Abstract

Sediment Microbial Fuel Cell (SMFC) generates electricity by microbial oxidation of organic substance in dairy wastewater sediments without using any proton exchange membrane. SMFC constructed with graphite electrodes was deployed in simulated dairy wastewater-sediment interface in laboratory conditions showed the feasibility of electricity generation. The membrane-less SMFC developed voltage gradient of 0.78 to 0.8 V with maximum power of 0.014 mW/cm² observed at 10 Ω. Maximum current density of 67.85 × 10^-6 (mA/cm^-2) and power density of 52.92 × 10^-6 (mW/cm^-2) was recorded. Native bacterial culture present in dairy waste sediment was used as catalyst for electricity generation. Bacteria present in dairy sediment showed the potential to generate electricity without any mediators (redox dyes). Production of renewable energy (bioelectricity) utilizing organic substance is an economical and sustainable process.

Key words: Bioelectricity, sediment microbial fuel cell, wastewater-sediment interface, anaerobic microenvironment; wastewater treatment.