Generation of Bioelectricity from Organic Fruit Waste

Abstract

This research proposes an alternative for companies and farmers through the production of electricity using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using waste from export products. Nine MFCs were manufactured with zinc and copper electrodes; and as substrates, pineapple, potato and tomato pulp wastes were used in the anode chamber, and residual sludge in the cathode chamber. It was observed that the MFCs with pineapple substrate generated higher values of the electrical parameters, resulting in voltage and current values of 0.3484 ± 0.003 V and 27.88 ± 0.23 mA, respectively. It was also observed that the maximum power density was 0.967 ± 0.059 W/cm2 at a current density of 0.04777 A/cm2 for the same substrate. Acid pH values were observed in the three samples, while the conductivity reached its maximum value on day 23 (69.47 ± 0.91 mS/cm) which declined until the last day of monitoring; the turbidity values increased abruptly after day 22 until the last day where a value of 200.3 ± 2.52 UNT was observed for the pineapple substrate. The scanning electron microscopy for the pineapple substrate MFC electrodes shows the formation of a porous biofilm on the zinc and copper electrodes. These results show that a new form of electricity production has been achieved by generating high voltage and current values, using low-cost materials.

The Potential Use of Pseudomonas stutzeri as a Biocatalyst for the Removal of Heavy Metals and the Generation of Bioelectricity

“…Figure 2a shows the voltage values obtained from the MFC-SC during the 12 days of monitoring, observing an increase in the values from the first day in the MFC-SC of the Target (0.08 V) and cell with P. stutzeri (0.12 V) until the sixth, where they reached their maximum values of 0.35 and 0.91 V, respectively, and then observed a decrease in values until the last day (0.17 and 0.15 V). The literature has reported that the increase in voltage values in the first few days is due to the oxidation-reduction process between the chambers due to a large amount of organic matter [27,28]. In contrast, the decrease in potential values is inevitable because the metabolism of the microorganisms is obtained through the oxidation of the substrate used, which is depleted [29,30].…”

Use of Tangerine Waste as Fuel for the Generation of Electric Current

“…This technology has different types of design, but it basically consists of two chambers (anodic and cathodic) almost always joined by a proton exchange membrane inside, where the electrodes (anodic and cathodic) that are inside the chambers meet. They are joined on the outside by an external circuit [23,24]. MFCs use chemical energy to convert it into electrical energy, mainly due to the oxidation and reduction processes that occur [25].…”