Nano-pumice derived from pumice mine waste as a low-cost electrode catalyst for microbial fuel cell treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater for bioenergy generation and reuse
Fatemeh Eslami,
Kamyar Yaghmaeian,
Reza Shokoohi,
Roohallah Sajjadipoya,
Alireza Rahmani,
Hedieh Askarpur,
Abbas Norouzian Baghani,
Hossein Jafari Mansoorian,
Farshid jaberi Ansari
Affiliations
Fatemeh Eslami
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran; Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Kamyar Yaghmaeian
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Center for Solid Waste Research, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Reza Shokoohi
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
Roohallah Sajjadipoya
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Jondishapoor University of Medical Sciences, Ahwaz, Iran
Alireza Rahmani
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
Hedieh Askarpur
Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran; Clinical Research Development Unit, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran
Abbas Norouzian Baghani
Environmental Health Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
Hossein Jafari Mansoorian
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; Corresponding author.
Farshid jaberi Ansari
Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
This study aimed to assess nano-pumice (NP) from pumice mining waste as a local, cost-effective anode catalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for treating edible vegetable oil refinery wastewater (EVORW) and generating bioenergy. Pumice mining waste was converted into nano in three stages: crushing up to ≤3 cm, reducing the size of the previous step particles to 150 μm and converting the previous step particles to <100 nm. Nano-pumice prepared was coated on the carbon cloth (CC) to increase anode surface area of MFC. Two MFCs were utilized, with MFC-1 serving as a control and MFC-2 incorporating a CC electrode coated with nano-pumice. The surface morphology, elemental and chemical composition, and textural characterization of CC, pumice, NP, and CC coated with NP were analyzed using FE-SEM, EDX, XRF, and BET techniques. MFC-2 achieved a maximum power density of 30±4W/m³ at a current density of 55±5A/m³. The MFC-1 reached a maximum power density of 18±4W/m³ at a current density of 35±6A/m³. In MFC-2, the EVORW treatment achieved maximum removals of COD (94 ± 2 %), NH4+-N (85 ± 4 %), TP (76 ± 5 %), SO42− (68 ± 6 %), TSS (81 ± 2 %), and TDS (73 ± 1 %). MFC-1 achieved removal efficiencies of 66 ± 3 % for COD, 57 ± 6 % for NH4+-N, 48 ± 3 % for TP, 45 ± 3 % for SO42−, 65 ± 3 % for TSS, and 61 ± 1 % for TDS. MFC-2 power density rose significantly, reaching 61 ± 3 % (1.6 times) higher than MFC-1and it also demonstrated a superior ability to improve raw wastewater quality compared to MFC-1. The MFC with the CC/NP anode exhibited both excellent power production and high COD removal efficiency, making nano-pumice a suitable anode catalyst for MFC applications.
