A TWO-STAGE MICROBIAL FUEL CELL SYSTEM TO CONVERT SOLID ORGANIC WASTE TO ELECTRICITY

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) research has focused mostly on producing electricity using soluble organic and inorganic substrates. This study focused on converting solid organic waste into electricity using a two-stage MFC process. In the first stage, a hydrolysis reactor produced soluble organic substrates from solid organic waste. The soluble substrates from the hydrolysis reactor were pumped to the second stage reactor: a continuous-flow, air-cathode MFC. Maximum power output (Pmax) of the MFC was 296 mW/m3 at a current density of 25.4 mA/m2 while being fed only leachate from the first stage reactor. Addition of phosphate buffer increased Pmax to 1,470 mW/m3 (89.4 mA/m2), although this result could not be duplicated with repeated polarization testing. The minimum internal resistance achieved was 77 Omega with leachate feed and 17 Omega with phosphate buffer. The low coulombic efficiency (

Enhanced bio-decolourisation of acid orange 7 by Shewanella oneidensis through co-metabolism in a microbial fuel cell

The decolourisation of acid orange 7 (AO7) (C.I.15510) through co-metabolism in a microbial fuel cell by Shewanella oneidensis strain 14063 was investigated with respect to the kinetics of decolourisation, extent of degradation and toxicity of biotransformation products. Rapid decolourisation of AO7 (>98% within 30 h) was achieved at all tested dye concentrations with concomitant power production. The aromatic amine degradation products were recalcitrant under tested conditions. The first-order kinetic constant of decolourisation (k) decreased from 0.709 ± 0.05 h−1 to 0.05 ± 0.01 h−1 (co-substrate – pyruvate) when the dye concentration was raised from 35 mg l−1 to 350 mg l−1. The use of unrefined co-substrates such as rapeseed cake, corn-steep liquor and molasses also indicated comparable or better AO7 decolourisation kinetic constant values. The fully decolourised solutions indicated increased toxicity as the initial AO7 concentration was increased. This work highlights the possibility of using microbial fuel cells to achieve high kinetic rates of AO7 decolourisation through co-metabolism with concomitant electricity production and could potentially be utilised as the initial step of a two stage anaerobic/aerobic process for azo dye biotreatment.

A microbial fuel cell in contaminated ground delineated by electrical self-potential and normalized induced polarization data

There is a growing interest in the use of geophysical methods to aid investigation and monitoring of complex biogeochemical environments, for example delineation of contaminants and microbial activity related to land contamination. We combined geophysical monitoring with chemical and microbiological analysis to create a conceptual biogeochemical model of processes around a contaminant plume within a manufactured gas plant site. Self-potential, induced polarization and electrical resistivity techniques were used to monitor the plume. We propose that an exceptionally strong (>800 mV peak to peak) dipolar SP anomaly represents a microbial fuel cell operating in the subsurface. The electromagnetic and electrical geophysical data delineated a shallow aerobic perched water body containing conductive gasworks waste which acts as the abiotic cathode of microbial fuel cell. This is separated from the plume below by a thin clay layer across the site. Microbiological evidence suggests that degradation of organic contaminants in the plume is dominated by the presence of ammonium and its subsequent degradation. We propose that the degradation of contaminants by microbial communities at the edge of the plume provides a source of electrons and acts as the anode of the fuel cell. We hypothesize that ions and electrons are transferred through the clay layer that was punctured during the trial pitting phase of the investigation. This is inferred to act as an electronic conductor connecting the biologically mediated anode to the abiotic cathode. Integrated electrical geophysical techniques appear well suited to act as rapid, low cost sustainable tools to monitor biodegradation.

Microfluidic microbial fuel cell fabrication and rapid screening of electrochemically microbes

The demand for novel renewable energy sources, together with the new findings on bacterial electron transport mechanisms and the progress in microbial fuel cell design, have raised a noticeable interest in microbial power generation. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electrochemical device that converts organic substrates into electricity via catalytic conversion by microorganism. It has represented a continuously growing research field during the past few years. The great advantage of this device is the direct conversion of the substrate into electricity and in the future, MFC may be linked to municipal waste streams or sources of agricultural and animal waste, providing a sustainable system for waste treatment and energy production. However, these novel green technologies have not yet been used for practical applications due to their low power outputs and challenges associated with scale-up, so in-depth studies are highly necessary to significantly improve and optimize the device working conditions. For the time being, the micro-scale MFCs show great potential in the rapid screening of electrochemically active microbes. This thesis presents how it will be possible to optimize the properties and design of the micro-size microbial fuel cell for maximum efficiency by understanding the MFC system. So it will involve designing, building and testing a miniature microbial fuel cell using a new species of microorganisms that promises high efficiency and long lifetime. The new device offer unique advantages of fast start-up, high sensitivity and superior microfluidic control over the measured microenvironment, which makes them good candidates for rapid screening of electrode materials, bacterial strains and growth media. It will be made in the Centre of Hybrid Biodevices (Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton) from polymer materials like PDMS. The eventual aim is to develop a system with the optimum combination of microorganism, ion exchange membrane and growth medium. After fabricating the cell, different bacteria and plankton species will be grown in the device and the microbial fuel cell characterized for open circuit voltage and power. It will also use photo-sensitive organisms and characterize the power produced by the device in response to optical illumination.

Decolourisation of Acid orange 7 in a microbial fuel cell with a laccase-based biocathode: Influence of mitigating pH changes in the cathode chamber

Biocathodes may be a suitable replacement of platinum in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) if the cost of MFCs is to be reduced. However, the use of enzymes as bio-cathodes is fraught with loss of activity as time progresses. A possible cause of this loss in activity might be pH increase in the cathode as pH gradients in MFCs are well known. This pH increase is however, accompanied by simultaneous increase in salinity; therefore salinity may be a confounding variable. This study investigated various ways of mitigating pH changes in the cathode of MFCs and their effect on laccase activity and decolourisation of a model azo dye Acid orange 7 in the anode chamber. Experiments were run with catholyte pH automatically controlled via feedback control or by using acetate buffers (pH 4.5) of various strength (100 mM and 200 mM), with CMI7000 as the cation exchange membrane. A comparison was also made between use of CMI7000 and Nafion 117 as the transport properties of cations for both membranes (hence their potential effects on pH changes in the cathode) are different.

无介体双室微生物燃料电池产电性能初步研究

本文对无介体双室微生物燃料电池的产电性能进行了初步研究，并根据不同运行阶段产电性能的优劣，对其中微生物的差异性进行了比较分析。全文分为两个部分： 第一部分：以乙酸钠为阳极原料构建双室微生物燃料电池（MFC），研究不同阴极受体、外接电阻、乙酸钠浓度和pH等因素对电池产电性能的影响，研究结果表明：在500mL的阴阳极反应体系中，选用乙酸钠作为阳极底物，质量浓度为6.46 g/L， pH 7.0，接入500Ω外电阻，阴极电子受体选择高锰酸钾的情况下，微生物燃料电池产电性能最好，最大电功率密度达到294.72 mW/m2，库伦效率能达到25.87%。在确定最适外接电阻阻值的同时对MFC内阻进行测定，阻值为871.87Ω。 第二部分：微生物燃料电池运行中，比较以厌氧污泥作为接种源的第一阶段和只接入附着有大量微生物电极的第二阶段的产电性能，得出第二阶段产电性能优于第一阶段，最大电功率密度达到353.57mW/m2，比第一阶段提高58.85 mW/m2；库伦效率为39.35%，增幅达52％左右；针对微生物燃料电池运行过程中，底物CH3COONa可能存在其它的代谢途径，本实验进行了第二阶段产电性能与CH3COONa消耗率关系以及阳极液面上方气体成分和含量的研究，发现第二阶段50h前CH3COONa的大量消耗主要用于微生物的生长，在整个运行过程中，阳极液面上方含有CH4和CO2；对气体测定的同时还发现，振荡能增强电功率密度的输出；通过对电极上和污泥中微生物差异性分析得出，δ-变形菌纲、β-变形菌纲和拟杆菌门的菌种更适应微生物燃料电池的运行环境，能在电极上大量富集，提高电池的产电性能，只接入附着有大量微生物的电极能有效降低热袍菌纲的菌种数量，降低了CH3COONa的无为消耗，有效提高了电池的库伦效率。 Electricity production in the mediator-less two-chambered microbial fuel cell(MFC) was researched. Based on the result in the different operation phase in the MFC, the microbial diversity was analysed. The paper involved two parts: Part 1: A two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed with high-concentration sodium acetate as fuel in the anode. The influence of different electron acceptors in the cathode, external resistance value, pH value and concentration of sodium acetate on electricity generation in MFC was investigated. The result showed that the maximum power density of 294.72 mW/m2 and the coulombic efficiency of 25.87% was achieved at sodium acetate concentration of 6.46 g/L, pH 7.0, external resistance 500Ωin the anode and when using potassium permanganate as electron acceptor in the cathode. While decided the value of resistor, we found that shaking has effect on electricity production in the MFC. Part 2: Comparing the electricity production in different operation phases when using anaerobic sludge as inoculum in the first phase and microbes in the anodic electrode as inoculum in the second phase, the result showed that electricity production in the second phase was more than that in the first phase, the maximum power density of 353.57 mW/m2 and the coulombic efficiency of 39.35% was achieved, 58.85 mW/m2 and 52％ more than that in the first phase, respectively. According to the fact that CH3COONa might be metabolized in other pathway in the running process in the MFC, we determining the relationship between electricity production and CH3COONa consumption, and the gas content in the anode, we found that CH3COONa was mainly used for microbe growth before 50h, and the anode contained CH4 and CO2. At the same time, we found that shaking could improve power density. The analysis on diversity of microbe in the anodic electrode and anaerobic sludge showed that δ-proteobacterium, β-proteobacterium and Bacteroidetes adapted themselves to the running environment of MFC. The anode could enrich them to improve the electricity production while reduced the quantity of Thermotogales, which were obligately anaerobic organotrophs with a fermentative metabolism, to increase the coulombic efficiency effectively.

Study of fuel cell co-generation systems applied to a dairy industry

This paper presents a methodology for the study of a molten carbonate fuel cell co-generation system. This system is applied to a dairy industry of medium size that typically demands 2100 kW of electricity, 8500 kg/h of saturated steam (P = 1.08 MPa) and 2725 kW of cold water production. Depending on the associated recuperation equipment, the co-generation system permits the recovery of waste heat, which can be used for the production of steam, hot and cold water, hot and cold air. In this study, a comparison is made between two configurations of fuel cell co-generation systems (FCCS). The plant performance has been evaluated on the basis of fuel utilisation efficiency and each system component evaluated on the basis of second law efficiency. The energy analysis presented shows a fuel utilisation efficiency of about 87% and exergy analysis shows that the irreversibilities in the combustion chamber of the plant are significant. Further, the payback period estimated for the fuel cell investment between US$ 1000 and US$ 1500/k-W is about 3 and 6 years, respectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial Fuel Cells: Methodology and Technology

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) research is a rapidly evolving field that lacks established terminology and methods for the analysis of system performance. This makes it difficult for researchers to compare devices on an equivalent basis. The construction and analysis of MFCs requires knowledge of different scientific and engineering fields, ranging from microbiology and electrochemistry to materials and environmental engineering. DescribingMFCsystems therefore involves an understanding of these different scientific and engineering principles. In this paper, we provide a review of the different materials and methods used to construct MFCs, techniques used to analyze system performance, and recommendations on what information to include in MFC studies and the most useful ways to present results.

Two-Phase Flow In Anode Flow Field Of A Small Direct Methanol Fuel Cell In Different Gravities

An in-situ visualization of two-phase flow inside anode flow bed of a small liquid fed direct methanol fuel cells in normal and reduced gravity has been conducted in a drop tower. The anode flow bed consists of 11 parallel straight channels. The length, width and depth of single channel, which had rectangular cross section, are 48.0, 2.5 and 2.0 mm, respectively. The rib width was 2.0 mm. The experimental results indicated that when the fuel cell orientation is vertical, two-phase flow pattern in anode channels can evolve from bubbly flow in normal gravity into slug flow in microgravity. The size of bubbles in the reduced gravity is also bigger. In microgravity, the bubbles rising speed in vertical channels is obviously slower than that in normal gravity. When the fuel cell orientation is horizontal, the slug flow in the reduced gravity has almost the same characteristic with that in normal gravity. It implies that the effect of gravity on two-phase flow is small and the bubbles removal is governed by viscous drag. When the gas slugs or gas columns occupy channels, the performance of liquid fed direct methanol fuel cells is failing rapidly. It infers that in long-term microgravity, flow bed and operating condition should be optimized to avoid concentration polarization of fuel cells.