O M Ijagbulu, O D Adeniyi, H Uthman, M I Adeniyi, E Yakubu (2019), Electrochemical Performance of Melon Seed Husk Waste Biochar in a Direct Carbon Fuel Cell, Proceedings of the 49th Annual General Meeting, International Conference of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers on Enhancement of Agricultural Value Chain for Economic Development: The Role of Chemical Engineering (Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers A division of Nigerian Society of Engineers), Kaduna, Nigeria, November 13–16.

Abstract

This paper reports the study on the use of the direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) technology to convert the chemical energy of melon seed husk (MSH) waste to electrical energy with the aim of alleviating the problem of power instability in the country. Pyrolysis was carried out on the MSH at 500oC and a heating rate of 10oC/min to produce carbon biochar used in the DCFC to produce electricity. The pyrolysed biomass was used to determine the electrochemical performances of the DCFC using molten carbonate salts as the electrolyte and five different resistor loads. The electrochemical performances of the MSH waste were investigated at a temperature of 500oC to 800oC. The biochar from the MSH gave an open circuit voltage of 0.6V, a current density of 32.65 mA/cm2 and power density of 7.51 mW/cm2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results of the carbon fuel show the morphological structures of the biofuel used in the DCFC. The phase composition using X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the biochar show some level of amorphous structure