Enhancing microbial fuel cell performance for sustainable treatment of palm oil mill wastewater using carbon cloth anode coated with activated carbon

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a viable source of clean and renewable energy from wastewater and gaining attention on a global scale. Thus, this research work focuses on the energy production from high-strength palm oil mill wastewater using MFCs. A state-of-the-art technique for improving the performance of MFCs by covering a carbon fibre anode with various sized powdered activated carbon (PAC) particles was investigated. In addition, the MFCs were tested at various hydraulic retention times (HRT) to assess the performance displayed by modified MFCs. Results showed that a relatively smaller amount of PAC with a diameter of 13 μm coated at the anode during the cultivation stage at a shorter hydraulic retention time (4 days) would produce 504.1 ± 8.7 mW m −3 of power, 39.9 ± 2.9% of chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency, and 299 ± 63 mL of biogas. While, MFC running at a longer hydraulic retention time (12 days) was able to produce more power and had better effluent quality than those operating at a shorter hydraulic retention period.