Search results for "Microbial fuel cell"
showing 10 items of 49 documents
Influence of the methodology of inoculation in the performance of air-breathing microbial fuel cells
2017
n 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. Onl…
The Membrane-Less Microbial Fuel Cell (ML-MFC) with Ni-Co and Cu-B Cathode Powered by the Process Wastewater from Yeast Production
2020
Research related to measurements of electricity production was combined with parallel wastewater parameter reduction in a membrane-less microbial fuel cell (ML-MFC) fed with industry process wastewater (from a yeast factory). Electrodes with Ni–Co and Cu–B catalysts were used as cathodes. A carbon electrode (carbon cloth) was used as a reference due to its widespread use. It was demonstrated that all analyzed electrodes could be employed as cathodes in ML-MFC fed with process wastewater from yeast production. Electricity measurements during ML-MFC operations indicated that power (6.19 mW) and current density (0.38 mA·cm−2) were the highest for Ni–Co electrodes. In addition, during the explo…
Effect of mode of operation, substrate and final electron acceptor on single-chamber membraneless microbial fuel cell operating with a mixed community
2018
Abstract Waste minimization and circular thinking are to be achieved in order to cope with the limited amount of resources of our planet. In this perspective, bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) can contribute to the global balance with their ability to extract chemical residual energy from wastewater and transform it directly into electrical current. BESs development has been limited by the cost connected to reactor design, in which membranes and cathode catalyst constituted a major drawback. In this paper we report the optimization process of a simple reactor without membranes or precious catalyst that produced 47.1 mW m−2, which is more than what achieved with configurations including mem…
New prototypes for the isolation of the anodic chambers in microbial fuel cells
2016
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…
Comparison of Cu-B Alloy and Stainless Steel as Electrode Material for Microbial Fuel Cell
2019
The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a technical devices that electricity produces during wastewater treatment. One of the problems of MFCs is a low current density. Thus, it is necessary to search for new electrodes for MFC. The comparison of Cu-B alloy and stainless steel as catalyst for MFCs cathode is presented in this paper. The research included measurements of the concentration of COD, NH4+ and NO3− in three types of reactors: without aeration, with aeration and with using a MFC (with Cu-B and stainless steel cathode). It has been shown that effectiveness of MFC with Cu-B electrode is higher than effectiveness of MFC with stainless steel electrode.
BIO-ELECTROCHEMICAL SYSTEMS FOR ENERGY GATHERING FROM WASTEWATER
2017
It has been calculated that annually 1.5 × 108 MWh are wasted as municipal, industrial, and animal wastewater. The recovery of at least part of this energy it is of primary importance in order to approach circular economy. As AD, MFC is a biotechnology that uses microorganism into an anaerobic environment for energy conversion and recovery. Differently from AD, MFC belongs to the sub-division of Bio-Electrochemical Systems (BESs), having the advantage to achieve a direct electrical output. Exoelectrogens bacteria are employed, capable to close their respiratory electron chain on the surface of an electrode. Up to know, BESs were used to extract energy from a multitude of wastes, such as dis…
Influence of the methodology of inoculation in the performance of air-breathing microbial fuel cells
2017
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…
Abatement of AO7 in a divided microbial fuel cells by sequential cathodic and anodic treatment powered by different microorganisms
2017
Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can allow the treatment of organic pollutants resistant to conventional biological processes by electro-Fenton (EF) process performed in the cathodic compartment. However, EF usually results in a partial mineralization of pollutants. Here, we have studied the possible treatment of such organics in a MFC by a sequential cathodic and anodic treatment. In particular, the treatment of an aqueous solution of Acid Orange (AO7), a largely used azoic dye resistant to conventional biological processes, was performed in the cathodic compartment of a divided MFC by EF. The process allowed the total removal of the color and the partial removal of the TOC, due mainly…
Influence of the initial sludge characteristics and acclimation on the longterm performance of double-compartment acetate-fed microbial fuel cells
2018
Abstract In this work, three double-compartment MFCs (DC-MFC) were operated for 1 month in order to compare their performances in terms of wastewater treatment capacity and electricity production and to get information about how this performance is influenced by the start-up procedure. To do this, they underwent different start-up procedures. One of them (aerobic-starved MFC) was inoculated with 100% fresh aerobic sludge, another (anaerobic-starved MFC) using 100% fresh anaerobic sludge, and finally a third one (aerobic-fed MFC) was inoculated using a mixture 10% fresh aerobic sludge and 90% synthetic wastewater (based on acetate). Then, from this start-up, the cells were operated exactly u…
From Microorganism-Based Amperometric Biosensors towards Microbial Fuel Cells
2021
This review focuses on the overview of microbial amperometric biosensors and microbial biofuel cells (MFC) and shows how very similar principles are applied for the design of both types of these bioelectronics-based devices. Most microorganism-based amperometric biosensors show poor specificity, but this drawback can be exploited in the design of microbial biofuel cells because this enables them to consume wider range of chemical fuels. The efficiency of the charge transfer is among the most challenging and critical issues during the development of any kind of biofuel cell. In most cases, particular redox mediators and nanomaterials are applied for the facilitation of charge transfer from a…