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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization for Bioenergy Production
Published on: June 15, 2014
Energy recovery from energy rich vegetable products with microbial fuel cells
Peter Clauwaert1, David van der Ha, Willy Verstraete
1Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
Abstract:
Two types of rapidly biodegradable vegetable products (the liquid fraction of clover and the glycerol-containing sidestream from biodiesel production) were selected for anodic oxidation in microbial fuel cells (MFC) equipped with a biocathode. As benchmark references, five abundant amino-acids in plant sap (L: -glutamine, L: -glutamic acid, L: -asparagine, L: -aspartic acid and L: -alanine) were tested separately. Their performance was in the same order of magnitude of clover sap oxidation (145-225 A m(-3) MFC; 39-95 W m(-3) MFC). Glycerol oxidation resulted in competitive current and power outputs (111 A m(-3) MFC; 23 W m(-3) MFC).
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