Enhancement of bioelectricity generation by integrating acidogenic compartment into a dual-chambered microbial fuel cell during rice mill wastewater treatment

In this study, an acidogenic compartment was attached to a dual-chambered MFC. Rice mill wastewater was acidified in the acidogenic chamber to enhance the biodegradation of complex organics before feeding to MFC. The system was operated under HRT of 12 h (A-MFC12) and 15 h (A-MFC15). The performance of the acidogenic chamber-MFC unit was compared with a conventional dual-chambered MFC (C-MFC15). The maximum total volatile fatty acid (VFA) accumulation was found to be mg 991.21 mg COD/L for A-MFC12, and 560 mg COD/L for A-MFC15, which corresponds to the acidification yield of 78.35 ? 1.19 % and 55.94 ? 1.36 %, respectively. The maximum volumetric power density achieved in A-MFC12 (4.08 ? 0.08 W/m3) was higher than that of AMFC15 (2.34 ? 0.07 W/m3), and C-MFC15 (2.11 ? 0.04 W/m3). The findings suggest that integrating acidogenic pre-treatment induced a positive effect on bioelectricity generation and substrate removal efficiency of the MFC.