The effect of different temperature in membrane-less microbial fuel cell under series and parallel circuit mode for power generation and bioremediation

Abstract

Demand for energy resources is increasing rapidly, leading to excessive exploitation of fossil fuels. The production of chicken, which is a popular source of protein, generates a huge amount of waste. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) have the potential to generate clean, sustainable, and environmentally benign electricity by utilizing electrogenic bacteria present in chicken manure (CM), while also decreasing the amount of waste. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of different temperatures and numbers of chambers in series and parallel circuits on the performance of membrane-less MFCs (ML-MFCs). The central composite design (CCD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the performance of ML-MFCs in series and parallel circuits, with a focus on chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency (R2 = 0.958 and 0.967), biomass (R2 = 0.995 and 0.836), and power density (R2 = 0.958 and 0.825). The study revealed that the highest COD removal (series: 89.554%, parallel: 84.994%), biomass (series: 1.095 mg/L, parallel: 2.267 mg/L), and power density (series: 0.551 W/m2, parallel: 0.360 W/m2) were achieved when the pre-treatment temperature was 40 °C. The best ML-MFC condition was plotted on the polarization curve in order to analyze the nature of ML-MFC. Findings of this study suggest that ML-MFCs have great potential for electricity generation and waste reduction, and the optimization of operating conditions can enhance their performance.