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Algal biomass as fuel for stacked‐MFCs for profitable, sustainable and carbon neutral bioenergy generation
Author(s) -
Asensio Yeray,
FernandezMarchante Carmen,
Villaseñor Jose,
Lobato Justo,
Cañizares Pablo,
Rodrigo Manuel A
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.5354
Subject(s) - microbial fuel cell , biomass (ecology) , algae , microorganism , bioenergy , faraday efficiency , environmental science , nutrient , carbon fibers , pulp and paper industry , energy source , biofuel , electricity generation , environmental engineering , materials science , renewable energy , chemistry , waste management , botany , ecology , biology , electrode , electrochemistry , power (physics) , bacteria , engineering , physics , genetics , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material
BACKGROUND This work compares the performance of three stacked microbial fuel cells constructed with different number of single‐MFC (MFC 1 with two stacked‐MFCs, MFC 2 with ten stacked‐MFCs and MFC 3 with twenty stacked‐MFCs), and operated under the same conditions for one month. RESULTS According to results, algae suspensions can be used as fuel for MFC‐stacks, although current efficiencies obtained are low. In comparing the effect of number of cells stacked on the performance of the stacks, it was found that the higher the number of cells stacked, the higher the energy harvested from algae. However, because of the very efficient consumption of COD in the first MFC of the stacks (not only by electrogenic but also by non‐electrogenic microorganisms) and the sequential circulation of the fuel through the different cells of the stack, in all cases the systems ran out of fuel and this was reflected in lower production of electricity, compared with that expected taking into account the number of cells stacked. Results obtained from the polarization curves and the cathodic oxygen consumption also support this explanation. CONCLUSIONS Results demonstrate that algal biomass is a suitable fuel for energy generation using MFC technology and provides microorganisms not only of a carbon source but also with the required nutrients. However, the low coulombic efficiencies obtained in the three stacks indicate that feeding algae to MFC also promotes the formation of an important amount of non‐electrogenic microorganisms that compete successfully with bioelectrogenic microorganisms for the substrate provided. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry