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Autonomous Energy Harvesting and Prevention of Cell Reversal in MFC Stacks

Autonomous Energy Harvesting and Prevention of Cell Reversal in MFC Stacks
Autonomous Energy Harvesting and Prevention of Cell Reversal in MFC Stacks
This study presents a novel method for avoiding cell reversal whilst optimising energy harvesting from stacked Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) by dynamically reconfiguring the electrical connections between them. The sequential changing of in-parallel and in-series electrical connections in an 8-MFC stack resulted in energy being transferred twice as fast into a super-capacitor avoiding cell reversal in MFCs as opposed to a fixed in-series configuration. This approach, allows for a lower internal resistance state within the stack compared to a fixed electrical configuration. This is critical in the initial stages of energy extraction from MFCs connected electrically in-series where the impedance of the capacitor is drawing high levels of current and cell reversals are likely to occur and hinder performance. Automation of electrical connections doubled the extracted power from the stack whilst halving the charging times without any cell reversal occurrence. The electrical reconfiguring of MFCs was performed by a USB-powered switch-box that modulated the stack's connections. This lead to the development of an energy autonomous switch-box circuitry powered solely by the MFC stack with negligible impact on the overall energy harvesting efficiency (i.e. above 90%).
0013-4651
H3047-H3051
Papaharalabos, George
39e5655a-6ce5-45f8-ac06-aaeb0a81d4f3
Stinchcombe, Andrew
f215f495-0b45-4233-9e5f-828fd6989e6b
Horsfield, Ian
2c9d9f82-b90e-4185-bb3a-3ce06cc973cf
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Papaharalabos, George
39e5655a-6ce5-45f8-ac06-aaeb0a81d4f3
Stinchcombe, Andrew
f215f495-0b45-4233-9e5f-828fd6989e6b
Horsfield, Ian
2c9d9f82-b90e-4185-bb3a-3ce06cc973cf
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13

Papaharalabos, George, Stinchcombe, Andrew, Horsfield, Ian, Melhuish, Chris, Greenman, John and Ieropoulos, Ioannis (2017) Autonomous Energy Harvesting and Prevention of Cell Reversal in MFC Stacks. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 164 (3), H3047-H3051. (doi:10.1149/2.0081703jes).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This study presents a novel method for avoiding cell reversal whilst optimising energy harvesting from stacked Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) by dynamically reconfiguring the electrical connections between them. The sequential changing of in-parallel and in-series electrical connections in an 8-MFC stack resulted in energy being transferred twice as fast into a super-capacitor avoiding cell reversal in MFCs as opposed to a fixed in-series configuration. This approach, allows for a lower internal resistance state within the stack compared to a fixed electrical configuration. This is critical in the initial stages of energy extraction from MFCs connected electrically in-series where the impedance of the capacitor is drawing high levels of current and cell reversals are likely to occur and hinder performance. Automation of electrical connections doubled the extracted power from the stack whilst halving the charging times without any cell reversal occurrence. The electrical reconfiguring of MFCs was performed by a USB-powered switch-box that modulated the stack's connections. This lead to the development of an energy autonomous switch-box circuitry powered solely by the MFC stack with negligible impact on the overall energy harvesting efficiency (i.e. above 90%).

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Papaharalabos_2017_J._Electrochem._Soc._164_H3047 - Version of Record
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Published date: 2017

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 454044
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454044
ISSN: 0013-4651
PURE UUID: cfaa2ed0-42b1-4f9a-8e15-a86fe00e0547
ORCID for Ioannis Ieropoulos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9641-5504

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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2022 19:19
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:10

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Contributors

Author: George Papaharalabos
Author: Andrew Stinchcombe
Author: Ian Horsfield
Author: Chris Melhuish
Author: John Greenman

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