A comprehensive study on electricity production from beer brewery wastewater by microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are innovative techniques of producing electricity from various domestic and industrial organic wastewaters. In this study, beer brewery wastewater was used as a substrate for electricity production, using a two-compartment MFC reactor, because it contains high concentrations of ethanol, volatile fatty acids, and other nutrients. The MFC reactor inoculated with a mixed microbial inoculum, including exoelectrogens, was stabilized with a defined medium composed of easily fermentable glucose. After being diluted, the brewery wastewater was supplied as a substrate for the MFC reactor with or without additional nutrients. The performance of the MFC for electricity production was evaluated in terms of current density and Coulombic efficiency. In addition, the concentrations of the main metabolites (ethanol, acetic acid, and propionic acid) were monitored.