Investigation of Effect of Temperature and Substrate Flowrate on Efficiency of Two-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell

The energy consumption in different industries is increasing so fast in recent years. Although fossil fuels have been the main source of energy, some deficiencies such as their limitations and instability and also their drastic impacts on the environment and greenhouse emissions have obliged people to provide their required energy from alternative sources, especially regenerative ones. One of such energy sources is the application of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) which is used for electricity generation. In MFSs proton and electron are produced in anode anaerobic chamber through the oxidation of microorganism substrates. Protons diffuse through the proton exchange membrane and electrons go to the cathode chamber through the external circuit. Electrons and protons produce water in presence of oxygen as an electron acceptor. Consequently, the process of MFCs is significant in terms of economic aspects. Modeling and simulation are methods of characterization of MFCs. For this purpose, after the modeling and simulation of a two-chamber MFC, important parameters namely temperature and substrate flowrate were investigated. Investigations on the effect of substrate flowrate in three steps (0.8 Qa= 18 cm3/h, 1.2 Qa = 27 cm3/h, Qa = 22.5 cm3/h) showed that the highs power was achieved in 22.5 cm3/h. Additionally, the effect of temperature was assessed in 298-333K, where the highest power was achieved in 298K.