Staged Microbial Fuel Cells with Periodic Connection of External Resistance

Abstract Reactor staging is widely used in wastewater treatment where treatment norms are achieved by connecting two or more reactors in series. The first reactor operates at high carbon source loads and the last reactor performs the final polishing. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are bioelectrochemical devices designed for direct electricity production from organic matter. Periodic connection of the MFC external electrical resistance was demonstrated to increase performance. An engineering tool to understand this periodic mode of operation is developed. Effluent quality control can be ensured by developing control strategies able to reject variability in the influent concentration while tracking a desired set-point.

[1]  Boris Tartakovsky,et al.  Microbial fuel cell operation with intermittent connection of the electrical load , 2012 .

[2]  M Perrier,et al.  Pulse-width modulated external resistance increases the microbial fuel cell power output. , 2013, Bioresource technology.

[3]  Mark E Nielsen,et al.  Duty cycling influences current generation in multi-anode environmental microbial fuel cells. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  G. Premier,et al.  Sustainable wastewater treatment: how might microbial fuel cells contribute. , 2010, Biotechnology Advances.

[5]  Boris Tartakovsky,et al.  Modeling, optimization and control of bioelectrochemical systems , 2016 .

[6]  Michel Perrier,et al.  On-line Monitoring and Parameter Estimation of a Microbial Fuel Cell Operated with Intermittent Connection of the External Resistor , 2013 .

[7]  Tingyue Gu,et al.  A state of the art review on microbial fuel cells: A promising technology for wastewater treatment and bioenergy. , 2007, Biotechnology advances.

[8]  M. Perrier,et al.  Combined bioelectrochemical–electrical model of a microbial fuel cell , 2016, Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering.

[9]  Willy Verstraete,et al.  Minimizing losses in bio-electrochemical systems: the road to applications , 2008, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[10]  Abraham Esteve-Núñez,et al.  Electrochemical insight into the mechanism of electron transport in biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens , 2011 .

[11]  Michel Perrier,et al.  Comparison of real‐time methods for maximizing power output in microbial fuel cells , 2010 .

[12]  A. Kaur,et al.  Inhibition of methane production in microbial fuel cells: operating strategies which select electrogens over methanogens. , 2014, Bioresource technology.

[13]  T. Vogel,et al.  Is resistance futile? Changing external resistance does not improve microbial fuel cell performance. , 2010, Bioelectrochemistry.

[14]  Bruce E. Logan,et al.  Microbial Fuel Cells , 2006 .

[15]  R. P. Pinto,et al.  A two-population bio-electrochemical model of a microbial fuel cell. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[16]  Michel Perrier,et al.  Optimizing Treatment Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells by Reactor Staging , 2010 .