The use of Microbial Fuel Cells to produce electricity is an area that has attracted attention recently owing to clean and renewable energy produced by the use of bacteria to catalyze the conversion of organic matter into electricity. The experiment was done in a mediator-less Microbial Fuel Cell with cassava mother liquid, human urine, human urine with faeces, swine waste and brewery waste as substrates using potassium ferricyanide as electron acceptor. The result of the experiment indicates that cassava mother liquid, human urine and swine waste generated a maximum potential difference of 1.32V each and also maximum current of 2.28A,2.19A and 2.02A respectively. However, human urine with faeces and brewery waste was observed to be lower with values 1.13V and 1.15V respectively and corresponding lower currents of 1.45A and 1.40A respectively. It was observed that human urine is most stable with potential difference and current of 1.32V and 1.58A respectively. This may be attributable to the rich organic compounds such as carbohydrate, nitrogen, ammonium, potassium and phosphorous in urine which are good sources of fuel.
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are typically designed as a two-chamber system with the bacteria in the anode chamber separated from the cathode chamber by a polymeric proton exchange membrane (PEM). Most MFCs use aqueous cathodes where water is exposed to air to provide dissolved oxygen to electrode. To increase energy output and reduce the cost of Microbial Fuel Cells, charcoal electrode (locally prepared) at the composition of 2:1 charcoal/cement ratio was used. Ammonia fertilizer plant liquid effluent was used as the substrate, while the bacteria present in the wastewater were used as the biocatalyst. The cells were operated at room temperature with pH of 6.68. The anode and cathode chambers were kept under anaerobic and aerobic conditions respectively. The cell 3 setup with electrode area of 3.63×10-3 m 2 was observed to have the highest power density of 134.5455mW/m 2 and current density of 181.8182mA/m 2 while cell 4 setup with electrode area of 3.63×10-3 m 2 was observed to have the least power density of 108.9807mW/m 2 and current density of 126.7218mA/m 2 .
In this study, the effects of corn steep liquor addition to cassava tubers during retting were monitored. Peeled and washed Cassava tubers were cut to 4cm weighed and then soaked in different sample buckets containing 100.0%, 80:20%, 60:40%, 20: 80% and 0:100% water to corn steep liquor ratio. The Temperature, PH value and degree of softness was monitored. The highest temperature recorded was 30 o C at a pH of 3.75. It was observed that corn steep liquor increases the period of fermentation from 4 to 8days. When the corn steep liquor was neutralized with NaoH solution to PH 4.69 from 3.98, period of fermentation was reduced to 5days showing that the high acidity of the raw corn steep liquor was detrimental to cassava softening process.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.