Performance Of Earthen Pot Microbial Fuel Cell Using Anodic Effluent As Cathodic Electrolyte G. S. Jadhav 1 , Y. D. Jagtap 2 and M. M. Ghangrekar 3 * 1, 2 Rajgad Dnyanpeeth’s Shri Chhatrapati Shivajiraje College of Engineering, Pune, India. 3 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India Abstract Performance of single chambered earthen pot Microbial fuel cells (MFC) was investigated to treat synthetic wastewater under continuous mode of operation using air and anode effluent as a cathode electrolyte. Stainless steel (SS) mesh with surface area 100 cm 2 was used as a both electrodes. Under continuous mode of operation, maximum power density of 12.0 and 16.44 mW/m 2 ; maximum current density of 126 and 160.6 mA/m 2 and maximum volumetric power of 929 and 1096 mW/m 3 were obtained using air and anode effluent as a cathode electrolyte respectively. Under continuous mode of operation, maximum chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency and maximum coulombic efficiency using air as a cathode electrolyte were 67-72% and 6.89%, respectively; whereas maximum chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency and maximum coulombic efficiency using anode effluent as a cathode electrolyte were 76-80% and 10.98%, respectively. Internal resistance of a cell changed with cathode electrolyte as well as with day of operation. Minimum internal resistance of the cell was 178 and 82 Ω using air and anode effluent as a cathode respectively. Maximum potential difference developed using both stainless steel electrodes was 0.344 and 0.329 V using air and anode effluent as a cathode electrolyte respectively. 1. Introduction The current technologies used to produce electric power are changing the climate due to increase in emission of the greenhouse gases such as CO 2 , N 2 O. In addition, due to limited amount of fossil fuels and considering the global warming effect, there is an increasing urge to develop more renewable energy sources, which are environmental friendly and clean energy source, with minimal or zero use of hydrocarbons. Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electricity without an intermediate conversion into mechanical power [1]. The energy available in the organic matter present in the wastewater can be recovered as direct electricity through microbial metabolism oxidizing the organic matter under anoxic condition. In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), the biochemical energy contained in the organic matter is directly converted in to electricity in what can be called as a microbially mediated “incineration” reaction [2]. This implies that overall conversion efficiencies that can be reached are potentially higher for MFCs compared to other biofuel processes. MFC uses bacteria to catalyze the organic matter in to electricity. Unlike a battery, fuel cell converts energy from one form to another (much like an engine) and will continue to operate as long as fuel is fed to it. They are mainly of two different types: biofuel cells that generate electricity from the addition of artificial electron shuttles (mediators) and MFCs that do not require mediator for electrons shuttles. Therefore, MFCs can use sustainable source of energy, apart from effective treatment of wastewater. Performance of a MFC is affected by the substrate conversion rate, overpotentials at the anode and at the cathode, the proton exchange membrane performance, and internal resistance of the cell [3]. The optimization of MFCs requires extensive exploration of the operating parameters that affect the power output. A sound body of literature supports the exploration of different parameters such as surface area of electrode, different materials as electrodes, use of special aerobic culture of Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 as the active electrochemical species in the anode chamber [4], sedimentary bacterium [5], Geobacter sulfurreducens [6], sedimentary bacterium [5]; cathode performance with different electron acceptor such as a permanganate, oxygen [7; 8]; and Hexacyanoferrate [8]; spatial arrangement of effluent with respect to PEM [7]; electrode distance [9]; cathode surface area International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) Vol. 2 Issue 3, March - 2013 ISSN: 2278-0181 1 www.ijert.org