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A study on the effect of wall boundary layer thickness on power performance of a recirculation microbial fuel cell found that a thin boundary layer enhances voltage output and reduces charge transfer resistance.

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What they did

System
MFC
Substrate
pure compound

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Abstract

Hydrodynamic boundary layer is a significant phenomenon occurring in a flow through a bluff body, and this includes the flow motion and mass transfer. Thus, it could affect the biofilm formation and the mass transfer of substrates in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Therefore, understanding the role of hydrodynamic boundary layer thicknesses in MFCs is truly important. In this study, three hydrodynamic boundary layers of thickness 1.6, 4.1, and 5 cm were applied to the recirculation mode membrane-less MFC to investigate the electricity production performance. The results showed that the thin hydrodynamic boundary could enhance the voltage output of MFC due to the strong shear rate effect. Thus, a maximum voltage of 22 mV was obtained in the MFC with a hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness of 1.6 cm, and this voltage output obtained was 11 times higher than that of MFC with 5 cm hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness. Moreover, the charge transfer resistance of anode decreased with decreasing hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness. The charge transfer resistance of MFC with hydrodynamic boundary layer of thickness 1.6 cm was 39 Ω, which was 0.79 times lesser than that of MFC with 5 cm thickness. These observations would be useful for enhancing the performance of recirculation mode MFCs.

Key findings

  • A maximum voltage of 22 mV was obtained in the MFC with a hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness of 1.6 cm, 11 times higher than that of MFC with 5 cm hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness.
  • The charge transfer resistance of anode decreased with decreasing hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness.
  • The charge transfer resistance of MFC with hydrodynamic boundary layer of thickness 1.6 cm was 39 Ω, 0.79 times lesser than that of MFC with 5 cm hydrodynamic boundary layer thickness.

Keywords

Microbial fuel cellBoundary layerLayer (electronics)Power (physics)Fuel cellsBoundary (topology)

Identifiers

DOI
10.3390/en11041003
Journal
Energies
Year
2018