Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are playing an important role in the context of sustainable energy development. They represent a sustainable approach to harvest electricity from biodegradable materials. However, harvesting energy from MFCs represents a critical issue because of the low output voltage an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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EDP Sciences
2022-01-01
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| Series: | E3S Web of Conferences |
| Online Access: | https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2022/01/e3sconf_efc2022_08011.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818950160080699392 |
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| author | Di Micco Simona De Falco Pasquale Minutillo Mariagiovanna Bracale Antonio Caramia Pierluigi Gifuni Angelo Grassini Giuseppe |
| author_facet | Di Micco Simona De Falco Pasquale Minutillo Mariagiovanna Bracale Antonio Caramia Pierluigi Gifuni Angelo Grassini Giuseppe |
| author_sort | Di Micco Simona |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are playing an important role in the context of sustainable energy development. They represent a sustainable approach to harvest electricity from biodegradable materials. However, harvesting energy from MFCs represents a critical issue because of the low output voltage and power produced. Realizing stacked configurations may involve an increase in MFCs performances in terms of output voltage, current and electric power.
In this paper, two stacked configurations under different electrical connection modes have been designed, developed, modeled and tested. The stacked MFCs consist of 4 reactors (28 mL x4) that are connected in series, and parallel-series modes. Three different tests have been carried out, which involves: 1) performing the polarization and power curves by applying decreasing resistances; 2) assessment of the electric behavior of each reactor over time at a fixed resistance, 3) performing the polarization and power curves by applying increasing resistances. Moreover, a numerical model for predicting the transient behavior of the electrical quantities for one reactor, has been developed and validated by using the experimental data. As expected, the results highlighted that the parallel-series configuration assures the highest volumetric power density compared to the series configuration, reaching the maximum value of 1248.5 mW/m3 (139.8 µW) at 0.291 mA. Eventually, by comparing the numerical and the experimental data, it has been demonstrated that the developed model is able to predict the reactor’s electrical trend with a good accuracy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:14:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1048e36ee5aa4a00b065ad16439b8f14 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2267-1242 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:14:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | EDP Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | E3S Web of Conferences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1048e36ee5aa4a00b065ad16439b8f142022-12-21T19:45:28ZengEDP SciencesE3S Web of Conferences2267-12422022-01-013340801110.1051/e3sconf/202233408011e3sconf_efc2022_08011Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connectionsDi Micco Simona0De Falco Pasquale1Minutillo Mariagiovanna2Bracale Antonio3Caramia Pierluigi4Gifuni Angelo5Grassini Giuseppe6Univerisity of Naples “Parthenope”Univerisity of Naples “Parthenope”Department of Industrial Engineering, University of SalernoUniverisity of Naples “Parthenope”Univerisity of Naples “Parthenope”Univerisity of Naples “Parthenope”Univerisity of Naples “Parthenope”Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are playing an important role in the context of sustainable energy development. They represent a sustainable approach to harvest electricity from biodegradable materials. However, harvesting energy from MFCs represents a critical issue because of the low output voltage and power produced. Realizing stacked configurations may involve an increase in MFCs performances in terms of output voltage, current and electric power. In this paper, two stacked configurations under different electrical connection modes have been designed, developed, modeled and tested. The stacked MFCs consist of 4 reactors (28 mL x4) that are connected in series, and parallel-series modes. Three different tests have been carried out, which involves: 1) performing the polarization and power curves by applying decreasing resistances; 2) assessment of the electric behavior of each reactor over time at a fixed resistance, 3) performing the polarization and power curves by applying increasing resistances. Moreover, a numerical model for predicting the transient behavior of the electrical quantities for one reactor, has been developed and validated by using the experimental data. As expected, the results highlighted that the parallel-series configuration assures the highest volumetric power density compared to the series configuration, reaching the maximum value of 1248.5 mW/m3 (139.8 µW) at 0.291 mA. Eventually, by comparing the numerical and the experimental data, it has been demonstrated that the developed model is able to predict the reactor’s electrical trend with a good accuracy.https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2022/01/e3sconf_efc2022_08011.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Di Micco Simona De Falco Pasquale Minutillo Mariagiovanna Bracale Antonio Caramia Pierluigi Gifuni Angelo Grassini Giuseppe Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections E3S Web of Conferences |
| title | Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| title_full | Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| title_fullStr | Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| title_full_unstemmed | Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| title_short | Performance assessment of stacked air-cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| title_sort | performance assessment of stacked air cathode microbial fuel cells under series and parallel electrical connections |
| url | https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2022/01/e3sconf_efc2022_08011.pdf |
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