Investigation of ceramic MFC stacks for urine energy extraction

Tremouli, Asimina; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

Abstract

© 2018 The Authors Two ceramic stacks, terracotta (t-stack) and mullite (m-stack), were developed to produce energy when fed with neat undiluted urine. Each stack consisted of twelve identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which were arranged in cascades and tested under different electrical configurations. Despite voltage reversal, the m-stack produced a maximum power of 800 μW whereas the t-stack produced a maximum of 520 μW after 62.6 h of operation. Moreover, during the operation, both systems were subject to blockage possibly due to struvite. To the Authors' best knowledge, this is the first time that such a phenomenon in ceramic MFC membranes is shown to be the direct result of sub-optimal performance, which confirms the hypothesis that ceramic membranes can continue operating long-term, if the MFCs produce maximum power (high rate of e− transfer). Furthermore, it is shown that once the ceramic membrane is blocked, it may prove difficult to recover in-situ.

Citation

Tremouli, A., Greenman, J., & Ieropoulos, I. (2018). Investigation of ceramic MFC stacks for urine energy extraction. Bioelectrochemistry, 123, 19-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2018.03.010

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 19, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Mar 21, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Journal: Bioelectrochemistry
• Print ISSN: 1567-5394
• Electronic ISSN: 1878-562X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 123
• Pages: 19-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2018.03.010
• Keywords: MFC, stack, voltage reversal, ceramic, urine
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/858126
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2018.03.010