Exploitation of Citrus Peel Extract as a Feedstock for Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

• Published in: Indian journal of microbiology Vol. 59; no. 4; pp. 476 - 481
• Main Authors: Kondaveeti, Sanath, Mohanakrishna, Gunda, Kumar, Anurag, Lai, Chunfen, Lee, Jung-Kul, Kalia, Vipin C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.12.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biochemical fuel cells; Bioelectricity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Electric power generation; Fatty acids; Fuel cells; Fuel technology; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Organic loading; Organic wastes; Original Research article; Plant extracts; Raw materials; Reduction; Substrates; Volatile fatty acids; Microbial fuel cells; Chemical oxygen demand (COD); Citrus waste; Power generation; Bioelectricity
• ISSN: 0046-8991; 0973-7715
• DOI: 10.1007/s12088-019-00829-7

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are envisioned as an evolving cost-effective process for treating organic wastes to simultaneously generate bioelectricity. Therefore, in present study a single chambered mediator- less air cathode MFC was operated for bioelectricity generation using citrus waste (CW) as a feedstock. The MFC was operated at four organic loading conditions (OLs; 3, 6, 9 and 12 kg/m 3 ). The voltage generation and organic content reduction demonstrated the possibility of utilizing CW as a substrate in MFC. The polarization analysis revealed a high-power generation of 71.1 mW/m 2 with low OL of 3 kg/m 3 . The decrease in pH and high volatile fatty acids (VFAs) generation was noted at high OL. Our current findings suggest better performance of MFC, in terms of energy generation and organic reduction at high OL.