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michka:research:microbial_fuel_cells [2014-10-03 12:47] – michka | michka:research:microbial_fuel_cells [2018-04-26 12:44] (current) – [Experiments] michka | ||
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I am currently playing with parameters: sample source, design geometry, electrode materials, nature of the proton exchange membrane (PEM), water source... To understand better the drivers of electrical power delivered by these Quick & Dirty MFCs. | I am currently playing with parameters: sample source, design geometry, electrode materials, nature of the proton exchange membrane (PEM), water source... To understand better the drivers of electrical power delivered by these Quick & Dirty MFCs. | ||
- | So far, the peak power I measured was 0.5 mW [[michka: | + | So far, the peak power I measured was 0.5 mW [[michka: |
(see also [[: | (see also [[: | ||
- | ====From Litterature==== | + | These preliminary experiments layed the ground for the "Power of the mud" project created with robotic artist [[http:// |
- | ===Two containers + Air Pump Design=== | + | ====Litterature==== |
- | [[http:// | + | I started this research by looking for existing quick & dirty designs online. I found two main categories of designs |
+ | |||
+ | The **[[http:// | ||
An airpump feeds clean water with oxygen for the reduction reaction: protons coming from sludge by the salt bridge, together with electrons coming from sludge by the wires, recombine with oxygen to make water. The airpump allows high current to be produced. | An airpump feeds clean water with oxygen for the reduction reaction: protons coming from sludge by the salt bridge, together with electrons coming from sludge by the wires, recombine with oxygen to make water. The airpump allows high current to be produced. | ||
- | Performances: | + | Performances: |
- | ===One container Design=== | ||
- | [[http:// | + | The **[[http:// |
- | ===High-School Project Presentation=== | ||
- | [[http:// | + | I also found a [[http:// |
====Experiments==== | ====Experiments==== | ||
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* [[michka: | * [[michka: | ||
* [[michka: | * [[michka: | ||
+ | * [[http:// | ||
+ | * [[michka: | ||
+ | * [[michka: | ||
+ | * [[michka: | ||
+ | * [[michka: | ||
====Design Improvements Ideas==== | ====Design Improvements Ideas==== | ||
- | ===Airpump=== | + | ===Electrical integration=== |
- | * Is the air pump giving more than what it pumps in terms of energy ? | + | * Try to integrate |
- | * Could we make a mechanical airpump coupled | + | |
- | * Could we improve the cathode design to remove the airpump ? | + | |
===Sludge=== | ===Sludge=== | ||
* Could we use compost tea as a sludge source ? | * Could we use compost tea as a sludge source ? | ||
- | * See [[michka: | + | * See [[michka: |
* Does it also work with usual soil ? | * Does it also work with usual soil ? | ||
+ | * A brief experiment in [[michka: | ||
* How can we keep feeding the sludge, to make the fuel cell operation continuous ? | * How can we keep feeding the sludge, to make the fuel cell operation continuous ? | ||
+ | * Reverse the design, to allow waste to be piled up on top of a nutrients pile for the MFC, and be slowly degraded. | ||
===Electrodes=== | ===Electrodes=== | ||
* Does the efficiency drops if we use flat electrodes from dead batteries ? | * Does the efficiency drops if we use flat electrodes from dead batteries ? | ||
+ | * Actually, the [[michka: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===Airpump=== | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Is the electric air pump giving more energy than what it pumps ? | ||
+ | * Most probably not. | ||
+ | * Could we make a mechanical airpump coupled with a windmill ? | ||
+ | * Probably. But how useful would this be ? We should maybe focus on gathering the energy of the windmill. | ||
+ | * Could we improve the cathode design to remove the airpump ? | ||
- | ====Other kinds of batteries==== | + | ====Related==== |
- | * Molten salt batteries | + | * Other battery designs: |
- | | + | * Molten salt batteries |
- | | + | |
+ | | ||
* Rhubarb battery | * Rhubarb battery |