Dissertation
Microbial fuel cells powering electronic devices
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006154
Abstract
The objective of this dissertation was to develop a microbial fuel cell energy generation system and use it for powering electronic devices monitoring environment in remote areas. The first part of the dissertation was focused on improving the power generation of the MFCs. This included scaling up microbial fuel cells for higher power generation, developing a new energy harvesting method to optimize power generation, and developing a performance evaluation method to test the performance of the MFCs while powering electronic devices. It was found that the power generation in MFCs does not increase linearly with the geometric surface area of the electrode and the relationship is logarithmic. The intermittent energy harvesting is beneficial for optimizing the energy generation from the MFCs. The developed method for evaluating the performance of MFCs could optimize the design and operating conditions of the MFCs and the sensors. The second part of the dissertation was focused on applying the MFCs for powering remote electronic devices. Using sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) we successfully powered wireless sensors in the Palouse River area, Pullman, WA. The SMFCs were operated with microbial anodes and cathodes and the sensors were operated with the help of custom-designed electronics. In addition to work on developing MFCs for powering remote electronic devices, a review on electrochemically active biofilms was presented and an education module based on microbial fuel cells was developed. The review revealed that understanding electron transfer processes is still the bottleneck for the progress in microbial fuel cell applications. The education module was found effective for teaching multidisciplinary concepts to chemical engineering students. Overall, it was concluded that microbial fuel cells with appropriately designed electrodes, energy harvesting strategy, and power management system can be used to power electronic devices, especially sensors in remote areas.
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Details
- Title
- Microbial fuel cells powering electronic devices
- Creators
- Mohammad Abdul Alim Dewan
- Contributors
- Haluk Beyenal (Chair)Bernard J. Van Wie (Committee Member)Richard L Zollars (Committee Member) - Washington State University, School of Chemical Engineering and BioengineeringKNONA C LIDDELL (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 240
- Identifiers
- 99901055118801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation