Performance of microbial fuel cells operated under anoxic conditions

Stanislaw Marks; Jacek Mąkinia; Francisco Morales

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.05.043

Performance of microbial fuel cells operated under anoxic conditions

Abstract

Nowadays, microbial fuel cells (MFC) stand up as a promising renewable energy source. Due to the ability of the MFC to oxidize a wide spectrum of substrates, wastewater seems to be one of the most interesting fuels. Unfortunately, wastewater could contain electron acceptors such as nitrate, which could interfere with the electrical performance of the MFC. In this work, the influence of oxidised nitrogen forms on the electricity production of an air breathing MFC was studied. It was observed that power generation was not significantly influenced when operated at nitrate concentrations below 0.9 mg N-NO3 L−1. However, when the nitrate concentrations were above this value, the electricity generation was reduced. In order to investigate the causes of this reduction, an electrochemical characterization of the MFC was performed. The results of polarization curves were fitted to an empirical mathematical model. From the results it was observed that, when nitrate was present, the denitrifiers outcompeted the electrogenic microorganisms for substrate, causing mass transfer limitations to the electrogenic process.

Citations

1 7

CrossRef
0

Web of Science
1 5

Scopus

Authors (3)

Cite as

Full text

full text is not available in portal

full content of the article see on external site open in new tab

Keywords

Details

Category:: Articles
Type:: artykuł w czasopiśmie wyróżnionym w JCR
Published in:: APPLIED ENERGY no. 250, pages 1 - 6,
ISSN: 0306-2619
Language:: English
Publication year:: 2019
Bibliographic description:: Marks S., Mąkinia J., Morales F.: Performance of microbial fuel cells operated under anoxic conditions// APPLIED ENERGY. -Vol. 250, (2019), s.1-6
DOI:: Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.05.043
Verified by:: Gdańsk University of Technology