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Experimental Study of Water Desalination and Electricity Generation by Algae

Khazraee Zamanpour, Morvarid | 2015

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 47056 (06)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Kariminia, Hamid Reza; Vosoughi, Manouchehr
  7. Abstract:
  8. Microbial Fuel cells (MFCs) can be used to generate bioenergy in the form of electricity by using microorganisms and natural biological processes. The need for a supply of fresh water in many parts of the world has led to the innovation of modifying an MFC into a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) that adds the function of desalination to the MFCs existing ability to generate electricity directly from wastewater. The goals of this project were to design and analyze the use of a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) for the generation of electricity while simultaneously desalinating saline water and also to evaluate performance of bio-cathode in MFCs and MDCs. The newly designed MDC incorporates algae Chlorella Vulgaris in the cathodic chamber to harvest solar energy and maintain a fresh supply of oxygen to the cathode electrode. Based on our observations, maximum power density in bio-cathode MFC with GORETEX membrane was 8.8mW/m2 and approximately equal with produced power density of air-cathode MFC with the same membrane (9.2mW/m2). In MFC with cation exchange membrane employing bio-cathode reduced power density about 35%, but biofule production in cathode chamber positively affected total output of this system. In microbial desalination cell (MDC) with algae- biocathode and saline water of 35g/L in middle chamber, internal resistance was 1884Ω and 18% less than internal resistance of air-cathode MFC with cation exchange membrane (MFC with the lowest resistance). Moreover, the produced power density in this MDC was 20.25mW/m2, approximately 50% more than produced power in MDC with lower salt concentration (15 g/L). According to gathered data, MDC with higher salt concentration reduced conductivity about 29%; however, conductivity reduced 42% in MDC with lower salt concentration (15g/L). To sum, in MFC with GORETEX (economical membrane) bio-cathode enhanced system efficiency and in MDC higher salt concentration improved energy and biomass production
  9. Keywords:
  10. Microbial Fuel Cell ; Microalgae ; Power Density ; Desalination ; Bioelectricity Generation ; Microbial Desalination Cell

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