Simultaneous bioenergy generation and carbon dioxide sequestration from food wastewater using algae microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides a promising technology to handle two problems by decomposing organic waste and power generation which is economical and clean source of energy. However, use of platinum catalyst in the MFC is quite expensive and not economically suitable for real-time applications that needs to find an alternative. Hence, the main aim of the present research is to investigate the power generation and food processing wastewater treatment with two types of microalgae (Oscillatoria sp. and Scenedesmus sp.) as a biocathode in the MFC. The experimental results showed that the peak power density of 32.5 +/- 0.5 and 28.5 +/- 0.3 mW/m(2) was obtained for Oscillatoria sp. and Scenedesmus sp., respectively. The MFC power generation was also investigated with respect to CO2 supply and light intensity, respectively. The results of this study indicated that the possibility of bioelectricity generation using algae as a biocatalyst for economic feasibility and allowing the development of energy efficient systems for wastewater treatment.