Microbial capacitive desalination fuel cell technology

Abstract

The invention discloses a microbial capacitive desalination fuel cell technology for supplying power to a capacitive deionization unit by virtue of electric energy generated by microbial treatment of sewage and relates to the technical field of microbial treatment of sewage, microbial power generation and capacitive deionization desalination. The desalination technology consists of a microbial fuel cell and a capacitive deionization unit. The technology is characterized in that two cation exchange membranes and two active carbon cloth electrodes are added between an anode chamber and a cathode chamber of a microbial fuel cell to form a desalination chamber. The problem in the prior art is that microorganisms oxidize organic pollutants to release protons which are accumulated to lead to decrease of pH value of the anode chamber so as to affect the yield and desalination. The anode chamber, the desalination chamber and the cathode chamber are divided by using the two cation exchange membranes and two active carbon cloth electrodes, so that protons can be freely transferred among the three chambers by virtue of the cation membranes and the active carbon cloth so as to stabilize the pH values of the chambers. The invention aims to provide the method for operating microbial capacitive desalination fuel cell in a long term, wherein the activity of electrochemically active microorganisms is maintained and the electricity production capacity and the desalination efficiency are improved.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical fields of sewage biological treatment, microbial power generation, and capacitive deionization and desalination, and is a green and energy-saving environmental protection technology. Background technique [0002] Producing clean water in a safe, economical and energy-saving way is an important technical challenge faced by human society. Among them, desalination is a key technology for converting brackish water, seawater or sewage into human-usable water. Currently, the desalination methods widely used mainly include reverse osmosis, distillation, electrodialysis and ion exchange. These methods generally have the disadvantages of high energy consumption, low water yield, cumbersome maintenance, and secondary pollution to the environment. [0003] Capacitive deionization desalination is a new type of water treatment method developed in recent years. It is a pair of electrodes with large specific surface area and l...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, this process is irreversible and unsustainable. The salt content of the electrolyte in the anode chamber and cathode chamber will increase, which will affect the subsequent utilization of the effluent.

On the other hand, the accumulation of protons in the anode chamber leads to a drop in pH, which harms the activity of electrogenic bacteria, while the pH in the cathode chamber also increases, and this imbalance affects further production capacity and desalination efficiency

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