Environmental Biotechnology Lab Researchers IIT Jodhpur have demonstrated that plant-based microbial fuel cells, dubbed as MFCs, can generate electricity from wastewater faster than algae-based systems.
According to a statement, organic waste materials contain a lot of latent energy, domestic waste has nine times more energy than treatment and there has been interest all over the world to generate energy from waste during the process of wastewater treatment.
Photosynthetic MFCs use algae or plants to generate oxygen from waste at the fuel cell’s cathode. Algae-based systems have been extensively studied in recent years because algae grow rapidly and easily but are sensitive to cultivation conditions. Plant systems are slower to build and have less capacity than algae-based microbial fuel cells but are more robust.
The researchers compared the two in terms of pollutant removal efficiency and the efficiency of electrical power generation. They used Cana indica for plant based MFC and Chlorella vulgaris for algae based MFC. This study was conducted under outdoor conditions using natural wastewater from a decentralized wastewater treatment plant IIT Jodhpur.
The researchers found that plant-based MFCs are better suited because they are stronger, stable, and achieve higher power output.
This observation is important because plant systems are currently underreported due to their lower growth rates and larger space requirements than microalgae-based systems, but it seems that power generation overrides the above problems.
Such fuel cells can be easily installed in any location such as an artificial wetland where wastewater is collected, and the electricity generated can be used to power small devices such as LEDs in remote locations. .
The IIT Jodhpur team aims to further explore microbial fuel cells to realize the potential of MFCs in wastewater treatment and alternative power generation.
.