Investigation of the effect of different inoculum types in the microbial fuel cell (MFC) to treat waste water

Abstract

Three inoculum types including sludge, soil, and wastewater were inoculated into single-chamber Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) to assess the effects of inoculum types on the voltage outputs, wastewater treatment efficiency and microbial communities of MFCs. The MFCs inoculated with sludge and wastewater has significantly higher voltage yield as compared to soil (p<0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the voltage of MFC inoculated with sludge and waste water. The degradation of organic matter was expressed as COD removal. There were no differences in COD value between 3 inoculum types (p>0.05). Two pure strains: Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonas putida were confirmed as iron-reducing and electrogenic bacteria. The result of this study can be applied in water treatment plant. Key word: Microbial Fuel Cell (MFCs), Inoculum types, Wastewater treatment, Voltage, Microbial communities