Effect of geometrical position of a multi-anode system in power output and nutritional variation in benthic microbial fuel cells. Issue 1 (February 2018) - Prakash, Om
Graphical abstract: Highlights: Two different geometrical configurations of anode was compared. Vertical geometry of anode position was found better. Nutritional analysis of sediment showed that degradation isn't always certain. Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were also played an important role as exoelectrogens apart from Proteobacteria . Abstract: A comparative study of an anode position in a benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) was performed. Different geometric alignment of anodes having single, vertical and horizontal in sediment to understand the impact of positional changes on power performances was studied. Vertical anode configuration showed 1.2 and 2.56 fold higher power density than horizontal and single anode system respectively. Internal resistance was also found 389, 421 and 668 Ω for vertical, horizontal and single anode system respectively. This suggests that the vertical configuration of anode system performs better than horizontal configuration. Nutritional analysis shows that organic matter was consumed initially at a high rate at anode position than non-anode position and among them; degradation of an organic matter in vertical anode system is higher than horizontal and single configuration. The final increment of organics in the system depicted the accumulation of complex organics which were difficult to oxidize. Microbial community obtained from 16S rRNA found to have the increment of Alpha-, Betaproteobacteria, and Acidobacteria on an anode over time. The dominance of Acidobacteria further reveals the acidic environment formation inside the sediment chamber. It can be concluded that Acidobacteria is also the dominant communities besides Proteobacteria.