Asimina Tremouli

The present study investigated the feasibility of the anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of condensate, resulting from drying food waste, with Waste Activated Sludge in a pilot scale continuous stirred tank reactor. Different parameters were assessed in order to enhance the AcoD performance; the condensate potency (condensate A: 13 gCOD/L and condensate...

This study deals with the computational analysis of the kinetic processes of microbial electrolysis cell-assisted anaerobic digestion (MEC-AD) for treating raw-waste-activated sludge (WAS), compared to conventional AD, as well as investigating the effect of the organic loading rate (OLR) on the system’s performance. The aim was to derive a mathemat...

This study deals with the computational analysis of the kinetic processes of a microbial electrolysis cell assisted-anaerobic digestion (MEC-AD) treating raw-waste activated sludge (WAS), comparatively with a conventional AD, as well as the effect of the Organic Loading Rate (OLR) on the system’s performance. The aim was to derive a single kinetic...

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are attracting attention for their application in simultaneous energy production and waste treatment, as innovative biochemical reactors. They usually operate under adiabatic conditions, utilizing microorganisms to treat wastewater compositions using mainly carbon-based electrodes as anodes and cathodes. During the past...

The aim of this study was the optimization of a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) architecture, by increasing the number of cathode electrodes. An air cathode single chamber MFC with a modifiable lid and bottom was operated with 4 and 6 Gore-Tex MnO2 cathode electrodes. The anode consisted of graphite granules. It was found that the increase...

The solar energy sector has grown rapidly in the past decades, addressing the issues of energy security and climate change. Many photovoltaic (PV) panels that were installed during this technological revolution, have accumulated as waste and even more are nearing their End-of-Life (EoL). Based on circular economy, a new hydrometallurgical process h...

The present work investigates a two-stage process scheme for cheese whey valorization through energy recovery in different forms by means of bio-electrochemical systems. The first stage consisted of an integrated bio-electrochemical process for H2 and electricity production. This combined dark fermentation with an electrochemical system with the ai...

The effect of different cathode strategies (mullite/MnO2, Plexiglas/Gore-Tex/MnO2, mullite/coal fly ash, mullite/biochar, mullite/activated carbon) on the performance of air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated. The highest maximum power output was observed using MnO2 catalyst pasted on Gore-Tex cloth (7.7 mW/m3), yet the highest co...

The solar energy sector has grown rapidly in the past decades, addressing the issues of energy security and climate change. Many photovoltaic panels that were installed during this technological revolution, have accumulated as waste and even more are nearing their End-of-Life (EoL). Based on circular economy, a new hydrometallurgical process has be...

Photovoltaic panels (PV) are expected to generate considerable amounts of wastes in the next years due to their life cycle (approximately 25 years). Among others (Ti, Te, Cd, In, Se, Ga etc.) silver is one of the heavy metals used as a conductor in the solar cell of PV panels. Synthetic silver containing wastewater was prepared, simulating the chem...

This study aims to assess the electrochemical performance of a Microbial Electrolysis Cell while bio-electrochemically converting CO2 to CH4 in the cathode and treating synthetic wastewater in the anode. The results indicate that CO2 is converted with a rate of 0.15 mmol/(gCOD_consumed*d). The COD consumption was 75% and the average produced curren...

The treatment of real waste extracts with simultaneous energy production is currently under research. One method of addressing this dual task is using biochemical reactors named microbial fuel cells (MFCs). MFCs consist of a bioanode and a cathode where the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurs. Cathodes are currently under optimization regarding...

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of food waste condensate concentration (400–4000 mg COD/L) on the performance of two microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Food waste condensate is produced after condensing the vapors that result from drying and shredding of household food waste (HFW). Two identical single-chamber MFCs were constructed with di...

Bioelectrochemical systems have been the focus of extensive research due to their unique advantages of converting the chemical energy stored in waste to electricity. To acquire a better understanding and optimize these systems, modelling has been employed. A 2D microbial fuel cell (MFC) model was developed using the finite element software Comsol M...

The aim of the present study is to enhance the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) design by making simple interventions. Specifically, terracotta “t” and mullite “m” ceramics are tested as membranes while carbon veil and carbon cloth are used as electrodes. In the case of “m” cylinders different dimensions are examined (m: ID 30 mm x height...

Four multiple air–cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were developed under the scope of using extracts from fermentable household food waste (FORBI) for the production of bioelectricity. The operation of the MFCs was assessed in batch mode, considering each cell individually. Τhe chemical oxygen demand (COD) efficiency was relatively high in all ca...

Two identical four air-cathode single chamber membrane-less microbial fuel cells were stacked and tested under in series and in parallel electrical configurations. Fermentable household waste extract (FORBI; 0.8 g COD/L) was used as substrate, in all cases. Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) was carried out for the construction of polarization curves w...

A four air-cathode single chamber membrane-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed and used to produce energy when fed with fermentable household waste extract (FORBI; 0.8 g COD/L). The employment of MnO2 as the cathode catalyst at a loading of 89 mg /cm2, the use of food residue biomass (FORBI) and the single chamber design provided a maximum...

A stack of two identical single chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was assessed during using fermentable house hold extract as substrate. The design of the MFC units was based on the single chamber membrane-less technology using four cathode electrodes. The total power output was 492 mW either in series or parallel connection considering a total a...

Two ceramic stacks, terracotta (t-stack) and mullite (m-stack), were developed to produce energy when fed with neat undiluted urine. Each stack consisted of twelve identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which were arranged in cascades and tested under different electrical configurations. Despite voltage reversal, the m-stack produced a maximum power...

Purpose In order to develop microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as a wastewater treatment technology, it is necessary to investigate the performance of these systems under various operating conditions. This study investigated the effect of salinity, pH and temperature on the performance of a dual chamber MFC. Methods All experiments were conducted in batc...

Alternative glycerol treatment and valorization, could be a promising solution, contributing to the biodiesel production economy. Thus, the potential of electricity generation from pure glycerol, using a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC), was evaluated. The effect of glycerol concentration in a range of 0.5–5.2 g COD L−1 on MFC performance was...

Cathodic reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and simultaneous bio-electricity production were successfully achieved in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Synthetic Cr(VI)-containing wastewater was used as catholyte and synthetic (glucose-based) wastewater as anolyte. Cr(VI) initially 200 mg/L was completely removed within 600 hours (initial pH 2, n...

SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT COUPLED TO ENERGY RECOVERY WITH MICROBIAL ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNOLOGIES: THE WE-MET PROJECT

A four-air cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell (4ACMFC) with MnO2 as cathode catalyst and a packed bed of graphite granules as anode was studied, aiming at continuous treatment of municipal wastewater in parallel to electric power production. When fed with synthetic wastewater, the system achieved a maximum power density of 13.6 W m−3, a COD...

New green technologies are emerging in response to decades of damaging human activity. Among those are microbial fuel cells (MFCs), electric transducers that transform wet organic matter into electricity via the electroactive respiration of anaerobic microorganisms. Over the past two decades, research into MFCs has drastically improved performance,...

Periodic anolyte replacement was investigated as a means of enhancing the performance of a four air-cathodes single chamber microbial fuel cell (4ACMFC) during its long term operation. The 938 cc unit exhibited very good stability over a period of 53 days in continuous mode operation, attributed to reduction of the growth of antagonistic non-electr...

In this paper, the potential of energy recovery from cheese whey in the form of gas biofuels (hydrogen, methane) as well as electricity generation through application of the microbial fuel cell technology are studied. Hydrogen and methane production from cheese whey in a two-stage process has already been studied at a lab scale in a continuous stir...