WASTEPAPER RECYCLING WASTEWATER USING MICROBIAL FUEL CELL

Paper industry is one of the largest polluting industries in the world. The treatment of recycled paper mill wastewater is a big challenge; the characteristics of effluent vary from one mill to another. Conventional treatment techniques require a high energy input and more foot print area, so their environmental impact is debatable. Therefore, the need to find reliable, eco-friendly and efficient treatment techniques is urgent. In order to meet the environmental demands and avoid secondary wastewater pollution, Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) are used for simultaneous treatment and energy generation from the wastepaper recycling wastewater. In this research, two lab-scale double chambered microbial fuel cells were developed viz., salt bridge-MFC (Reactor-1) and Proton exchange membrane¿MFC (Reactor-2) for the treatment of wastepaper recycling wastewater as well as synthetic wastewater. The maximum COD removal achieved by the MFC using FePc/MWCNTs catalyst was nearly equal to the Pt/C catalyst. The mixed inoculum supporting the MFC reaction mechanism was identified as Acinetobacter species and Pseudomonas species.In addition that MFC technoloy revealed better electricity generation.