S12-308 (LM) Microbial Batteries with Reoxidizable Solid-State Electrodes for Conversion
of Chemical Potential Energy into Electrical
Energy
(inventors: Craig S Criddle, Yi Cui, Xing Xie, and Meng Ye)
Project team members: Amy Lam, Anna-Clare Milazzo, Anne-laure Cuvilliez,
Guido Bordignon, Thomas Juffmann, Sunanda Marella
Waste water (l)
# per day
total (l)
30
1x
30
10
3x
30
0.5
6x
3
150
.
.
.
1/3x
.
.
.
50
.
.
.
Microbial batteries
Summary
Does it work?
Oxidation of
organic matter
Wastewater
Electricity
Microbial fuel cell vs. microbial battery
Microbial
fuel cell
Microbial
battery
Potential Customers
Wastewater
Domestic
Municipal
Wastewater
Home Septic
Systems
Industrial
Wineries and
Breweries
Aquaculture
Sugar Cane
Processing
Many others
…
Wastewater Treatment
Energy Available
~ 80k water/wastewater treatment plants
www.waterworld.com
Energy Consumed
Average Energy Used:
1,200 kWh/million
gallons (MG)
Energy Use Scales with
• 1 MGD Size
2,200 kWh/MG
-45%
• 10 MGD  1,200 kWh/MG
-17%
• 50 MGD  1,000 kWh/MG
www.ncsafewater.org
US EPA Energy Efficiency in Water and
Wastewater Facilities
PSU
ASU
Onsite wastewater treatment system – Septic systems
•
•
20% of U.S Homes use septic systems to treat their wastewater (EPA)
Conventional methods using gravity flow – no energy costs, relatively cheap,
anaerobic
•
Septic tanks need regular maintenance and lack of it leads to groundwater
pollution
Potential applications for the microbial battery technology to be
used in wastewater treatment in Septic systems
•Two companies Emfcy and Proningeer are scaling MFC technology to be able
to use it in onsite wastewater treatment
•Using a greener technology might entail subsidies from The ARA (America
Recovery Act - Kit Rosefield from California Onsite waste water association (COWA).
•Energy generation from wastewater treatment in septic tanks
will be of interest in developing countries without proper
access to municipal sewers and electricity
Application: Microbial batteries in
aquaculture
• System types
• 2004 EPA effluent guidelines
• Information from “getting out of the building” step
o Pathogen removal is key problem
o Modularity/easy addition
Widmer Brothers‘ Brewery &
Oregon State
Fosters brewery &
Univ. Queensland
Anheuser-Busch &
Cornell Univ.
Conclusion – Several Issues
Remain
• Additional R&D required
– Cost high (materials, maintenance, labor, etc)
– Efficiency low
• Regulatory Considerations
• Operational Considerations
– Existing infrastructure