Life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis of internal-stack trickling bio-electrochemical reactor: an evaluation for commercial viability.

The present study reports a detailed life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis of a commercially viable Internal-Stack-Trickling Bio-Electrochemical Reactor (IS-TrickBER). IS-TrickBER used wastewater as a feedstock and converted that wastewater through electrochemical methods into low-grade fertilizer and produced electricity. IS-TrickBER was observed for its performance in terms of power output and wastewater treatment. IS-TrickBER exhibited up to 4.2 Wh net energy yield while treating 84.84L wastewater per day along with 92.17% COD removal and 38.23% Columbic efficiency during the operational run with real municipal wastewater. Based on daily net energy yield, up to 1457.6Wh yearly net energy yield can be expected. A comprehensive start-to-end life cycle assessment study associated with the manufacturing, and operational phases of IS-TrickBER was also conducted to ascertain its impact on the environment. The environmental impact through air emissions during the manufacturing stage can be minimized by changing the plastic balls used as packing material in the reactor. A detailed cost-benefit analysis was also conducted to understand its economic viability. Cost-benefit analysis of IS-TrickBER, based on net energy yield, shows that IS-TrickBER could compensate its installation cost within a few years. IS-TrickBER performed well in eliminating the chemical load of wastewater and simultaneous electricity generation. Due to its scalability, compactness, and low maintenance, IS-TrickBER can be a suitable candidate in real-time wastewater treatment.

Architectural adaptations of microbial fuel cells.

Conventional wastewater treatment consumes a large amount of money worldwide for removal of pollutants prior to its discharge into water body or facilitating reuse. Decreasing energy expenditure during wastewater treatment and rather recovering some value-added products while treating wastewater is an important goal for researchers. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are representative bioelectrochemical systems, which offer energy-efficient wastewater treatment. MFCs convert chemical energy of organic matter into electrical energy by using biocatalytic activities. Although MFCs are not truly commercialized, they have potential to make energy-gaining wastewater treatment technologies and represent their capabilities successfully. Over the last decade, MFCs have developed remarkably in almost every dimension including wastewater treatment capabilities, power output, and cost optimization; however, its architectural design is an important consideration for scaling up. Here, we review various architectural advancements and technology up-gradation MFCs have experienced during its journey, to take this technology step forward for commercialization.

Magnetotactic bacteria for cancer therapy.

Cancer is characterized by anomalous cell growth. Conventional therapies face many challenges and hence alternative treatment methods are in great demand. In addition, nature offers the best inspiration and recently many therapies of natural origin have proved multi-targeted, multi-staged, and a multi-component mode of action against cancer. Magnetotactic bacteria and magnetosomes-based treatment methods are among them. Present paper reviews various routes by which magnetotactic bacteria and magnetosomes contribute to cancer therapy.