Electricity generation from rice bran in microbial fuel cells.

Kazuya Watanabe,Atsushi Kouzuma,Shu Takahashi,Morio Miyahara

doi:10.1186/s40643-016-0129-1

Kazuya Watanabe, Atsushi Kouzuma

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-016-0129-1

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Abstract

BackgroundRice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process and mostly discarded in Japan. Although many studies have shown that microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are able to generate electricity from organic wastes, limited studies have examined MFCs for generating electricity from rice bran.FindingsLaboratory-scale single-chamber MFCs were inoculated with paddy field soil and supplied with rice bran for examining electricity generation. Power outputs and microbiome compositions were compared between MFCs containing pure water as the liquid phase (MFC-W) and those containing mineral solution (MFC-M). Polarization analyses showed that both MFCs successfully generated electricity with the maximum power densities of 360 and 520 mW m−2 (based on the projected area of anode) for MFC-W and MFC-M, respectively. Amplicon-sequencing analyses revealed that Trichococcus and Geobacter specifically occurred in anode biofilms in MFC-W and MFC-M, respectively.ConclusionsThe results suggest that rice bran is a feasible fuel by itself for generating electricity in MFCs.

Highlights

Rice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process and mostly discarded in Japan
The results suggest that rice bran is a feasible fuel by itself for generating electricity in microbial fuel cells (MFCs)
Rice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process and made of brown outer layers of rice grains

Summary

Introduction

Rice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process and mostly discarded in Japan. many studies have shown that microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are able to generate electricity from organic wastes, limited studies have examined MFCs for generating electricity from rice bran. Several studies have examined the use of rice bran as a component of mixed waste substrates for electricity generation in MFCs (Moqsud et al 2013; Schievano et al 2016). No study has examined the potential of rice bran as a fuel for electricity generation in MFCs. In the present study, MFCs were operated with rice bran as the sole substrate, and power outputs and microbiome compositions were analyzed.

Results

Conclusion