Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Environmental Management, cilt.405, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged as a clean energy technology operating with zero carbon emissions, offering a sustainable solution for energy recovery and wastewater treatment. This study investigated dairy industry wastewater treatment with enhanced bioenergy production using nitrate as the cathodic electron acceptor. The performance of biotic and abiotic cathodic denitrification conditions was compared. To determine the most suitable operational conditions, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was integrated with the multi-criteria decision-making tool PROMETHEE that includes of additional evaluation criteria such as operating cost and NO2-N accumulation. The highest power density (36.14 mW/m2) was obtained under OPT 2 conditions, consisting of low-strength wastewater, carbon felt anode, graphite brush cathode, and an abiotic cathode. The highest NO3-N removal (0.07 g/L) was achieved under OPT 3 conditions, which has a heterotrophic biocathode. According to the PROMETHEE ranking, the order of preference was OPT 2 > OPT 1 > OPT 4 > OPT 3 with COD removal and maximum power density identified as the most influential criteria, whereas nitrate removal and cost had comparatively lower weights. Under OPT 2 conditions, 1.64 g/L COD removal, 0.0063 g/L NO3-N removal, 26.83% cathodic coulombic efficiency, and 2.44% anodic coulombic efficiency were achieved with a cost of 6.20 €/L and 0.91 mg/L NO2-N accumulation. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses revealed a decrease in anodic resistance at the end of the experiments, indicating improved bioelectrochemical activity. The integrated RSM–PROMETHEE framework proved effective for multi-criteria optimization of dairy wastewater fed MFC systems.