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Virginia Tech

Challege and Opportunities of Membrane Bioelctrochemical Reactors for Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are potentially advantageous as an energy-efficient approach for wastewater treatment. Integrating membrane filtration with MFCs could be a viable option for advanced wastewater treatment with a low energy input. Such an integration is termed as membrane bioelectrochemical reactors (MBERs). Comparing to the conventional membrane bioreactors or anaerobic membrane bioreactors, MBER could be a competitive technology, due to the its advantages on energy consumption and nutrients removal. By installing the membrane in the cathodic compartment or applying granular activated carbon as fluidized bed materials, membrane fouling issue could be alleviated significantly. In order to drive MBER technology to become a more versatile platform, applying anion exchange membrane (AEM) could be an option for nutrients removal in MBERs. Wastewater can be reclaimed and reused for subsequent fermentation use after a series MFC-MBR treatment process. Such a synergistic configuration not only provide a solution for sustainable wastewater treatment, but also save water and chemical usage from other non-renewable resource. Integrating membrane process with microbial fuel cells through an external configuration provides another solution on sustainable wastewater treatment through a minimal maintenance requirement.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph. D.
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Li, Jian
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • He, Zhen
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Battaglia, Francine
  • Boardman, Gregory D.
  • Wang, Zhiwu

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:7245
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/70859

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Li, Jian. Challege and Opportunities of Membrane Bioelctrochemical Reactors for Wastewater Treatment. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/70859