Comparative study of different hydro-dynamic flow in microbial fuel cell stacks

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2020.10.016

Abstract

Abstract: This work has investigated the scale-up potential of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) under stacking mode. Stacking was done in batch mode and continuous mode. Batch feeding mode stacks were operated in electrical series (S) and parallel (P) mode. Continuous feeding mode stacks were kept in electrically parallel mode with different hydro-dynamic patterns. The two continuous stacks were connected hydrodynamically in series (i.e. Parallel Dependent; PD) and parallel (i.e. Parallel Independent; PID) configurations. The performance of the continuous stacks was evaluated on the basis of COD consumption rate, power generation and coulombic efficiency. PID obtained highest power (0.47 mW) which was approximately 3.6 times that of PD configuration (0.13 mW). The rate of COD consumption was also highest in PID stack (3091.75 mg·L^-1·d^-1). Coulombic efficiency of the PID stack was 14.26% which was approximately 292.8% of the PD stack. The results confirmed that the parallel electrical connection hybridized with the independent hydro-dynamic flow gives the best possible results when working with stacking of MFCs.

Key words: Microbial fuel cells, Waste water, Hydro-dynamically independent, COD consumption, Fuel cell, Bioenergy

摘要： This work has investigated the scale-up potential of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) under stacking mode. Stacking was done in batch mode and continuous mode. Batch feeding mode stacks were operated in electrical series (S) and parallel (P) mode. Continuous feeding mode stacks were kept in electrically parallel mode with different hydro-dynamic patterns. The two continuous stacks were connected hydrodynamically in series (i.e. Parallel Dependent; PD) and parallel (i.e. Parallel Independent; PID) configurations. The performance of the continuous stacks was evaluated on the basis of COD consumption rate, power generation and coulombic efficiency. PID obtained highest power (0.47 mW) which was approximately 3.6 times that of PD configuration (0.13 mW). The rate of COD consumption was also highest in PID stack (3091.75 mg·L^-1·d^-1). Coulombic efficiency of the PID stack was 14.26% which was approximately 292.8% of the PD stack. The results confirmed that the parallel electrical connection hybridized with the independent hydro-dynamic flow gives the best possible results when working with stacking of MFCs.

关键词: Microbial fuel cells, Waste water, Hydro-dynamically independent, COD consumption, Fuel cell, Bioenergy

Suransh Jain, Arvind Kumar Mungray. Comparative study of different hydro-dynamic flow in microbial fuel cell stacks[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2021, 32(4): 423-430.

Suransh Jain, Arvind Kumar Mungray. Comparative study of different hydro-dynamic flow in microbial fuel cell stacks[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2021, 32(4): 423-430.

References

[1] B.E. Logan, K. Rabaey, Conversion of wastes into bioelectricity and chemicals by using microbial electrochemical technologies, Science 337(2012) 686-690.
[2] J.E. Mink, R.M. Qaisi, B.E. Logan, M.M. Hussain, Energy harvesting from organic liquids in micro-sized microbial fuel cells, Npg Asia Mater. 6(2014) e89.
[3] B.E. Logan, Essential data and techniques for conducting microbial fuel cell and other types of bioelectrochemical system experiments, ChemSusChem 5(2012) 988-994.
[4] S. Firdous, W. Jin, N. Shahid, Z.A. Bhatti, A. Iqbal, U. Abbasi, Q. Mahmood, A. Ali, The performance of microbial fuel cells treating vegetable oil industrial wastewater, Environ. Technol. Innov. 10(2018) 143-151.
[5] D. Molognoni, S. Chiarolla, D. Cecconet, A. Callegari, A.G. Capodaglio, Industrial wastewater treatment with a bioelectrochemical process:assessment of depuration efficiency and energy production, Water Sci. Technol. 77(2018) 134-144.
[6] K. Senthilkumar, M.N. Kumar, Generation of bioenergy from industrial waste using microbial fuel cell technology for the sustainable future, in:Refin. Biomass Residues Sustain.Energy Bioprod.,Elsevier,Amsterdam (2020) 183-193.
[7] S. Naik, S.E. Jujjavarappu, Simultaneous bioelectricity generation from costeffective MFC and water treatment using various wastewater samples, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 27(2020) 27383-27393.
[8] E.B. Estrada-Arriaga, Y. Guillen-Alonso, C. Morales-Morales, L. García-Sánchez, E.O. Bahena-Bahena, O. Guadarrama-Pérez, F. Loyola-Morales, Performance of air-cathode stacked microbial fuel cells systems for wastewater treatment and electricity production, Water Sci. Technol. 76(2017) 683-693.
[9] H. Liu, B.E. Logan, Electricity generation using an air-cathode single chamber microbial fuel cell in the presence and absence of a proton exchange membrane, Environ. Sci. Technol. 38(2004) 4040-4046.
[10] S.-E. Oh, B.E. Logan, Proton exchange membrane and electrode surface areas as factors that affect power generation in microbial fuel cells, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 70(2006) 162-169.
[11] M. Ghasemi, W.R.W. Daud, M. Ismail, M. Rahimnejad, A.F. Ismail, J.X. Leong, M. Miskan, K. Ben Liew, Effect of pre-treatment and biofouling of proton exchange membrane on microbial fuel cell performance, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 38(2013) 5480-5484.
[12] J. Xu, G.P. Sheng, H.W. Luo, W.W. Li, L.F. Wang, H.Q. Yu, Fouling of proton exchange membrane (PEM) deteriorates the performance of microbial fuel cell, Water Res. 46(2012) 1817-1824.
[13] J. Wei, P. Liang, X. Huang, Recent progress in electrodes for microbial fuel cells, Bioresour. Technol. 102(2011) 9335-9344.
[14] F.A. Alatraktchi, Y. Zhang, I. Angelidaki, Nanomodification of the electrodes in microbial fuel cell:impact of nanoparticle density on electricity production and microbial community, Appl. Energy 116(2014) 216-222.
[15] M. Di Lorenzo, A.R. Thomson, K. Schneider, P.J. Cameron, I. Ieropoulos, A smallscale air-cathode microbial fuel cell for on-line monitoring of water quality, Biosens. Bioelectron. 62(2014) 182-188.
[16] B.E. Logan, Scaling up microbial fuel cells and other bioelectrochemical systems, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 85(2010) 1665-1671.
[17] I. Ieropoulos, J. Greenman, C. Melhuish, Microbial fuel cells based on carbon veil electrodes:stack configuration and scalability, Int. J. Energy Res. 32(2008) 1228-1240.
[18] A. Dekker, A. Ter Heijne, M. Saakes, H.V.M. Hamelers, C.J.N. Buisman, Analysis and improvement of a scaled-up and stacked microbial fuel cell, Environ. Sci. Technol. 43(2009) 9038-9042.
[19] J. Choi, Y. Ahn, Continuous electricity generation in stacked air cathode microbial fuel cell treating domestic wastewater, J. Environ. Manage. 130(2013) 146-152.
[20] S. Kuchi, O. Sarkar, S.K. Butti, G. Velvizhi, S.V. Mohan, Stacking of microbial fuel cells with continuous mode operation for higher bioelectrogenic activity, Bioresour. Technol. 257(2018) 210-216.
[21] I. Gajda, O. Obata, M.J. Salar-Garcia, J. Greenman, I.A. Ieropoulos, Long-term bio-power of ceramic Microbial Fuel Cells in individual and stacked configurations, Bioelectrochemistry 133(2020) 107459.
[22] A.E. Eseyin, E.M. El-Giar, J.D. Dodo, M.O. Ekemezie, Effect of stacking microbial fuel cells on electricity generation from sludge, J. Biofuels 10(2019) 35-40.
[23] E.B. Estrada-Arriaga, J. Hernández-Romano, L. García-Sánchez, R.A.G. Garcés, E. O. Bahena-Bahena, O. Guadarrama-Pérez, G.E.M. Chavez, Domestic wastewater treatment and power generation in continuous flow air-cathode stacked microbial fuel cell:effect of series and parallel configuration, J. Environ. Manage. 214(2018) 232-241.
[24] P. Aelterman, K. Rabaey, H.T. Pham, N. Boon, W. Verstraete, Continuous electricity generation at high voltages and currents using stacked microbial fuel cells, Environ. Sci. Technol. 40(2006) 3388-3394.
[25] S.-E. Oh, B.E. Logan, Voltage reversal during microbial fuel cell stack operation, J. Power Sources 167(2007) 11-17.
[26] F. Khaled, O. Ondel, B. Allard, Optimal energy harvesting from serially connected microbial fuel cells, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. 62(2014) 3508-3515.
[27] P. Ledezma, J. Greenman, I. Ieropoulos, MFC-cascade stacks maximise COD reduction and avoid voltage reversal under adverse conditions, Bioresour. Technol. 134(2013) 158-165.
[28] L. Zhuang, Y. Yuan, Y. Wang, S. Zhou, Long-term evaluation of a 10-liter serpentine-type microbial fuel cell stack treating brewery wastewater, Bioresour. Technol. 123(2012) 406-412.
[29] C. Yuvraj, V. Aranganathan, Configuration analysis of stacked microbial fuel cell in power enhancement and its application in wastewater treatment, Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 43(2018) 101-108.
[30] Y. Asensio, E. Mansilla, C.M. Fernandez-Marchante, J. Lobato, P. Cañizares, M.A. Rodrigo, Towards the scale-up of bioelectrogenic technology:Stacking microbial fuel cells to produce larger amounts of electricity, J. Appl. Electrochem. 47(2017) 1115-1125.
[31] I.A. Ieropoulos, A. Stinchcombe, I. Gajda, S. Forbes, I. Merino-Jimenez, G. Pasternak, D. Sanchez-Herranz, J. Greenman, Pee power urinal-microbial fuel cell technology field trials in the context of sanitation, Environ. Sci. Water Res. Technol. 2(2016) 336-343.
[32] J. Suransh, A.K. Tiwari, A.K. Mungray, Modification of clayware ceramic membrane for enhancing the performance of microbial fuel cell, Environ. Prog. Sustain. Energy 39(40) (2020) e13427.
[33] W.E.F. APHA AWWA, Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater 20th edition, Am. Public Heal. Assoc. Am. Water Work Assoc. Water Environ. Fed. Washington, DC. (1998).
[34] C. Jayashree, S. Sweta, P. Arulazhagan, I.T. Yeom, M.I.I. Iqbal, J.R. Banu, Electricity generation from retting wastewater consisting of recalcitrant compounds using continuous upflow microbial fuel cell, Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng. 20(2015) 753-759.
[35] B.E. Logan, Microbial Fuel Cells, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
[36] T.K. Nagsarkar, M.S. Sukhija, Basic Electrical Engineering, Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
[37] X. Zhang, W. He, L. Ren, J. Stager, P.J. Evans, B.E. Logan, COD removal characteristics in air-cathode microbial fuel cells, Bioresour. Technol. 176(2015) 23-31.
[38] A.K. Tiwari, S. Jain, A.A. Mungray, A.K. Mungray, SnO2:PANI modified cathode for performance enhancement of air-cathode microbial fuel cell, J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 8(2020) 103590.
[39] A. Arkatkar, A.K. Mungray, P. Sharma, Effect of treatment on electron transfer mechanism in microbial fuel cell, Energy Sources, Part A Recover. Util. Environ. Eff. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2019.1668878.