Project Introduction In 2015, China implemented the strictest environmental protection law in history, setting strict regulations on corporate pollution emissions and significantly increasing the punishment for illegal polluting enterprises. The resource utilization of wastewater/sludge from food and pharmaceutical fermentation plants is an effective way to reduce operating costs for these enterprises. Fermentation wastewater/sludge, due to its high organic matter content, good biodegradability, and relatively stable composition, is very suitable for microbial electrolysis hydrogen production. The device used for microbial electrolysis hydrogen production is called a microbial electrolysis cell. This device is separated into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber by a proton exchange membrane. In the anode chamber, microorganisms growing on the electrode surface can degrade organic matter to produce carbon dioxide, protons, and electrons. Protons and electrons pass through the proton exchange membrane and external circuit to reach the cathode, respectively. Under a certain external voltage (>0.2 V), Hydrogen gas is generated at the cathode under the action of electricity. The entire device can achieve the removal of organic matter from wastewater while recovering hydrogen gas. Technical Advantages The project is divided into two phases for execution. Phase one mainly focuses on the research of microbial electrochemical hydrogen production from fermentation wastewater/sludge, with the aim of treating organic matter and recovering hydrogen gas. Phase two mainly involves the advanced treatment of the effluent from phase one, establishing a complete physical and chemical treatment process to achieve the standard discharge of wastewater after microbial electrochemical treatment. Advantages of Microbial Electrochemical Hydrogen Production: (1) Wide substrate range: Compared to fermentation hydrogen production, the substrates for microbial electrolysis tanks are not limited to fermentable sugars but also include proteins, lipids, and even fermentation wastewater and various organic wastewaters. (2) High conversion rate: Substrates can be completely converted into carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas, for example, theoretically 1 mol of glucose can produce 12 mol of hydrogen gas, while the maximum value for hydrogen production through fermentation is 4 mol. (3) Requires a small external voltage: The theoretical minimum voltage required for MEC hydrogen production is only 0.12 V, which is much lower than the theoretical minimum voltage of 1.23 V required for hydrogen production through water electrolysis. (4) Reaction rate controllable: Compared to traditional anaerobic wastewater technologies such as anaerobic digestion for methane production and fermentation for hydrogen production, microbial electrolysis cells can regulate the operation of the reactor through an external circuit. (5) High hydrogen production purity: Anaerobic fermentation produces a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, while microbial electrolysis cells produce high-purity (>95%) hydrogen gas at the cathode due to the presence of proton exchange membranes.