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Research & Reviews: Journal of Material Sciences | ISSN: 2321-6212 | Volulme 6
November 07-08, 2018 | Atlanta, USA
Materials Science and Engineering
15
th
International Conference and Exhibition on
Applied Crystallography
3
rd
International Conference on
&
Efficiency enhancement of anaerobic digester in microbial fuel cell through use of
R. albus
Diane Moon
Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, USA
T
he current study has been undertaken to examine the beneficial effect in the power output of a microbial fuel cell (MFC)
by adding cellulolytic bacteria
Ruminococcus albus (R. albus)
into the anodic chamber. Mediator-less H-type MFCs were
set up where the anode chamber contained anaerobic digester microorganisms as inocula on the finely ground pine tree
(Avicel) at 2% (w/v) and the cathode chamber of 10mM phosphate buffered saline conductive solution, both separated by
a cation exchange membrane. The functioning of the MFCs for generation of electrical power and the amounts of gaseous
byproducts was monitored over a 9 day period. The addition of cellulolytic bacteria caused an increase in average power
density from 7.9mW/m
2
to 19.5mW/m
2
, about 245% increase over a 9 day period. For both groups of MFCs; with
R. albus
and the control, the headspace gases collected were methane and CO
2
. While the methane: CO
2
ratios were found unchanged
at 1.7:1 throughout the 9 days of observation, the total gas production increased from 248mL to 319mL due to the presence
of
R. albus
addition. This study confirms that whereas the biocatalytic activity of anode microbial population determines the
energy production, the addition of external cellulolytic bacteria into anode microbial population can improve and extend the
biomass utilization.
Biography
Diane Moon is a student of The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Lawrenceville, GA. She worked with Dr Paul S Chung in Fuzbien
Technology Institute. Her research field was green energy and her research results have been published in the journal.
schung65@yahoo.co.krDiane Moon, Res. Rev. J Mat. Sci. 2018, Volume 6
DOI: 10.4172/2321-6212-C8-036