Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have the potential to simultaneously treat wastewater for reuse and to generate electricity. This study mainly considers the performance of an upflow dual-chambered MFC continuously fueled with actual domestic wastewater and alternatively biocatalyzed with aerobic activated sludge and strain of Bacillus Subtilis. The behavior of MFCs during initial biofilm growth and...

By applying the plate count and clear-zone methods, it was confirmed that polylactide (PLA)-degrading microorganisms are sparsely distributed in soil environments. An Amycolatopsis isolate was successfully isolated. Microbial degradation of PLA film was demonstrated; i.e., about 60% of the 100-mg film initially added was degraded by the strain after 14 days of liquid culture.

The upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) was developed to generate electricity while simultaneously treating wastewater. During a five-month period of feeding a sucrose solution as the electron donor, the UMFC continuously generated electricity with a maximum power density of 170 mW/m2. To achieve this power density, the artificial electron-mediator hexacyanoferrate was required in the cathode cha...

Studies on bench scale reactors packed with two different media matrix – Biopac media and Fugino spirals were undertaken to determine the performance at various organic loading rate (OLR) and on one day hydraulic retention time (HRT). Parboiled rice mill wastewater depicted a COD/BOD ratio of 1.6 indicating good degradable nature of the wastewater. Four different organic loadings of 0.8, 1.6, 2...

Mulching is widely used to increase crop yield in semiarid regions in northwestern China, but little is known about the effect of different mulching systems on the microbial properties of the soil, which play an important role in agroecosystemic functioning and nutrient cycling. Based on a 4-year spring maize (Zea mays L.) field experiment at Changwu Agricultural and Ecological Experimental Sta...

in this paper, startup performance of upflow anaerobic hybrid reactor and upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors in anaerobic treatment of distillery spentwash has been studied under identical conditions of operation. various effluent characteristics like ph, electrical conductivity, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and total solids and other process parameters like biogas p...

Anaerobic digestion is a complex process involving hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. The separation of the hydrogen-yielding (dark fermentation) and methane-yielding steps under controlled conditions permits the production of hydrogen and methane from biomass. The characterization of microbial communities developed in bioreactors is crucial for the understanding and opt...

Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) hold great promise for drinking water production because of potential energy savings during the desalination process. In this study, we developed a continuously operated MDC--upflow microbial desalination cell (UMDC) for the purpose of salt removal. During the 4-month operation, the UMDC constantly removed salts and generated bio-electricity. At a hydraulic r...