Electricity using wastewater treatment! The new big innovation?

Since times immemorial, we humans have been dependent on electricity. And why not! Electricity is the driving fuel of our day-to-day life, in these modern times where almost every single thing is dependent upon the consumption of electricity, it is almost impossible to think of a world without it.

Electricity has been a companion of humans since 1752, the year in which Benjamin Franklin discovered it and to the late 1880s when coal began to be used in industries to produce electricity on a large level. Since then, we humans have been trying to devise newer and newer methods to generate electricity and we definitely hit milestones of success as we came up with Hydropower, Wind energy, Solar power, Nuclear power and whatnot. But the most convenient method of generating electricity that is Thermal power using coal still remains to be the major source of electricity in today’s world. The problem with coal is that it is a major source of air pollution, the areas around a thermal power plant have often been seen to be deserted due to the immense amount of air pollution.

This is where the need to devise a method of generating electricity that goes hand in hand with our environment was felt and generating electricity using wastewater treatment came in the scene! According to reports, the major cities of India produce 38345 million litres of sewage water per day. This wastewater which usually goes into polluting our water bodies can actually be used to generate electricity in a much effective way, and the innovators of our country have come up with a carefully devised scientific method for doing so.

This method of generating electricity basically uses the concept of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). The earliest Microbial Fuel Cell Concept was demonstrated by Potter in 1910. Electrical energy was produced from living cultures of Escherichia Coli & Saccharomyces by using Platinum electrodes.

This method envisages producing useable electrical energy from the waste while it is being degraded by bacteria. Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a highly practical technology that harnesses the power of bacteria to generate electricity from wastes (sewage and similar wastes). Bacteria in an MFC break down the organic matter from the food and bodily wastes present in sewage generating electricity while accomplishing the degradation of organic matter or waste.

Since the turn of the 21st century, MFCs have started to find commercial use in the treatment of wastewater in addition to having other applications as well such as in the area of bio-sensors, bio-recovery of metals, in methane production etc.

Microbial fuel Cells are bioreactors involving a microbial set up in the conventional electric cell setup. The Bacterial reactions account for the anodic part of the cell. The electrolyte is wastewater which consequently also serves as the source of organic contents. The Anode and Cathode are separated by a selective Proton Exchange membrane. For example, if acetate is used as the substrate.

Reactions Involved at the cathode and anode:

Schematic diagram of an MFC:

The Microbial Fuel Cell is made up of four parts as shown in the figure, the four parts being –

1. Anode chamber which holds the bacteria and organic matter in an anaerobic environment.

2. Cathode chamber which holds the conductive saltwater solution.

3. Proton exchange membrane which separates anode and cathode.

4. External Circuit.

Bacteria in the anode chamber create protons and electrons during oxidation as part of their digestive process. The electrons are pulled out of the solution in the anode and place onto the electrode. The electrons are then conducted through the external circuit and into the cathode chamber by the way of the cathode’s electrode. The protons from the solution in the anode travel through the proton exchange membrane to meet with the electrons at the cathodes and this completes the circuit causing electricity to flow which can be then harnessed.

Microbial fuels cell can be used for different purposes such as electricity generation, Biohydrogen production, biosensors and wastewater treatment. Low power wireless systems can also be powered with MFCs. There has been a reported study of using the MFC to utilize body glucose to power implanted medical devices. Robotics has also high usage of MFCs for sustaining self-sustainable autonomous robots. MFCs are especially suitable for powering small telemetry systems and wireless sensors that have only low power requirements to transmit signals such as temperature to receivers in remote locations. MFCs are viewed by some researchers as a perfect energy supply candidate for Gastro-bots by self-feeding the biomass collected by themselves.

It is very pleasing to know that this methodology is actively being used all around the globe in various industries as well as even in certain domestic institutions, particularly in smaller appliances which require a small amount of electricity. And it is evident that this practice will only grow in the future as the need for renewable sources of energy becomes more and more dominant as each day passes.

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