Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

Abstract

Benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) are a class of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) that are an emerging technology under development for applications of persistent ocean monitoring. BMFCs function via anaerobic bacteria metabolizing organic matter in sediment and providing electrons to buried anodes. These anodes are electrically connected via an external circuit to an aerobic cathode positioned in the water column. Previous projects by this same group involved largescale deployments that demonstrated deployment of BMFC systems via a boat-towed sled. These long carpet like anodes (termed "Magic Carpet") have been shown to generate power densities of 5-10 mW m-2 in systems ranging from 10-40 m 2 systems. A major challenge in the field remains scaling up these systems to generate practical levels of power. This paper evaluates two iterations of segmented 20 m 2 Magic Carpet BMFC systems and compares their long-term performance.

Improving power production in linear forms of microbial fuel cells

“…Factoring in either treatment, however, improves the cable anode performance and makes it competitive with the carbon fabric panels. Within the context of the comparison between fabric panel anodes and cable anodes, there is merit in considering the linear form as it bypasses most of the deployment issue related to fabric panel anodes [11]. The standard deviations in Table II indicate a confounding factor not accounted for in the BMFC tests.…”

“…The BMFCs in this article utilize electricallycoupled bioanodes and biocathodes to generate power for sensing applications [11]. Sensors monitor and report environmental parameters as well as human / animal activities in a marine environment.…”

“…Typically, BMFCs are constructed of fabric panels or brush-type carbon electrodes because of their durability during deployment [11]. It was previously shown that BMFCs in the same sediments using carbon fabric panels generated power densities of approximately 10-20 mW/m 2 in an anode-limited setup [6].…”