Influence of the methodology of inoculation in the performance of air-breathing microbial fuel cells

In this work, four air-breathing microbial fuel cells (AB-MFC) were operated for 1 month in order to determine if the methodology of inoculation affects the steady-state performance of this type of MFCs. For this purpose, anaerobic and aerobic sludge were fed to two identical AB-MFCs without any external carbon source into a tight sealed environment during the first three days of start-up. For comparison purposes, other two AB-MFCs were operated mixing the initial sludge and an amount of sodium acetate as substrate. Results point out that the inoculation procedure does not affect the steady-state treatment capacity of the cells but it affects very seriously the production of electricity. On…

On the staking of miniaturized air-breathing microbial fuel cells

Abstract This work focuses on the scale-up of the MFCs by miniaturization and multiplication strategy. Performances of five stacks containing 1, 2, 5, 8 and 16 MFCs were compared. Each stack was evaluated under individual, parallel and series electrical connection as well as for cascade or individual hydraulic connection. Cascade feeding mode with a tank per stack favours the COD removal when the number of MFCs in the stack increases. However, despite operating without COD limitations, the energy production was disadvantaged. By changing the feeding system of a tank per stack into an individual tank per MFC, the performance of the whole stack enhances considerably. Stacking in series can in…

Optimization of the performance of an air-cathode MFC by changing solid retention time

New prototypes for the isolation of the anodic chambers in microbial fuel cells

This work has been focused on the assessment of new prototypes of MFC in which a more strict separation of the anode and cathode compartments is looked for, in order to attain strict anaerobic conditions in the anode chamber and hence, avoid lack of efficiency due to the prevalence of non-electrogenic competing microorganisms and to optimize composition of the anolyte and catholyte. A cylinder reactor with an inner chamber with graphite bars acting as anodes and the outer one with a stainless steel tube acting as cathode was used in three different configurations and results obtained during lifetests are compared in terms of electricity production, cathode oxygen consumption and anode COD d…

Effect of sludge age on microbial consortia developed in MFCs

BACKGROUND This work is focused on the assessment of the performance of mini-scale air-breathing microbial fuel cells (MFCs), by monitoring the evolution of the bio-electrogenic activity for a period of 40 days and by comparing the microorganisms populations developed in each of the MFC after this period. RESULTS Five MFCs were operated at sludge ages ranging from 1.4 to 10.0 days. Results showed the superb performance of the MFC operating under a sludge age of 2.5 days. Desulfuromonas, Syntrophothermus, Solitalea, Acholeplasma, Propionicimonas, Desulfobacula and Sphaerochaeta are proposed as potential responsible for the bio-electrogenic activity. CONCLUSIONS Microbial population analysis …

Development of a module of stacks of air-breathing microbial fuel cells to light-up a strip of LEDs

Abstract This work focuses on scaling-up of the microbial fuel cells technology according to the principle of miniaturization and multiplication. Seven stacks of 16 mini-MFCs (electrodic area of 0.866 cm2) were built up leading to a big module of 112 MFCs. The electrical connection among the MFCs in the stacks and among the stacks into the modules was optimized in order to implement this technology. Results show that 1 MFC generates 1.22 mW while the optimization of the electric connection in order to achieve the maximum power results in 6.62 mW compared to the theoretical 182 mW, indicating the existence of large energy losses in the system. However, to light a LED there is not a threshold…

The influence of sludge retention time on mixed culture microbial fuel cell start-ups

Abstract In this work, the start-ups of air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) seeds with conventional activated sludge cultivated at different solid retention times (SRTs) are compared. A clear influence of the SRT of the inoculum was observed, corresponding to an SRT of 10 days to the higher current density exerted, about 0.2 A m −2 . This observation points out that, in this type of electrochemical device, it is recommended to use high SRT seeds. The work also points out that in order to promote an efficient start-up, it is not only necessary to use high SRT seeds, but also to feed a high COD concentration. When feeding 10,000 ppm COD and keeping SRT of 10 d differences of current densi…