V/S Chlorella Vulgaris

The aim of this work was to compare the performance of the two types of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (MFCs) fed with real wastewater- one having plant Canna indica (PMFC) and the other having alga Chlorella vulgaris (AMFC) at the cathode. The chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphate, and nitrate removal stood at 57.16% 88.81%, 59.82% for PMFC and 65.27%, 95.59%, 66.61% for the AMFC. While AMFC was slightly superior in water treatment, the power output was 6 times higher in PMFC (22.76 mW m(-2)) than the AMFC (3.64 mW m(-2)). The biomass growth was good in both systems, with biomass productivity of 0.031 Kg m(-3) day(-1) in AMFC and a leaf area index of 0.006 in PMFC. The study's findings suggest that PMFCs are equally good or even better than AMFCs when the goal is simultaneous water treatment and power generation.