Multi-electrode microbial fuel cell (MEMFC): A close analysis towards large scale system architecture

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells are capable of producing electricity through the treatment of wastewater, however, the low power density poses main hurdles towards their wide application. In present work, microbial fuel cell based on multiple anodes, acting as baffle is constructed for achieving higher performance which can be scaled up for real life application. It is investigated for continuous sixty two days using distillery wastewater (WW) in three batches under ambient condition. During first batch, the WW is maintained under stagnant condition inside the anode chamber where as in the rest of the two batches WW is recirculated in the chamber. A maximum power density 427 mW m(-2), is achieved under, stagnant condition which is further enhanced to 597 mW m(-2) under recirculation mode. Recirculation of WW reduces the internal resistance arising from the mass transfer by 50%. Maximum COD removal and Coulombic efficiency obtained is 43% and 23%. Biofouling on the surface of the membrane facing anode chamber is observed. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.