Abstract
The current study has been undertaken to examine the beneficial effect in the power output of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) by adding cellulolytic bacteria Ruminococcus albus (R. albus) into the anodic chamber. Mediator-less H-type MFCs were set up where the anode chamber contained anaerobic digester microorganisms as inocula on finely ground pine tree (Avicel) at 2% (w/v) and the cathode chamber of 10mM phosphate buffered saline conductive solution, both separated by a cation exchange membrane. The functioning of the MFCs for generation of electrical power and the amounts of gaseous byproducts was monitored over a 9-day period. The addition of cellulolytic bacteria caused an increase of average power density from 7.9 m W/m2 to19.5 m W/m2, about 245% increase over a 9-day period. For both groups of MFCs; with R. albus and the control, the head space gases collected were methane and CO2. While the methane: CO2 ratios were found unchanged at 1.7:1 throughout the 9 days of operation, the total gas production increased from 248 mL to 319 mL due to the presence of R. albus addition. This study confirms that whereas the biocatalytic activity of anode microbial population determines the energy production, the addition of external cellulolytic bacteria into anode microbial population can improve and extend the biomass utilization.
Highlights
All over the world, fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas have served as the main energy resources for industrialization and economic growth for the past century [1], and represent 79.4% of the global primary energy use in 2001 [2]
The current study has been undertaken to examine the beneficial effect in the power output of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) by adding cellulolytic bacteria Ruminococcus albus (R. albus) into the anodic chamber
Mediator-less H-type MFCs were set up where the anode chamber contained anaerobic digester microorganisms as inocula on finely ground pine tree (Avicel) at 2% (w/v) and the cathode chamber of 10mM phosphate buffered saline conductive solution, both separated by a cation exchange membrane
Summary
Fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas have served as the main energy resources for industrialization and economic growth for the past century [1], and represent 79.4% of the global primary energy use in 2001 [2]. The use of fossil fuels negatively impacts the environment due to the emission of greenhouse gases including CO2, methane, and CO, which cause global warming and pollution [4]. For these reasons, greater efforts are currently being undertaken worldwide to develop technologies that generate clean, sustainable energy sources that would replace and/or displace fossil fuels [5]. The U.S Departments of Agriculture and Energy estimated the annual availability at 1.3 billion dry tons of biomass feedstock in the United States, which could replace 30% or more of the country’s present petroleum consumption. Depending on the end-use application, cellulosic biomass could be converted to a variety of energy carriers such as ethanol [10], biodiesel [11], and hydrogen [12], as well as to electricity indirectly derived from cellulose by coupling cellulolytic, fermentative hydrogen production with the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen at a fuel cell anode [8]
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