Bioremediation of real-field slaughterhouse wastewater associated with power generation in algae-photosynthetic microbial fuel cell

Algae-photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC) could be considered as a promising approach for producing purified water. This study assessed the performance of an algae-PMFC continuously operated for 120 days to treat and demineralize real-field slaughterhouse wastewater associated with bioenergy generation. Mixed bacterial species including Pseudomonas and Bacillus as the dominant species were used to inoculate the anodic chamber, whereby Chlorella vulgaris microalgae were used in the cathodic section. The results showed that maximum removal efficiency of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonium ions from the actual slaughterhouse wastewater were 99.65% and 70%, respectively. Maximum and average recorded power output were 543.28 and 391.42 mW/m(2), respectively. Dense growth of both; the biofilm in the anodic compartment as well as Chlorella vulgaris microalgae in the cathodic compartment were clearly observed after 120-days operation. The promising results of this potential approach encourage the application of PMFC for the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater.