Treatment of cassava mill wastewater and production of electricity through microbial fuel cell technology

Cassava mill wastewater has a high organic content and is an important economic product of traditional and rural low technology agro-industry in many parts of the world. This study explores the utilization of agro-industrial wastewater collected from cassava mills as a resource for electricity generation by microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Mixed culture sludge was used to inoculate the bottom chamber of the MFCs whilst cassava mill wastewater was used in the MFCs. Experimental results showed that the MFCs could generate electricity from full-strength cyanide laden wastewater (16000 mg-COD/L, 86 mg/L cyanide) with a maximum power density of 1771 mW/m2. The results from this study demonstrate the feasibility of using MFC technology to generate electricity whilst simultaneously treating cyanide laden cassava mill wastewater effectively. Using MFCs for cassava mill wastewater treatment provides an attractive way to reduce the cost of wastewater treatment in addition to generating electricity.