Bio-electricity production in a single-chamber microbial fuel cell using urine as a substrate

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (SC-MFC) using undiluted livestock urine (i.e. cow, goat, and sheep urine). Data showed that the MFC with cow urine reached a maximum power density of 110.72 ± 0.42 mW m−2 at the maximum current density of 230.88 ± 0.65 mA m−2 and voltage of 277 ± 0.04 mV in a polarization experiment. Whereas, in terms of the long-term operation experiment, the same reactor reached a maximum power density of 7.60 ± 0.06 mW m−2 (on day 10), with an external resistance of 1000 Ω. Besides, 44.30% of microorganisms (strains) were found in the anode of Sheep-MFC due to the association of urine with the substrate, compared to other reactors. The study's findings indicated that the composition of the livestock urine positively affected power generation in the evaluated MFCs. In addition, cow urine was the best substrate for driving MFC technology compared to other types of urine used in this study.