Agric & Bioresources Engineering

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Agric & Bioresources Engineering

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    Performance of a Single Chamber Soil Microbial Fuel Cell at Varied External Resistances for Electric Power Generation
    (Journal of Renewable Energy and Environment, 2017-02-14) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Raji O. A.; Agidi Gbabo; Okoro-Shekwaga
    Soil is beginning to attract research attention as a suitable inoculum for Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) designed for remediation and electricity generation, probably due to its high microbial load. However, not much has been done in this aspect beyond laboratory-based experiments. This study was aimed at generating electricity from agricultural soil, utilizing the microorganisms present in the soil, and investigating the performance of the soil MFC across varied external loads. The study used the MudWatt MFC kit inoculated with mud prepared from topsoil collected from a garden. The electrodes, made from carbon felt material with conducting wires made from graphite, were housed in the same chamber and placed 4cm apart. Voltage drops across seven external resistances of 4670, 2190, 1000,n470, 220, 100, and 47 Ω were measured every 24 hours, with a digital multimeter, for 40 days. The maximum open-circuit voltage from this study was 731 mV, whereas the maximum power density was 65.40 m/Wm2 at a current density of 190.1mA/m2. The optimum performance of the MFC was achieved with the 470Ω at an internal resistance of 484.14 Ω. This study revealed that MFCs constructed from agricultural topsoil are capable of producing electrical power continuously, across different external loads, without the addition of any substrate. However, there is a need for further studies to keep the MFC output constant at the maximum achievable power.
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    Polarization and power density trends of a soil-based microbial fuel cell treated with human urine
    (2020-03-14) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Asoiro FU; Aliyu, M; Raji, OA; Freitag, Ruth
    Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that use microbial metabolic processes to convert organic substances into electricity with high efficiency. In this study, the performance of a soil-based MFC using urine as a substrate was assessed using polarization and power density curves. A single-chamber, membrane-less MFC with a carbon-felt air cathode and a carbon-felt anode fully buried in biologically active soil was constructed to examine the impact of urine treatment on the performance of the MFC. The peak power of the urine-treated MFC was 124.16 mW/m2 and was obtained 24 hours after the first urine addition; a control MFC showed a value of 65.40 mW/m2 in the same period. The treated MFC produced an average power of 70.75 mW/m2 up to 21 days after the initial urine addition; the control MFC gave an average value of 4.508 mW/m2 over the same period. The average internal resistances of the treated MFC and the control MFC obtained after the initial treatment were 269.94 and 1627.89 Ω, respectively. This study demonstrates the potential of human urine to reduce internal losses in soil MFCs and to provide stable power densities across various external resistors. These results are propitious for future advancements in soil MFCs for power generation, utilizing human urine (a readily available source of nutrients) as a substrate.