INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH

IN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (IJARET)

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

IJARET

ISSN 0976 - 6480 (Print)

ISSN 0976 - 6499 (Online)
Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38
IAEME: http://www.iaeme.com/IJARET.asp
Journal Impact Factor (2014): 7.8273 (Calculated by GISI)
www.jifactor.com

IAEME

POWER GENERATION BY DOUBLE CHAMBER MEMBRANE-LESS

MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS (MLMFCs)
R. Y. Tamakloe,

H. Agamasu,

K. Singh

Department of Physics, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Kumasi, Ghana (West Africa)

ABSTRACT
Power generation by cheap and relatively abundant source of microbes has been investigated.
This form of renewable energy is gaining grounds in the world of energy technology. Microbial fuel
cell (MFC) technology signifies a new source for the generation of electricity from microbes found
in wastewater. The current study deals with performance of ion exchange partition and its viable
candidature in power production. The effect of operational parameters on electricity generation and
COD consumption was reported. A maximum voltage of 1.3 V was observed at 40 % H2O2 along
with wastewater from GGBL in an anode chamber. Average COD removal was more than 88%.
Keywords: Microbial Fuel Cell, Geobacter Sulfurreducens, Current Density, Power Density.
INTRODUCTION
The discovery that bacteria can be used to produce electricity from waste and renewable
biomass (Bond et al., 2002) has gained much attention. A typical microbial fuel cell consists of
anode and cathode compartments. In the anode compartment, fuel is oxidized by microorganisms,
generating electrons and protons. Electrons are transferred to the cathode compartment through an
external electric circuit, and the protons are transferred to the cathode compartment through a
separator. Electrons and protons are consumed in the cathode compartment, combining with oxygen
to form water (Patra et al., 2008, Bond et al., 2002). A potential difference develops between the
anode and the cathode and current flows in the external circuit. (Benneto, 1993, in Liu, 2004, Cheng
and Logan 2011, in Zielke, 2006). The fuel for the cell is usually domestic or industrial wastewater
which contains microorganisms and organic compounds. The reaction for the catabolic activity of the
microbes may be summarized as follows:

30

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

Microbes
C6H12O6 + 6H2O
6CO2 + 24e- + 24H+
Reduction half reaction:
24H+ + 24e- + 6O2
12H2O
Overall oxidation/reduction reaction:
C6H12O6 + 6O2
6CO2 + 6H2O
Certain bacteria or microbes were identified in MFCs for the process of electron transfer are
known as Shewanella putrefaciens, Geobacter sulfurreducens, Geobacter metallireducens and
Rhodoferax ferrireducens and are commonly found marine sediments to domestic wastewater (Bond
et al., 2003).
The research into MFC technology, thus, has been an attempt to decrease cost of production
with a concomitant increase in energy production. The prime aim of this study is to construct MFCs
with inexpensive materials and without using membrane, such as Nafion117. Various researchers
have tried to use cheaper materials and various architectures for the electrode and membranes.
Tamakloe et al., (2014) discovered that the use of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at the cathode of
double-chambered MFC (DC-MFC) yielded a coulombic efficiency of 9.20 %. Though cheaper
alternatives have been used for membranes in most researches, the use of rigid cation exchange
materials such as clay have not been given much notice.
METHODOLOGY
Zeolite Cells
20 % Zeolite was added to Koalin (80 %) and molded to a slab of 8 cm x 8 cm x 1 cm. This
was then fired at the temperature of 3000 oC. Part of the slab was covered with epoxy leaving 4 cm x
4 cm operating surface area. The corners were then drilled and securely sandwiched (Fig. 1), with
bolts and nuts between two plastic chambers with same 4 cm x 4 cm holes. The slab thus formed ion
exchange partition for the anode and cathode chambers. This design is similar to the set up used by
Opoku-Donkor et at., (2013), except the chamber being smaller and thus the slab replaced the PEM.
Since the slab can pass water, the epoxy makes the outer portion of the slab water-tight.

Fig.2: DC-MFC using Porous Pot

Fig. 1: Double chambered MFC

31

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

The two chambers were each filled with wastewater (Balance of COD 4385 mg/L) from
GGBL as the anodic substrate and 60 % diluted H2O2 as the oxidation substrate. The two chambers
used graphite as electrodes.
Porous Pot
A cylindrical porous pot was the base for DC-MFC design. The porous pot was placed in a
copper can, similar to a Daniel cell, as shown in Fig. 2. This is the same as that used by Tamakloe et
al., (2014). Zinc rods as anodic electrode was immersed into the wastewater (Balance from GGBL,
Kumasi) as microbial source substrate. The copper can was then filled with 60 % diluted H2O2 as the
oxidation substrate, thus surrounding the porous pot. Zinc reacts with hydrogen ions to produce
hydrogen gas and zinc ions. The choice of zinc as anode is due to its conductivity as a metal and its
strong oxidizing ability. Moreover, zinc is non-poisonous to microbes, making it ideal for biofilm
formation.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
All the cells were connected to a Datalogger (CR10X) and were observed for 30 days. The
open circuit voltage (OCV) for all the cells were recorded every minute and stored for few minutes.
Data were then collected via computer interface. Table 1 shows sample data as collected in excel
format.
Table 1: Sample Data as stored by the Datalogger
Time
ID
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101
101

Yr ProgReg
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73
2014
73

24hr
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot -Cu

Pot Tin

Zeolite

OCV/mV OCV/mV OCV/mV OCV/mV OCV/mV

-252.7
-123.2
1337.0
980.0
-17.0
-220.7
-123.2
1337.0
979.0
-12.4
-179.3
-122.5
1336.0
980.0
-14.4
-195.3
-122.5
1335.0
1006.0
-19.0
-202.0
-123.2
1334.0
1024.0
-23.7
-204.6
-122.5
1335.0
1023.0
-29.0
-207.3
-123.2
1335.0
1030.0
-32.4
-210.7
-123.9
1333.0
1029.0
-29.0
-206.6
-123.9
1331.0
1028.0
-29.0
-205.3
-118.5
1330.0
1027.0
-31.1
-206.6
-119.2
1328.0
1025.0
-33.1
-205.3
-118.5
1326.0
1024.0
-35.1
-201.3
-117.8
1324.0
1024.0
-35.1
-196.6
-117.2
1323.0
1025.0
-27.4
-194.6
-117.2
1322.0
1024.0
-26.4
-197.3
-116.5
1321.0
1023.0
-26.4
-193.3
-115.8
1320.0
1023.0
-27.7
-194.0
-115.2
1320.0
1023.0
-28.7
-196.0
-115.2
1319.0
1022.0
-29.7
-194.6
-113.2
1319.0
1023.0
-30.4

32

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

The first column represents the logger index, second column represents the current year of
taking record, third column is the program registration as at the time shortcut program was sent to the
Datalogger, column 4 records the time in 24 hour format for every minute 1023 means 10:23 am or
1023 hour of the day. The rest of the columns are voltage measures from the cells.
Both cells were fed with same wastewater of COD = 4385 mg/L and same diluted H2O2. It
was found that the OCVs generated by the Cu-Can/porous-pot cell was higher as compared with the
zeolite cell, i.e., 1337 mV and -17 mV respectively. We suspected the zeolite by its property absorbs
the ions and release when it can no longer contain it and thus accounts for the negative OCV from
the start. Load of 100 was then connected across the terminals of the zeolite cell and 1000 was
connected across the pot cell. The recorded voltages now become the potential drop for both DCMFCs. The readings per minutes were averaged to hours of reading so as to reduce volume of data
that can be handled. The result is plotted in Figs 3.

1600.0

1400.0

Potential Drop (mV)

1200.0

Load connected;
Begining of Pd

1000.0

800.0
Porous Pot
600.0

Zeolite Slab

400.0

200.0

0.0
0
-200.0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Time (hr)

Fig. 3: Zeolite and porous pot MFCs: OCV and pd time variation curves

It was observed that at the stationary phase microbial growth rate is balanced by microbial
death rate as a result of paucity of food and nutrients, as well as the presence of waste metabolic
products. Consequently, a stationary population is achieved, but too early or may be due to the flow
of current across the bridge. Death phase stage sees to a greater increase in death rate, as compared to
growth rate, resulting in a sharp decrease in the number of microbes over the days.
33

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

Polarizations
For similar characterization, each cell was subjected to variable loads ranging from 100 to
15000 and the voltage drop values recorded as given in Table 2. This is required to examine the
extent to which the cells could be used to power the devices. Both cells were normalized by their
operational surface areas; for porous pot the total surface area containing the anodic substrate was
219.4 cm2 and that for zeolite slab was 16.0 cm2.
Table 2: Cells characterization data
Pot3-Cu: Op-Sf Area = 219.4 cm2
CurPowResistance Current
Den
Pd
Den
Ohms
mA
mA/m2 mV mW/m2
0
100
1.610
73.38 161
11.81
200
1.425
64.95 285
18.51
330
1.155
52.62 381
20.05
400
1.060
48.31 424
20.48
500
0.934
42.57 467
19.88
600
0.842
38.36 505
19.37
700
0.774
35.29 542
19.13
800
0.710
32.36 568
18.38
900
0.660
30.08 594
17.87
1000
0.614
27.99 614
17.18
2000
0.356
16.23 712
11.55
3200
0.235
10.73 753
8.08
3900
0.198
9.01
771
6.95
4800
0.164
7.47
787
5.88
7000
0.115
5.24
805
4.22
7900
0.103
4.69
813
3.81
9000
0.091
4.15
820
3.41
10000
0.083
3.76
826
3.11
10900
0.076
3.47
831
2.89
12000
0.070
3.17
835
2.65
13000
0.065
2.95
840
2.47
14000
0.060
2.74
843
2.31
15000
0.056
2.57
846
2.17

Zeolite: Op-Sf Area = 16.0 cm2

CurCurrent
Den
Pd Pow-Den
mA
mA/m2 mV
W/m2
0.230
0.205
0.191
0.180
0.168
0.155
0.147
0.139
0.131
0.124
0.082
0.058
0.050
0.042
0.030
0.027
0.024
0.022
0.020
0.019
0.017
0.016
0.015

143.75
128.13
119.32
112.50
105.00
96.88
91.96
86.72
81.94
77.50
51.25
36.33
31.09
26.17
18.84
17.01
15.14
13.75
12.79
11.72
10.87
10.18
9.54

23
41
63
72
84
93
103
111
118
124
164
186
194
201
211
215
218
220
223
225
226
228
229

3.31
5.25
7.52
8.10
8.82
9.01
9.47
9.63
9.67
9.61
8.41
6.76
6.03
5.26
3.98
3.66
3.30
3.03
2.85
2.64
2.46
2.32
2.19

Fig. 4 shows the variation of voltage drop with external resistance. That is, by varying the
circuit load, we obtained a set of cell voltage as a function of resistance. It has been observed that the
porous pot produced high voltage than the zeolite (to about 4 times).

34

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

900

Potential Drop (mV)

800
700
600
Porous
pot

500
400
300
200
100
0
0

5000

10000

15000

20000

External Resistance (ohm)

Fig. 4: Variation of voltage drop with external resistance.

The variation of load voltage with resistance was investigated for both types of cells. For both
cells, the voltage increased gradually as expected with the resistance. The potential drop as measured
for porous pot is about 5 times that of zeolite cell.
Graphs of polarization characteristic are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The potential drops against
current densities followed the usual characteristics of a fuel cell, i. e., the normal linear load portion
and the substrate concentration points. Power variations with current densities were also shown. The
peak powers occurred at the points where the internal resistances were equal to the external
resistances.
1600
1400

Potential Drop (mV)

1200
1000
800
Porous
Pot

600
400
200
0
0.00

50.00

100.00
150.00
Current Density (mA/m2)

Fig. 5: Polarization curves for the two cells

35

200.00

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

As per the Fig. 5, although the porous pot system produced high voltage it current density is
lower than the zeolite system. This is attributed to the normalization parameters. Similar situation
occurs in Fig. 6 where power peak is far higher for porous pot as compared to the zeolite.
25.00

Power Density (mW/m2)

20.00

15.00
Porous Pot
Zeolite
10.00

5.00

0.00
0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

Current Density (mA/m2)

Fig. 6: Polarization power curves

Calculations
Zeolite-MFC
The maximum power density is 9.67 mW/m2 normalized with slab operating surface area and
it occurs at a current density of 81.94 mA/m2 (0.131 mA) corresponding to internal resistance of
900 .


CE =

  

 

I = 0.131 mA, = 0.000131 A

 =30 days, F= 96,500 C/mol.

 = 800 mL = 0.0008 
=4385 mg/L - 511 mg/L= 3874 mg = 3.874 g/L
 = 30 days = 30 x 24 x 3600 seconds
CE =

       .!!
"#  .
 .
$

= 9.08

36

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

Porous Pot-MFC
The maximum power density is 20.48 mW/m2 normalized with anodic operating surface area
and it occurs at a current density of 48.31 mA/m2 (1.06 mA) corresponding to internal resistance of
400 .


CE =

  

 

I = 1.06 mA, = 0.00106 A

 =30 days, F= 96,500 C/mol.

 = 301 mL = 0.000301 
=4385 mg/L - 480 mg/L= 3905 mg = 3.905 g/L
 = 30 days = 30 x 24 x 3600 seconds
CE =

       .!
"#  .!  ."#

= 19.4

CONCLUSION
Both, double chamber Membrane-Less-Microbial-Fuel-Cells (MLMFCs) were found to give
COD reduction greater than 88 percent, with maximum power production 20.48 mW/m2 as
normalized with the anodic substrate container surface area. It was expected to generate enough
power to light a LED through only one cell so as to be able to power low voltage circuits or devices.
However, efforts are being made to improve the structures of Zeolite DC-MFC for better
performance.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

[7]

Bennetto, H.P., 1990. Electricity Generation from Enterobacter cloacae SU-1 in mediator
less microbial Microorganisms. Biotech. Edu., pp. 163.
Bond D. R, Holmes D.E, Tender LM and Lovley D.R (2002). Electrode-reducing
microorganisms that harvest energy from marine sediments. Science 295 483-485.
Bond, D.R.; Lovely, D.R.; Electricity production by Geobacter sulfurreducens attached to
electrodes. Appl. Environ. Microbial. 2003, 69, 1548-1555.
Cheng, S. and Logan, B. E., Increasing power generation for scaling up single-chamber air
cathode microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology 102 (2011) 44684473.
Kwan, S. M., Zeolite-based micro fuel cells. http://udini.proquest.com/view/zeolite-basedmicro-fuel-cells-goid:3048.
Liu, H. and Logan, B. Electricity Generation Using an Air-Cathode Single Chamber
Microbial Fuel Cell in the Presence and Absence of a Proton Exchange Membrane. Environ.
Sci. Technol. 2004, 38, 4040-4046.
Logan, B.E. (2008). Microbial Fuel Cells. 1Ed; U.S.A: John Wiley and Sons Inc. pp 1-10.

37

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976
6480(Print), ISSN 0976 6499(Online) Volume 5, Issue 7, July (2014), pp. 30-38 IAEME

[8]

[9]

[10]
[11]
[12]

[13]
[14]

[15]

Opoku-Donkor, T., Tamakloe, R. Y., Nkum R. K. and Singh, K., Effect of Cod on OCV,
Power Production and Coulombic Efficiency of Single-Chambered Microbial Fuel Cells,
International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering & Technology (IJARET),
Volume 4, Issue 7, 2013, pp. 198 206.
Patra A., Low-Cost, Single-Chambered Microbial Fuel Cells forHarvesting Energy and
Cleansing Wastewater. 2008 Water Environment Federation. Journal of the U.S. SJWP,
pp 72-82.
Potter, M.C. (1911) Electrical effects accompanying the decomposition of organic
compounds.
Proc. Roy. SOC. London Ser. B 84,260-276. As sited by Logan, 2008.
Tamakloe, R.Y., Singh, K., Opoku-Donkor, T. (2014). %& & as electron acceptor in DoubleChamber Microbial Fuel Cells. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering
and Technology. Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2014, pp. 01-06.
Zielke, E. A., Thermodynamic Analysis of a single chamber Microbial Fuel Cell. May, 2006,
pp 1-13.
Chonde Sonal G, Mishra A. S. and Raut P.D. (2013), Bioelectricity Production from
Wastewater using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), International Journal of Advanced Research
in Engineering & Technology (IJARET), Volume 4, Issue 6, pp. 62 - 69.
T. Opoku-Donkor, R. Y. Tamakloe, R. K. Nkum and K. Singh (2013), Effect of Cod on
OCV, Power Production and Coulombic Efficiency of Single-Chambered Microbial Fuel
Cells, International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering & Technology (IJARET),
Volume 4, Issue 7, pp. 198 - 206.

38