Integrated Constructed Wetland and Microbial Fuel Cell for the Treatment of Stabilised Landfill Leachate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55863/ijees.2025.0811Keywords:
Constructed wetland, Microbial fuel cell, Co-treatment, Sewage, Vertical flow wetlandAbstract
Stabilized Landfill Leachate (SLL) co-treatment with sewage was investigated using an integrated Constructed Wetland and Microbial Fuel Cell (CW-MFC). The CW and CW-MFC wetlands were filled with sand and gravel and planted with Canna indica. Additionally, carbon electrodes, comprising an anode and cathode, were incorporated into the CW-MFC setup. The SLL and sewage were combined in a 1:1 ratio and introduced as influent. The wetlands were operated in both batch and continuous modes. During batch operation at Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT) of 7, 5, and 3 days, the CW and CW-MFC achieved maximum Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiencies of 62±4% and 83±7%, respectively, at a 7-day HRT. For the continuous flow operation at a rate of 5 L/day, the systems displayed removal efficiencies of 75±3% and 81±5% for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), 88±2% and 96±2% for COD, 54±6% and 61±4% for Total Nitrogen (TN), and 59±3% and 67±2% for Total Phosphorus (TP) for the CW and CW-MFC, respectively. Incorporating the MFC resulted in an 8% increase in COD removal efficiency. The CW-MFC produced an average voltage of 173 mV, with an average power density of 3.78 mW/m². However, the CW-MFC’s low coulombic efficiency of 0.17% appeared to limit current production. These findings indicate that the CW-MFC system can treat landfill leachate more effectively.
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