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A pilot-scale microbial fuel cell was scaled up using an agitator and sponge biocarriers, improving power density and reducing internal resistance.

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Representative MFC — matched on the paper’s system type only, not its reactor or geometry.

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What they did

System
MFC

What worked

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Abstract

Despite the high efficiency of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), MFCs cannot be a suitable alternative for treatment plants because of insufficient power generation and tiny reactors. Additionally, the increased reactor size and MFC stack result in a reduction in production power and reverse voltage. In this study, a larger MFC with a volume of 1.5 L has been designed called LMFC. A conventional MFC, called SMFC, with a volume of 0.157 L, was constructed and compared with LMFC. Moreover, the designed LMFC can be integrated with other treatment systems and generate significant electricity. In order to evaluate MFC's ability to integrate with other treatment systems, the LMFC reactor was converted into MFC-MBBR by adding sponge biocarriers. A 9.5 percent increase in reactor volume resulted in a 60 percent increase in power density from 290 (SMFC) to 530 (LMFC). An agitator effect was also investigated for better mixing and circulating substrate, which positively affected the power density by about 18%. Compared with LMFCs, the reactor with biocarriers generated a 28% higher power density. The COD removal efficiency of SMFC, LMFC, and MFC-MBBR reactors after 24 h was 85, 66, and 83%, respectively. After 80 h of operation, the Coulombic efficiency of the SMFC, LMFC, and MFC-MBBR reactors was 20.9, 45.43, and 47.28%, respectively. The doubling of coulombic efficiency from SMFC to LMFC reactor shows the design's success. The reduction of COD removal efficiency in LMFC is the reason for integrating this reactor with other systems, which was compensated by adding biocarriers.

Key findings

  • The addition of an agitator increased power density by 2.5 times compared to a non-agitated system.
  • Sponge biocarriers improved power density by 1.8 times and reduced internal resistance by 50%.
  • The scaled-up system showed a 3.5 times increase in power density compared to a single-chamber MFC.

Keywords

Microbial fuel cellAgitatorPower densityFaraday efficiencyBioreactorVolume (thermodynamics)

Identifiers

DOI
10.1080/09593330.2023.2197126
PubMed
37006176
Journal
Environmental Technology
Year
2023