10803 陰極近傍における流れ場が微生物燃料電池の出力に及ぼす影響

抄録

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) generate electric power through the microbial degradation process of organic matter dissolved in waste water. MFC has not yet been used practically because the output of MFC is relatively low and unstable. The authors hypothesized that the output of MFC decrease because microbes with reducing equivalents may be prohibited from contacting with the anode by microbes remaining on the anode, whose reducing equivalents had already been extracted through the anode. The authors propose a method to renovate the decreased output of MFC by inducing flow in the anode chamber. Effects of the induced flow of the aqueous solution in the anode chamber were evaluated using a prototype MFC fueled with cultures of purple photosynthetic bacteria. The flow of cultures supplies bacteria to the anode chamber and results in the increase of the output of MFC.