ABSTRACT
Increasing population growth, rapid industrialization, and high standards of living along with the associated per-capita consumption has resulted in a scarcity of potable water worldwide. In this aspect desalination of sea and brackish water is one of the viable options to overcome the drinking water shortage. The treatment of such water with conventional processes is presently energy-intensive and therefore requires an alternative solution. Microbial desalination cell (MDC) technology is a promising derivative of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). MDC provides a simultaneous solution to wastewater treatment, water desalination and power production in a single reactor through a three-chamber assembly separated by an ion exchange membrane. The degradation of the organic wastewater at the anodic chamber generates the current that is helpful for driving the ions from the desalination chamber and selectively exchanging them through the membranes by osmosis and diffusion. This chapter provides a detailed insight into the basic principle, design configuration, operational parameters and recent trends of materials that are used for the fabrication of MDC components. The MDC process sustainability through life cycle assessment is also discussed and provides the environmental impacts during its whole life cycle through its material consumption and energy use. Additionally, a mathematical model is also used to describe the MDC performance at different operating conditions.
