Study of the performance of three sediment microbial fuel cells in an open channel

Abstract

In this research, performance of three sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) in an open channel has been investigated in single and series mode in terms of electricity generation and voltage production. In single mode, the maximum power density for Cell 1, 2 and 3 was measured as 47, 30 and 37 mW/m2, respectively. Internal resistances for these cells were 973, 1546 and 1192 Ω, respectively. When cells were connected in series, the maximum power density was 34 mW/m2, nearly equivalent to that of each cell, and the internal resistance was 2149 Ω. In addition, the voltage generated in series mode was in the range of 540 to 580 mV which was much more than the voltage of each individual cell, although voltage reversal occurred causing the voltage to be less than expected. This research provides information to produce energy by SMFC system for application in a large scale.