Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were the first bioelectrochemical systems to have been intensively studied and applied. In this study, two double-chamber MFCs (MFC1 and MFC2), identically designed and built as completely-mixed systems, were run for 69 days using dairy wastewater as anode substrate. To characterize the hydrodynamic behavior of the MFCs, a comprehensive specific study was performed, to identify any reactors’ dead spaces, and the hydrodynamic model closer to their real performance. Both anodic chambers showed to behave as completely stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) without perceivable dead spaces, while cathodic chambers showed a radically different hydrodynamic behavior. While MFC1’s cathode system performed as two CSTR reactors in series, with 9–13% dead space, MFC2′s cathode system was best described by a single CSTR model with dead space varied in the wider range 11–30%. Electric production and organic matter removal were also monitored, and correlated to the MFCs’ hydrodynamics, showing the latter's influence on the entire process. Interesting considerations can be drawn from this study on MFC constructive methods: the absence of hydrodynamics’ invariance in MFCs equipped with granular graphite electrodes suggests the unfeasibility of their scaling up
Influence of reactor's hydrodynamics on the performance of microbial fuel cells
Cecconet D.
;Bolognesi S.;Molognoni D.;Callegari A.;Capodaglio A. G.
2018-01-01
Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were the first bioelectrochemical systems to have been intensively studied and applied. In this study, two double-chamber MFCs (MFC1 and MFC2), identically designed and built as completely-mixed systems, were run for 69 days using dairy wastewater as anode substrate. To characterize the hydrodynamic behavior of the MFCs, a comprehensive specific study was performed, to identify any reactors’ dead spaces, and the hydrodynamic model closer to their real performance. Both anodic chambers showed to behave as completely stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) without perceivable dead spaces, while cathodic chambers showed a radically different hydrodynamic behavior. While MFC1’s cathode system performed as two CSTR reactors in series, with 9–13% dead space, MFC2′s cathode system was best described by a single CSTR model with dead space varied in the wider range 11–30%. Electric production and organic matter removal were also monitored, and correlated to the MFCs’ hydrodynamics, showing the latter's influence on the entire process. Interesting considerations can be drawn from this study on MFC constructive methods: the absence of hydrodynamics’ invariance in MFCs equipped with granular graphite electrodes suggests the unfeasibility of their scaling upI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
