Effect of presence of cellulose in the freshwater sediment on the performance of sediment microbial fuel cell

The performance of sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) was evaluated in the presence of cellulose in the aquaculture pond sediment as 2% (w/w) in SMFC-2, 4% in SMFC-3 and without adding cellulose in SMFC-1. From aquaculture water, average chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies of 80.6 ± 0.3% and 83.0 ± 0.01% were obtained in SMFC-1, 88.2 ± 0.5% and 89.6 ± 0.8% in SMFC-2 and 83.1 ± 0.3% and 64.5 ± 1.6% in SMFC-3, respectively. During the complete experimental period, acetic acid was the only short chain fatty acid detected in all three SMFCs. Sediment organic matter removal in SMFC-1, SMFC-2 and SMFC-3 were 16%, 22% and 18.6%, respectively. SMFCs demonstrated effective cellulose degradation from aquaculture pond sediment and maintained the oxidized sediment top layer favourable for aquaculture.