Comparative Study of Different Operation Modes of Microbial Fuel Cells Treating Food Residue Biomass

Abstract

Four multiple air–cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were developed under the scope of using extracts from fermentable household food waste (FORBI) for the production of bioelectricity. The operation of the MFCs was assessed in batch mode, considering each cell individually. Τhe chemical oxygen demand (COD) efficiency was relatively high in all cases (> 85% for all batch cycles) while the electricity yield was 20 mJ/gCOD/L of extract solution. The four units were then electrically connected as a stack, both in series and in parallel, and were operated continuously. Approximately 62% COD consumption was obtained in continuous stack operation operated in series and 67% when operated in parallel. The electricity yield of the stack was 2.6 mJ/gCOD/L of extract solution when operated continuously in series and 0.7 mJ/gCOD/L when operated continuously in parallel.

Performance Comparison of Different Cathode Strategies on Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells: Coal Fly Ash as a Cathode Catalyst

“…In this direction, several air-cathode, membrane-less, single-chamber configurations have been examined since these designs increase power production and reduce the capital cost of MFCs [7,8]. In such systems, various inexpensive and sustainable materials have been tested as separators and as cathode catalysts [9,10].…”