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Urine microbial fuel cells in a Semi-controlled environment for onsite urine pre-treatment and electricity production

Urine microbial fuel cells in a Semi-controlled environment for onsite urine pre-treatment and electricity production
Urine microbial fuel cells in a Semi-controlled environment for onsite urine pre-treatment and electricity production
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems have the ability to oxidize organic matter and transfer electrons to an external circuit as electricity at voltage levels of <1 V. Urine has been shown to be an excellent feedstock for various MFC systems, particularly MFCs inoculated with activated sludge and with a terracotta ceramic membrane separating carbon-based electrodes. In this article, we studied a MFC system composed of two stacks of 32 individual cells each sharing the same anolyte. By combining the current produced by the 32 cells connected in parallel and by adding the potential of both stacks connected in series, an average power density of 23 mW m−2 was produced at an effective current density of 65 mA m−2 for more than 120 days. [NH3], TIC, COD, and TOC levels were monitored frequently to understand the chemical energy conversion to electricity as well as to determine the best electrical configuration of the stacks. Archaeal and bacterial populations on selected anode felts and in the anolyte of both stacks were investigated as well. Indicator microorganisms for bacterial waterborne diseases were measured in anolyte and catholyte compartments to evaluate the risk of reusing the catholyte in a non-regulated environment.
Microbial fuel cell, Electricity generation, Urine treatment
0378-7753
441-448
Cid, Clement A.
85e52060-29b9-4377-bf57-f2c05bf45892
Stinchcombe, Andrew
f215f495-0b45-4233-9e5f-828fd6989e6b
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Hoffmann, Michael R.
7148e91c-4685-4423-9b5f-d523c341b6ae
Cid, Clement A.
85e52060-29b9-4377-bf57-f2c05bf45892
Stinchcombe, Andrew
f215f495-0b45-4233-9e5f-828fd6989e6b
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Hoffmann, Michael R.
7148e91c-4685-4423-9b5f-d523c341b6ae

Cid, Clement A., Stinchcombe, Andrew, Ieropoulos, Ioannis and Hoffmann, Michael R. (2018) Urine microbial fuel cells in a Semi-controlled environment for onsite urine pre-treatment and electricity production. Journal of Power Sources, 400, 441-448. (doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.08.051).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems have the ability to oxidize organic matter and transfer electrons to an external circuit as electricity at voltage levels of <1 V. Urine has been shown to be an excellent feedstock for various MFC systems, particularly MFCs inoculated with activated sludge and with a terracotta ceramic membrane separating carbon-based electrodes. In this article, we studied a MFC system composed of two stacks of 32 individual cells each sharing the same anolyte. By combining the current produced by the 32 cells connected in parallel and by adding the potential of both stacks connected in series, an average power density of 23 mW m−2 was produced at an effective current density of 65 mA m−2 for more than 120 days. [NH3], TIC, COD, and TOC levels were monitored frequently to understand the chemical energy conversion to electricity as well as to determine the best electrical configuration of the stacks. Archaeal and bacterial populations on selected anode felts and in the anolyte of both stacks were investigated as well. Indicator microorganisms for bacterial waterborne diseases were measured in anolyte and catholyte compartments to evaluate the risk of reusing the catholyte in a non-regulated environment.

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Published date: 1 October 2018
Keywords: Microbial fuel cell, Electricity generation, Urine treatment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 456242
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/456242
ISSN: 0378-7753
PURE UUID: 298e882a-b462-421c-a34d-568849abdbae
ORCID for Ioannis Ieropoulos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9641-5504

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Date deposited: 26 Apr 2022 21:20
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:10

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Contributors

Author: Clement A. Cid
Author: Andrew Stinchcombe
Author: Michael R. Hoffmann

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