Improved the in-Situ Remediation Effect of Sediment Microbial Fuel Cells by Optimizing the Anode Structure

Abstract Six 60-L benthic microbial electrochemical systems (BMES) were built for the bioremediation of river sediment. Carbon mesh anodes with honeycomb-structure supports were compared with horizontal anodes, and the system was tested using different cover depths and anode densities. The pollutant removal, electricity generation, and electrochemistry of the six BMES with different anodes was examined using the Ashi River (Harbin, China) as a case study. Total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal from sediments in BMES with three-dimensional anodes were 20%~30% and 20%~33% higher for the other reactors. Moreover, the honeycomb-structure of the anode also resulted in higher power density and improved humus removal.