S. Rawat and J.
Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
DOI: 10.3126/ijasbt.v4i3.15395
Research Article
ANALYSIS OF WASTE WATER FOR BIOELECTRIC GENERATION USING
MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS
Shweta Rawat1* and Jyoti Rawat1
1
Biochemical Engineering Department, B.T. Kumaon Institute of Technology, Dwarahat- 263653, Uttarakhand, India
*Corresponding author email: [email protected], Contact number: 8057260816
Abstract
Microbial fuel cell technology is a recent approach which consist renewable and sustainable technology for electricity generation. Great
attentions have been paid to microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Since, it recovers energy from renewable materials that can be difficult to dispose,
such as organic wastes, waste water etc. and utilize variety of biodegradable substrates as fuel. Through which, microorganisms actively
catabolize substrate and generate electricity. Besides many advantages, it still faces some limitations such as low power and current density.
In the present research waste water was physically, biologically and chemically tested. We found that waste water has less amount of toxicity.
Thus, it was assumed as low strength waste water and used for the MFC setup for bioelectric generation.
Initially, the setup was run three times in a small scale. Simultaneously voltage and current was measured at different time intervals. It was
observed that in first run, the voltage and current fluctuation data was not significant but voltage generation was varied from 140.8-182.5 mV
in final run, correspondingly current fluctuated from 51-352 μA and power varied from 7180.8-66439.1 nW. However, we got highest power
density of 0.0215-0.042 mW when the setup was moved in higher scale.
Keywords: Bioelectricity; Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC); Wastewater
water and corn Stover contain energy in the form of
Introduction biodegradable organic matters (Du et al., 2007). It is well
India is suffering severe setback due to gradual depletion of known that waste water influent holds a large amount of
non-renewable sources and therefore leading towards an biomass present in dissolved or suspended forms and
elevated energy crisis. Use of fossil fuels for energy energy contents in the form of organics. Moreover, MFCs
consumption may cause ecological threatened and can remove organic matter to a comparable extent that
environmental pollution. Thus, it is necessitate moving which is achieved by current waste water treatment plants.
towards alternative sources of energy instantly. Microbial Active biocatalyst (microbes) in the anode oxidizes the
Fuel cells (MFCs) are appropriate replacements of organic substrates present in waste water and produces
traditional fossil fuels devoid of any pollution and can be electrons and protons (Antonopoulou et al., 2010). The
used as innovative sources of energy. MFCs are promising protons are conducted to the cathode chamber through the
technology in the direction of electricity production from proton exchange membrane (PEM), and the electrons are
organic wastes (Rabaey and Verstraete 2005; Logan et al., conveyed through the external circuit (Rahimnejad et al.,
2006). It converts energy, available in a bio convertible 2011). Protons and electrons are reacted in the cathode
substrate, directly into electricity. MFCs are kinds of FCs in chamber along with parallel reduction of oxygen to water
which microorganisms or enzymes are used as the catalyst (Sharma and Li, 2010).
to oxidize organic and inorganic matter to generate current
and simultaneously this could provide a clean and Because of assure sustainable energy generation from
renewable source of energy. Therefore, "a microbial fuel different substrates such as organic wastes and waste water
cell can be defined as a system in which microorganisms etc. research has been intensified in this field in the last few
function as catalysts to convert chemical energy into years. It is hard to sum up either MFCs will be implemented
electrical energy". Different kinds of waste waters such as on a large scale at treatment plants. It also has some
sanitary wastes, food processing wastewater, swine waste limitations such as, it cannot treat high-strength wastewater
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
efficiently and construction cost could be high because of Anode
use of cathode catalysts (He et al., 2013), the generated Electrodes were prepared by taking copper wires of 18
power in MFC is still too low. Since, MFCs are a inches length and 2mm diameter. For building anode we
moderately novel technology. After some more study and have used 6×6 inches of wire meshed with small copper
research the technique can be executed on a large scale for wires. This anode was finally immersed in our waste water
commercial application. sample and cathode was exposed to the air. A 1000 mL
beaker was used as an anode chamber poured with
In our study wastewater of domestic or household origin is
wastewater sample. This chamber was exposed to the
mainly treated/used which is basically, does not used in
anaerobic condition with the help of sealing it with
irrigation purpose and left as a waste. Hence, dealing and
aluminium foil.
treatment of waste water can be executed concurrently to
complete the present objectives which are analysis of waste Cathode
water and bioelectricity generation. Same size beaker was used for preparation of cathode
chamber (1000 mL) which was poured with brine solution
Material and Methods (30g/L and 70g/L). The electrode which is meshingless is
Sample Collection dipped into the solution and the other end is exposed to the
The samples were collected from domestic outlet from B.T. open air (Fig.1). Same designing method was further used
Kumaun Institute of Technology, Dwarahat. Dwarahat is a for our final model of MFC. The internal wiring of anode
region of Uttarakhand, India at latitude 29.78°N and and cathode was connected to a multimeter to complete the
longitude 79.43°E with average elevation of 1,510 metres. circuit. The entire setup was left for 30 minutes for
Water sample was homogenized and stored in a sterile stabilization and the deflection in the multimeter was noted
condition for further analysis. down in every reading.
Biological, Physical and Chemical Analyses of Waste
Water
Biological analysis includes morphological identification
and cultural characteristics of microorganisms. Different
physical analyses such as pH, temperature, hardness, total
solids and filterable solids were tested. Whereas, chemical
tests includes chloride test, alkalinity test, fluoride test,
nitrate test, iron test, chlorine (residual) test, copper, lead
which was done by Standard methods for the examination
of water and waste water by American public health
association (APHA, 1998).
Experimental Setup for Bioelectricity Generation from
Waste Water
Materials
A single chambered MFC (SC MFC) was designed in the
laboratory which consist of membrane, the purpose of the
membrane is to keep anode and cathode solutions separated
by allowing ion transfer. Nafion is used as cation exchange
membrane (CEM) to allow the passage for the ion
exchange. While, partitioning the anode chamber and the Fig. 1: a. Salt bridge b. Anode/Cathode design c.
cathode chamber a salt bridge was prepared by using Experimental Setup double chamber d.
agarose gel, salt and water. Other materials for MFC Experimental setup single chamber with anode
includes copper wires, electronic multi meter, aquarium chamber within cathode chamber
pump (or other substitutes for aeration), tubings, Ni epoxy
Results and Discussion
and PVC pipes.
By using the APHA standard protocol biological, physical
Salt Bridge and chemical analyses was done. Primarily, biological
This salt bridge was designed by taking PVC pipes of 1 inch examination was attempted and gram positive bacterial
diameter, poured with agar and salt solution. After colonization was observed in the petri dishes. Further,
refrigeration of half an hour, it was ready for use as proton microscopic examination revealed that the average 30
exchange membrane (PEM). colonies were observed and all the colonies were in coccus
shape (Table 1).
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
Through physical analysis we noticed that waste water
sample was hard in nature with 5.8-6 pH and has less total
and filterable solids. The temperature measured was 19.8 ºC
(Table 2).
Table 1: Biological examination of waste water
Number
Gram
Sample of Morphological
staining
Colonies
Waste Small, Spherical, Retained
water 30 Circular, Yellow and dark
sample Orange purple Fig. 2: Plot between current/voltage and time when anode chamber
is filled with domestic waste water and cathode chamber
with brine solution having concentration 30 g/L
Table 2: Physical parameters of waste water
Sample Parameters Results
Waste water sample pH 5.8
(B.T.K.I.T, Dwarahat)
Temperature 19.8
Hardness 10
Total solid 0.059
Filterable 0.768
solid
Fig. 3: Plot between current/voltage and time when anode chamber
filled with domestic waste water and appropriate aeration
Table 3 depicted that the metal concentration in the and cathode chamber with brine solution having
collected sample reported for copper, potassium, lead, concentration 30 g/L
fluoride and chloride was 0.174 mg/L, 0.196 mg/L, 0.161
mg/L, 0.5 mg/L and 100 mg/L respectively. However, free
chlorine was negligible. According to Indian standard and
WHO guideline the desirable concentrations for copper 1.0
mg/L, lead 0.05 mg/L, fluoride 1.0 mg/L and chloride 250
mg/L. so it was observed that lead concentration was higher
than allowable limit, however copper, fluoride and chloride
concentration were less than standard values. Hence, it
appears that waste water used in MFC holds low strength.
It has been reported in He, et al. (2013) study that MFCs
cannot efficiently treat high strength waste water.
At different time intervals the measurement of voltage was
Fig. 4: Plot between current/voltage and time when anode
performed using a digital multimeter. The current and
chamber filled with domestic waste water and appropriate
power was calculated by using the following equations. aeration and cathode chamber with brine solution having
i=V/R and P=iV, where i= current and V= voltage, concentration 75 g/L
R=resistance and P=power. The process performance was
recorded for two hours’ time duration. For three different
To attain good results same experimental setup was
test runs, it was observed that in first two, the voltage and
current fluctuation data was not significant but in last one designed in higher scale (Fig. 6). The process performance
the voltage generation was varied, from 140.8-182.5 (mV), was better in terms of power generation (0.0215-0.042 mW)
(Table 8 and Fig. 7). This result indicates that the movement
correspondingly current fluctuated from 51-352 μA (Table
of protons was faster, so the voltage and current generation
4-6). As a result power varied from 7180.8-66439.1 nW
was more.
(Table 7). These three runs were compared by plotting
voltage/current fluctuation curve against time (Fig. 2-5).
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
Table 3: Chemical examination of waste water
Sample Copper Potassium Lead Fluoride Chloride Chlorine Alkalinity Iron
no. (mg/l) (mg/l) (mg/l) (mg/) (mg/l) (mg/l) (mg/l) (mg/L)
Waste 0.174 0.196 0.161 0.5 100 0 120 0.2
water
sample
Table 4: Voltage and current values for anode chamber filled with domestic waste water and cathode
chamber with brine solution having concentration 30 g/L
Time Voltage (mV) Current(μA)
4:00 PM 173.9 21
4:15 PM 159.3 11
4:30 PM 154.7 8
4:45 PM 148.6 11
5:00 PM 147.3 8
5:15 PM 146 7
5:30 PM 144.8 6
11:00 AM (41.5hrs later) 29.8 2
11:30 AM 34 1
11:45 AM 28 1
12:00 AM 46 2
12:15 PM 32.9 1
Table 5: Voltage and current values for anode chamber filled with domestic waste water and cathode chamber with
brine solution having concentration 30 g/L
Time Voltage (mV) Current(µA)
11:11AM 181.3 48
11:21AM 190 42
11:31AM 168 34.5
11:41AM 167 42
11:51AM 162 42
12:01AM 162.6 48
12:11AM 161.5 48
12:21AM 160 50
12:31AM 156.5 64
12:41AM 156.4 77
12:51AM 154 82
1:01AM 151.6 85
1:11AM 148 91
after 72 hrs 57 8
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
Table 6: Voltage and current values for anode chamber filled with domestic waste water and cathode
chamber with brine solution having concentration 75 g/L
Time Voltage (mV) Current (µA)
3:20 PM 140.8 51
3:30 PM 183 36
3:35 PM 180 37
3:40 PM 136 75
3:45 PM 181 334
3:50 PM 183.9 282
3:55 PM 185 356
4:00 PM 187.5 360
4:05 PM 189.9 329
4:10 PM 153 287
4:15 PM 166 337
4:20 PM 179 332
4:25 PM 199.2 325
4:30 PM 183.2 353
4:35 PM 197.5 331
4:40 PM 194 255
4:45 PM 185 363
4:50 PM 193.7 343
4:55 PM 182.5 352
Table 7: Data related to Power (nW) of three different experimental setups shown above
Time (15 minutes gap) Power Power Power
1 2 3
1 3651.9 7804.8 7180.8
2 1752 7752 6660
3 1237 8000 51859
4 1634.6 8451 62477.1
5 1178.4 11104.4 59428
6 1022 12628 65372.5
7 868.8 12886 66439.1
Fig. 5: Graphical representation of data corresponding to Power (nW) of
three different experimental setups shown above
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
Fig. 6: Final model of microbial fuel cell at higher scale
Fig. 7: Graphical representation of data corresponding change in values of
current and voltage with time.
Table 8: Voltage, current and power values at higher scale
Time Voltage (mV) Current (mA) Power (W)
11:11AM 500 43 .021500
11:21AM 519 49 .025431
11:31AM 520 50 .026000
11:41AM 525 41 .021525
11:51AM 550 46 .025300
12:01AM 557 63 .035091
12:11AM 559 39 .021801
12:21AM 555 61 .033855
12:31AM 560 77 .042350
12:41AM 574 57 .032718
12:51AM 583 58 .033814
1:01AM 561 59 .033099
1:11AM 597 71 .042387
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S. Rawat and J. Rawat (2016) Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 281-287
Du Z, Li H and Gu TA (2007) State of the art review on microbial
Conclusion fuel cells: a promising technology for wastewater
Microbial fuel cells provide sustainable energy generation treatment and bioenergy. Biotechnol. Adv. 25: 464-482.
in the coming future. MFC is a good alternative energy
He Z, Zhang F and Ge Z (2013) Using microbial fuel cells to treat
resource and a promising technology that can be coupled raw sludge and primary effluent for bioelectricity
with a wastewater treatment system and reduction of generation: Final report. Microb. Fuel Cell Tech. 1-64.
environmental load. Present study is a straight forward
Logan BE, Hamelers B, Rozendal R, Schroder U, Keller J, Freguia
initiative and simple approach to utilize waste water as a
S, Aelterman P, Verstraete W and Rabaey K (2006)
substrate for bioelectric generation using MFC.
Microbial Fuel Cells: Methodology and Technology.
Acknowledgement Environ. Sci. Tech. 40(17).
Mr. Rahul Kandpal is greatly acknowledged to help in MFC Rabaey K and Verstraete W (2005) Microbial fuel cells: novel
setup. biotechnology for energy generation. Trends Biotechnol,
23(6): 291-298.
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