Study on Start-Up Membraneless Anaerobic Baffled Reactor Coupled with Microbial Fuel Cell for Dye Wastewater Treatment

In this study, the antitoxicity performance of the traditional anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) and the newly constructed membraneless anaerobic baffled reactor coupled with microbial fuel cell (ABR-MFC) was compared for the treatment of simulated printing and dyeing wastewater under the same hydraulic residence time. The sludge performances of ABR-MFC and ABR were evaluated on the dye removal rate, extracellular polymer (EPS) content, sludge particle size, methane yield, and the surface morphology of granular sludge. It was found that the maximum power density of the ABR-MFC reactor reached 1226.43 mW/m3, indicating that the coupled system has a good power generation capacity. The concentration of the EPS in the ABR-MFC reactor was about 3 times that in the ABR, which could be the result of the larger average particle size of sludge in the ABR-MFC reactor than in the ABR. The dye removal rate of the ABR-MFC reactor (91.71%) was higher than that of the ABR (1.49%). The methane production and microbial species in the ABR-MFC system were higher than those in the ABR. Overall, the MFC embedded in the ABR can effectively increase the resistance of the reactor, promote the formation of granular sludge, and improve the performance of the reactor for wastewater treatment.