INTRODUCTION

Although the petroleum refinery and petrochemical industries needed for national development
and improved quality of life, the unwholesome and environmentally unacceptable pollution
effects of the waste from these industries are cause for worry. This is because in the process of
converting crude oil into petroleum products (liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel
oil and residual oil) and petrochemical products (polypropylene, polyethylene), waste of different
kinds are generated. The wastes can be broadly categorized into oily materials, spent chemicals,
spent catalyst and other residuals. These wastes are released to the environment in the form of
gases, particles, and liquid effluent (liquid consisting of surface runoff water, sanitary
wastewater, solid waste and sludge) (orld !ank, "##$). The waste water released from the
refineries are characterized by the presence of large quantity of crude oil products, polycyclic
and aromatic hydrocarbon, phenols, metal derivatives, surface active substances, sulfides,
naphthalene acids and other chemicals (%uleimanov, "##&), which contains high organic load
that could be used to generate energy. As a result of ineffectiveness of purification systems,
waste water may become seriously dangerous, leading to the accumulation of to'ic products in
the receiving waster bodies with potentially serious consequences on the ecosystem (!eg et al,
())*+ Aghalino and ,yinla, ())#). The uncontrolled disposal of waste into water renders water
unsafe for economic use, recreational use and poses a threat to human life and it is also against
the principle of sustainable development.
e depend on energy for each of our day to day activities, especially now with the
advancement of technology which all require one form of energy to function. The impending
energy crisis and global warming as warranted the need for eco-friendly sources of energy. .on-
conventional, carbon-neutral sources of energy such as solar, wind, biomass and nuclear energy
are being e'plored and e'ploited to a considerable e'tent. %till /ver ".& billion people in the
world have no access to electricity. That means " out of & people are forced to live without
something that a ma0ority of the world takes for granted every day1 ithout electricity, these
people are unable to refrigerate food2medicine, have a guaranteed light source, or even have
access to safe heating methods. 3n fact, according to a 0oint report of the 4nited .ations
5evelopment 6rogram and the orld 7ealth /rganization report, ( million people die
unnecessarily each year due to inhaling the indoor smoke caused from burning coal, crop
residue, wood, and even dung for heating and cooking purposes. This is precisely the reason why
we want to change this. /ur goal is to find an easy and affordable method to supply energy. e
hope to use items that would be accessible or could be easily supplied to persons in need (austin
simonson, ()"8), to generate sufficient and cheap energy that would be accessible to the
common man which would also have a limited damage on the environment. Solar
energy is ultimately the long-term solution, but it all depends on
how we harvest this source of energy. The sun does not shine all day nor does
it shine e!ually in all regions. Thus solar panels can help with daytime electricity needs
but it will not serve as a primary source of energy throughout the day and night without
efficient methods of energy storage (Grant "##$%.
In our energy&based society the value of any energy&rich matters is increasing. Thus the
high organic load in wastewater is no longer seen as waste but instead as a valuable energy
source 'Dairo "#($%. )nergy generation from waste organic sources is the current trend in
research for harvesting renewable energy with *icrobial +uel Cell '*+C% in the front
burner. *+Cs are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy contained in
organic matter into electricity by means of the catalytic 'metabolic% activity of living
microorganisms 'Mathuriya and Sharma "##,, Allen and Bennetto (,,$, Kin et al "##",
Miriam et al "##-%. 9icrobial :uel ;ell (9:;) technology utilizes bacterial growth in carbon-
containing solutions (like waste that would otherwise be disposed) to generate electricity or
hydrogen. !acteria in a 9icrobial :uel ;ell break down our food and bodily wastes, effectively
generating power from the materials that are usually thrown away. !y tapping into this
previously unharnessed source of power, clean and sustainable energy can be produced at low
cost. .hile the first observation of electrical current generated by bacteria is generally
credited to /otter in (,(( 'Potter (,(l% very few practical advances were achieved in this
field even 55 years later in (,00 'Lewis (,00%. 1owever e2periments that were conducted
re!uired the use of chemical mediators or electron shuttles which could carry electrons
from inside the cell to e2ogenous electrodes. The brea3through in *+Cs occurred in (,,,
when it was recogni4ed that mediators did not need to be added 'Kim et al. (,,,c5 Kim et al.
(,,,d%. 1owever the power production was low and it was not clear whether the
technology would have much impact on reducing wastewater strength. In "##6 this
changed and the lin3 between electricity using *+Cs and wastewater treatment was clearly
forged when it was demonstrated that domestic wastewater could be treated to practical
levels while simultaneously generating electricity 'Liu et al. "##6%.
9:; technology represents a novel approach of using bacteria for generation of bioelectricity by
o'idation of organic waste and renewable biomass.
This technology utilizes bacterial growth in carbon-containing solutions to generate electricity or
hydrogen. 3n the 9:;, aerobic conditions are maintained at the cathode while anaerobic
conditions are maintained at the anode. The 9:; design can be modified to produce hydrogen at
the cathode by applying an additional over potential and omitting o'ygen from the cathode. A
microbial fuel cell (9:;) is a bioreactor that converts chemical energy in the organic
compounds to electrical energy through catalytic reactions of microorganisms under anaerobic
conditions. 9:; generally makes use of organic matter and hence a large number of waste
materials rich in organic content can be sub0ected to 9:; for electricity generation. 6ower
output and ;oulomb efficiency are significantly affected by the types of microbes used in the
anodic chamber of 9:;, configuration of the 9:; and operating conditions. The main ob0ective
of this work was to utilize waste water and waste products rich in ions or organic content which
can be used as a potent source to generate electricity using microbes.
9icrobial :uel ;ells (9:;s) have been described as <bioreactors that convert the energy in the
chemical bonds of organic compounds into electrical energy through catalytic activity of micro-
organisms under anaerobic conditions=.
!y >ustin 9ercer, 9icrobial :uel ;ells (9:;s) use bacteria to convert organic waste material
into electrical energy. This environmentally-friendly process produces electricity without the
combustion of fossil fuels which mean environment damage would be minimal. 9:;s have
various practical applications such as in breweries, domestic wastewater treatment, desalination
plants, hydrogen production, remote sensing, and pollution remediation, and they can be used as
a remote power source. idespread use of 9:;s in these areas can take our products waste and
transform them into energy as well as treat the waste.
9:;s are especially valuable in that there are many applications of their use help to reduce
pollution and cut water treatment costs in a sustainable and environmentally-frie ndly way.
;urrently, 9icrobial :uel ;ells are used to produce electricity while simultaneously cleaning
wastewater. ith future development, 9:;s have the potential to produce hydrogen for fuel
cells, desalinate sea water, and provide sustainable energy sources for remote areas.
The microbial fuel cell (9:;) technology offers a valuable alternative to energy generation as
well as waste war. A variety of readily degradable compounds such as glucose and acetate, and
various types of wastewater such as domestic, starching and paper recycling plant wastewater,
have operated successfully as substrate in 9:; (9elhuish et al., ())?+ :reguia et al., ())@+
Aargi and ,ker, ())@+ Biu and Bi, ())@+ 9in and Angelidaki, ())$+ Cenkata-9ohan et al., ())$).
7I* 7ND O89)CTI:);
7imD
The aim of this research is to e'plore the feasibility of using 9:; technology to generate
electricity and treat refinery wastewater simultaneously by recycling the chemical energy in
wastewater.
Ob<ectivesD the ob0ectives of this work areD
". To produce bioelectricity from refinery water and water treatment.
(. To study effect of temperature, agitation and wastewater concentration on current generation.
;I=NI+IC7NC) O+ ;TUD>
The pro0ect work is of importance to the society at large because, the importance of energy and
the treatment of wastewater cannot be ignored. This research wor3 is important to Nigeria
and the .orld because we cannot overemphasi4e the importance of energy generation as
well as wastewater treatment. The ever growing ,nergy demand in this present age is quite
challenging especially in a developing nation like .igeria. Also the concerns about climate
change and global warming require development of new methods of energy production using
renewable and carbon neutral sources.
;CO/) O+ ;TUD>
The scope of this study comprises of two aspects+
i. To e'amine the possibility of current generation from refinery wastewater effluent.
ii. To study effects of temperature, agitation and concentration of wastewater on power output.
D)+INITION; 7ND T)R*INO?O=>
8iochemical O2ygen Demand'8OD% - !iochemical o'ygen demand is o'ygen demand by
microorganisms during stabilization of organic matter under prescribed conditions, usually over
a & day period,!/5 & specifically denotes the o'ygen demand over a &day period at ()E;.
Chemical O2ygen Demand 'COD% - ;hemical o'ygen demand (;/5) is the equivalent amount
of o'ygen consumed under specified conditions in the chemical o'idation of the organic and
o'idizable in organic matter contained in a wastewater, corrected for the influence of chlorides.
3n American practice, unless otherwise specified, thechemical o'idizing agent is hot acid
dichromate.
)ffluent- ,ffluent is a liquid which flows out of a containing space, and2or sewage, water or
other liquid, partially or completely treated, or in its natural state,as the case may be flowing out
of a reservoir, basin, or treatment plant,or part thereof.
)ffluent ?imitation- ,ffluent limitation is any restriction (including schedules of compliance)
established by a governmental authority on quantities, rates and concentrations of chemical,
physical, biological and other constituents which are discharged from point sources into
navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone,or the ocean
Immediate O2ygen Demand 'IOD% - 3mmediate o'ygen demand (3/5) is the amount of
o'ygen that is utilized by the components of a wastewater within "& minutes (unless otherwise
specified) after being introduced into water that contains dissolved o'ygen.
8ioelectricity@
*icrobial +uel Cell@
)lectrode@
Cathode@
7node@
Refinery .astewater@
.astewater Treatment@