IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v250y2019icp1-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance of microbial fuel cells operated under anoxic conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Marks, Stanislaw
  • Makinia, Jacek
  • Fernandez-Morales, Francisco Jesus

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Marks, Stanislaw & Makinia, Jacek & Fernandez-Morales, Francisco Jesus, 2019. "Performance of microbial fuel cells operated under anoxic conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1-6.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:250:y:2019:i:c:p:1-6
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.05.043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261919308931
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.05.043?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gonzalez del Campo, A. & Lobato, J. & Cañizares, P. & Rodrigo, M.A. & Fernandez Morales, F.J., 2013. "Short-term effects of temperature and COD in a microbial fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 213-217.
    2. Mateo, Sara & Cañizares, Pablo & Rodrigo, Manuel Andrés & Fernandez-Morales, Francisco Jesus, 2018. "Driving force of the better performance of metal-doped carbonaceous anodes in microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 52-59.
    3. Lobato, Justo & González del Campo, Araceli & Fernández, Francisco J. & Cañizares, Pablo & Rodrigo, Manuel A., 2013. "Lagooning microbial fuel cells: A first approach by coupling electricity-producing microorganisms and algae," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 220-226.
    4. Jannelli, Nicole & Anna Nastro, Rosa & Cigolotti, Viviana & Minutillo, Mariagiovanna & Falcucci, Giacomo, 2017. "Low pH, high salinity: Too much for microbial fuel cells?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 543-550.
    5. Slate, Anthony J. & Whitehead, Kathryn A. & Brownson, Dale A.C. & Banks, Craig E., 2019. "Microbial fuel cells: An overview of current technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 60-81.
    6. Gude, Veera Gnaneswar, 2015. "Energy and water autarky of wastewater treatment and power generation systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 52-68.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Szymon Potrykus & Sara Mateo & Janusz Nieznański & Francisco Jesús Fernández-Morales, 2020. "The Influent Effects of Flow Rate Profile on the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Massaglia, Giulia & Margaria, Valentina & Sacco, Adriano & Tommasi, Tonia & Pentassuglia, Simona & Ahmed, Daniyal & Mo, Roberto & Pirri, Candido Fabrizio & Quaglio, Marzia, 2018. "In situ continuous current production from marine floating microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 78-85.
    3. Cano, Vitor & Cano, Julio & Nunes, Sabrina C. & Nolasco, Marcelo A., 2021. "Electricity generation influenced by nitrogen transformations in a microbial fuel cell: assessment of temperature and external resistance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. AlSayed, Ahmed & Soliman, Moomen & Eldyasti, Ahmed, 2020. "Microbial fuel cells for municipal wastewater treatment: From technology fundamentals to full-scale development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Dawid Nosek & Piotr Jachimowicz & Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska, 2020. "Anode Modification as an Alternative Approach to Improve Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    6. Yifan Yu & Jafar Ali & Yuesuo Yang & Peijing Kuang & Wenjing Zhang & Ying Lu & Yan Li, 2022. "Synchronous Cr(VI) Remediation and Energy Production Using Microbial Fuel Cell from a Subsurface Environment: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Maity, Jyoti Prakash & Hou, Chia-Peng & Majumder, Dip & Bundschuh, Jochen & Kulp, Thomas R. & Chen, Chien-Yen & Chuang, Lu-Te & Nathan Chen, Ching-Nen & Jean, Jiin-Shuh & Yang, Tsui-Chu & Chen, Chien-, 2014. "The production of biofuel and bioelectricity associated with wastewater treatment by green algae," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 94-103.
    8. Krieg, Thomas & Enzmann, Franziska & Sell, Dieter & Schrader, Jens & Holtmann, Dirk, 2017. "Simulation of the current generation of a microbial fuel cell in a laboratory wastewater treatment plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 942-949.
    9. Hu, Xiaoyi & Tan, Xinru & Shi, Xiaomin & Liu, Wenjun & Ouyang, Tiancheng, 2023. "An integrated assessment of microfluidic microbial fuel cell subjected to vibration excitation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    10. Alami, Abdul Hai & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali & Faraj, Mohammed & Aokal, Kamilia & Al Safarini, Nada, 2020. "Titanium dioxide-coated nickel foam photoelectrodes for direct urea fuel cell applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    11. Märker, Carolin & Venghaus, Sandra & Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich, 2018. "Integrated governance for the food–energy–water nexus – The scope of action for institutional change," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 290-300.
    12. Wang, Yun-Hai & Wang, Bai-Shi & Pan, Bin & Chen, Qing-Yun & Yan, Wei, 2013. "Electricity production from a bio-electrochemical cell for silver recovery in alkaline media," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1337-1341.
    13. Cai, Weiwei & Zhang, Zhaojing & Ren, Ge & Shen, Qiuxuan & Hou, Yanan & Ma, Anzhou & Deng, Ye & Wang, Aijie & Liu, Wenzong, 2016. "Quorum sensing alters the microbial community of electrode-respiring bacteria and hydrogen scavengers toward improving hydrogen yield in microbial electrolysis cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1133-1141.
    14. Gude, Veera Gnaneswar, 2016. "Geothermal source potential for water desalination – Current status and future perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1038-1065.
    15. Xu, Lei & Wang, Bodi & Liu, Xiuhua & Yu, Wenzheng & Zhao, Yaqian, 2018. "Maximizing the energy harvest from a microbial fuel cell embedded in a constructed wetland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 83-91.
    16. Ahmadi, Ehsan & Yousefzadeh, Samira & Mokammel, Adel & Miri, Mohammad & Ansari, Mohsen & Arfaeinia, Hossein & Badi, Mojtaba Yegane & Ghaffari, Hamid Reza & Rezaei, Soheila & Mahvi, Amir Hossein, 2020. "Kinetic study and performance evaluation of an integrated two-phase fixed-film baffled bioreactor for bioenergy recovery from wastewater and bio-wasted sludge," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Wetser, Koen & Sudirjo, Emilius & Buisman, Cees J.N. & Strik, David P.B.T.B., 2015. "Electricity generation by a plant microbial fuel cell with an integrated oxygen reducing biocathode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 151-157.
    18. Shahid, Kanwal & Ramasamy, Deepika Lakshmi & Haapasaari, Sampo & Sillanpää, Mika & Pihlajamäki, Arto, 2021. "Stainless steel and carbon brushes as high-performance anodes for energy production and nutrient recovery using the microbial nutrient recovery system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    19. Mashkour, Mehrdad & Rahimnejad, Mostafa & Mashkour, Mahdi & Soavi, Francesca, 2021. "Increasing bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cells by a high-performance cellulose-based membrane electrode assembly," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    20. Jiang, Yong & Yang, Xufei & Liang, Peng & Liu, Panpan & Huang, Xia, 2018. "Microbial fuel cell sensors for water quality early warning systems: Fundamentals, signal resolution, optimization and future challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 292-305.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:250:y:2019:i:c:p:1-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.