Operational testing of sediment microbial fuel cells in San Diego Bay

Wotawa-Bergen, Adriane; Chadwick, D. B.; Richter, Ken; Tender, Leonard M.; Reimers, Clare E.; Gong, Yanming

doi:10.1109/oceans.2010.5664612

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In addition, both systems follow a similar pattern with an initial increased power production (after a lag phase of approximately 30 days). This has been observed in many experiments performed in this laboratory [6,7,10,11,12]. This is very likely due to depletion of organics in the sediment directly around the anodes.…”

Section: B Magic Carpet Bsupporting

confidence: 56%

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Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

Arias-Thode

Hsu

Kagan

et al. 2015

OCEANS 2015 - Genova

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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.

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Section: B Magic Carpet Bsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…Both Magic Carpet architectures were deployed in San Diego Bay adjacent to the Marine Corp Recruit Depot (32º 44' 20.65"N, 177 º 12' 31.42"W) where Oregon State University, Naval Research Lab, and Spawar Systems Center-Pacific microbial fuel cells have been previously deployed and tested [12] (Fig. 1).…”

Section: A San Diego Baydeploymentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

Arias-Thode

Hsu

Kagan

et al. 2015

OCEANS 2015 - Genova

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“…In an operational testing, an open (40-60 mW) anode-system MFC and an enclosed (8-20 mW) anode-system MFC were compared in the San Diego Bay, CA and in the Yaquina Bay, OR, respectively [27]. In both systems, the cathode was suspended in the water column.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Electronic Circuit for Trickle Charge Harvesting From Littoral Microbial Fuel Cells

Bandyopadhyay

Thivierge

McNeilly

et al. 2013

IEEE J. Oceanic Eng.

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In this paper, the design of an electronic circuit for harvesting energy trickling from benthic sources and the long-term performance in powering sensors and devices in a littoral tidal basin are considered. The process has to contend with the randomness, diurnal variations, and low levels and voltages in available energy compared to what is required by oceanographic sensors. The system has two components: a circuit for conditioning the power and a large area electrode array in a littoral basin. The circuit has two stages and is able to overcome the leaks in capacitors used to store the power; the energy is stored first in a small capacitor and then in a large one so that voltages compatible with sensors are produced. The footprint of the anode is 10 m and is inserted into the sediment and the cathode resides in the salt water above the sediment. Several different sensors and actuators have been autonomously powered by the stored energy (4.2 kJ at 12 V). A beacon and an underwater acoustic sensor (5 h of activation of combined hydrophone and three-axis accelerometer sensors, every 40 h; duty cycle has been doubled with recent improvements) have been powered over one to two months. Also, in-water propulsion (for 165 s at a time) of a 25-W biorobotic flapping fin propulsor has been achieved. The system is suitable primarily for powering sensors. It has been operated for more than three years at useful duty cycles, indicating sustainability for autonomous usage.Index Terms-Autonomous sensing, benthic power engineering, littoral basin, microbial fuel cells (MFCs), trickle charge harvesting.

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“…If these bacteria are in close proximity with the anode, the electrons generated through their metabolism process may be transferred to the anode that is, in turn, electrically connected to a cathode in the overlying aerobic water where oxygen reduction occurs. The current generated from this process is able to sustain low-power electronics [3]. The fuel supply in the sediment is naturally replenished as organic matter settles on the sediment surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and deployment of a surface based benthic micorbial fuel cell

Higier¹,

Hsu²,

Kagan³

et al. 2014

2014 Oceans - St. John's

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Abstract-Benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) have the potential to provide long-term, sustainable power for undersea devices. BMFCs operate by harnessing organic matter in the sediment as a fuel source. Field systems have demonstrated power densities in the range of 5 to 20 mW/m 2 depending on size and operating conditions. Operation of anodes under anaerobic conditions is critical to the functionality of BMFCs because the presence of oxygen will negatively affect the microbiology and chemistry driving power production. In order to provide an anaerobic environment the BMFC anodes are usually buried at least 10 cm under the sediment which generally ensures a completely anaerobic environment in reducing coastal sediments. Furthermore, to increase a system's power output, large surface areas for the anode and cathodes are needed. Installation of these large-scale anodes is difficult, time consuming, and in the case of very deep water environments, almost impossible.In order to solve the issue of complex burial techniques for large anodes, a unique design of BMFCs has been created which allows the anode to be placed on the sediment surface without being buried and still operate under anaerobic conditions. Carbon cloth anodes were covered on one side with metalized plastic film, specifically biaxiallyoriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET), and sealed at the edges. This type of metal film has very low oxygen permeability which prevents oxygen in overlying water from diffusing through the film and interfering with current production at the surface of the anode. Weights were added to the perimeter of the film in order to ensure a seal between the anode edge and the sediment to prevent aerobic seawater from contacting the anode thus ensuring an anaerobic environment for the anode. The concept was tested at various scales in the lab environment and a prototype deployment system was developed and tested for future scale-up and field applications.

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Operational testing of sediment microbial fuel cells in San Diego Bay

Cited by 21 publications

References 5 publications

Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

An Electronic Circuit for Trickle Charge Harvesting From Littoral Microbial Fuel Cells

Development and deployment of a surface based benthic micorbial fuel cell

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