Mixing effect of biometric flow channel in microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology can utilize microbiology to metabolize organic substance and transform the chemical energy into electrical energy, which can be widely applied to purify the environment and develop new energy. Now, a novel method of biometric mixer and biometric flow channel in MFC rarely utilized previously would be applied and investigated. Two parts of experiment related to biometric channel and biometric mixer experiment will be investigated respectively. Compared with common continuous MFC, the maximum power density of MFC with biometric channel can reach 91.81 mW/m3, and the stable discharging voltage can retrain at 0.5 mV. Based on experiment (1), the biometric mixer is added and the effect is discussed. It is found that the average mixing efficiency of nutrient source and bacteria liquid reaches 98%, and the maximum power density reaches 118.34 mW/m3, 28.9% higher than that of MFC without mixer. These results show that the biometric channel and biometric mixer can be useful to enhance the power performance and could be widely applied to all kinds of MFCs in the future.

► Biometric mixer design was first applied to microbiological fuel cell. ► Power density reached was enhanced from that without mixer added for 28.9%. ► Mixer will contribute to the electricity improvement of microbiological fuel cell.