4. Conclusions
Wastewater from cellulosic fermentations can contain high
concentrations of proteins, in addition to volatile fatty acids and
alcohols. Treatment of a cellulosic fermentation wastewater using
an MEC resulted in 76 ± 6% reduction of the total COD and 29% of
protein in the wastewater, with the generation of 1.09 ± 0.24
L-H2/g-COD. Lower COD and protein concentrations could be
obtained using a higher added voltage, but current production
was erratic. It is suggested that an additional downstream process,
such as an AFMBR, is needed to achieve low effluent protein and
COD concentrations following H2 production in MECs using
cellulosic fermentation wastewater.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL), the King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology (KAUST) (Award KUS-I1-003-13), and Research and
Development Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Research