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Continuous electricity generation by a graphite granule baffled air-cathode microbial fuel cell
1State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China. yujief@hit.edu.cn
Bioresource Technology
|September 15, 2009
Summary
A baffled air-cathode microbial fuel cell (BAFMFC) effectively removes chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater, generating significant power. This technology shows promise for treating high-concentration industrial wastewater while harvesting energy.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Electrochemistry
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Wastewater treatment often involves energy-intensive processes.
- Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer a sustainable alternative for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy generation.
- Baffled MFCs enhance performance through improved flow dynamics and substrate-microbe interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and evaluate a baffled air-cathode microbial fuel cell (BAFMFC) for continuous flow operation.
- To assess the performance of BAFMFC in terms of power generation and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency.
- To compare BAFMFC performance with traditional anaerobic baffled reactors (ABRs) for high-concentration wastewater treatment.
Main Methods:
- Continuous flow operation of a baffled air-cathode microbial fuel cell.
- Substrate: Glucose and liquid from corn stover steam explosion process.
- Performance evaluation: Voltage, power density, COD removal rate, and internal resistance measurements.
Main Results:
- Achieved an average voltage of 652 mV with glucose at 1000 Omega external resistance.
- Maximum power density of 15.2 W/m(3) and 88.0% COD removal rate with glucose.
- Treated corn stover liquid (COD=7160+/-50mg/L) with a maximum power density of 10.7 W/m(3) and 89.1% COD removal.
- COD removal rate ranged from 69.7-88.0% under varying COD loading.
Conclusions:
- BAFMFC demonstrates high efficiency in COD removal for high-concentration wastewater.
- BAFMFC is comparable to traditional anaerobic baffled reactors in COD removal.
- BAFMFC offers a significant advantage in energy harvesting from wastewater treatment.
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