DEVELOPMENT OF MICROBIAL FUEL CELL BASED SENSOR FOR ON-LINE MEASUREMENT OF BOD IN WASTE WATER

Abstract

To ensure the efficient operation of wastewater treatment processes, continuous monitoring of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the treated effluent is essential. However, the conventional 5-day BOD (BOD5) test is laborious, sometimes poorly reproducible and inaccurate, particularly at low concentrations. These issues supported the development of several microbial biosensors for BOD measurement. In this study, microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed as an alternative BOD sensing device for online measurement of BOD in wastewater. The performance of MFC-BOD sensor was investigated in terms of various parameters such as BOD measurement range, response time, sensitivity and long term stability. With a view to implement MFC-BOD sensor in wastewater treatment plants, a sequential optimization strategy was applied to lower the response time and increase the sensitivity of the MFC-BOD sensor. The behaviour of the electrochemically-active biofilm of MFC-BOD sensor was studied.