Preliminary Results on the Generation of Alternative Electrical Energy Using Strawberry Waste in Microbial Fuel Cells
摘要
The high energy demand worldwide and the high cost of installing and consuming sustainable energy plants have caused remote populations to not obtain a constant energy supply. On the other hand, the amount of fruit waste produced by agriculture has increased, generating an environmental imbalance in production areas. However, this research is breaking new ground. These problems can be solved by using microbial fuel cells due to the versatility of this technology for producing electric energy using organic waste as fuel. This research presents the preliminary results of using strawberry waste as fuel in single-chamber microbial fuel cells using activated carbon and zinc electrodes, an innovative approach. Maximum power density values of 2115 mW/cm2 were reported with voltage and electric current values of 0.794 ± 0.028 V and 3.848 ± 0.207 mA, respectively, on the tenth day. The microbial fuel cells operated at a pH of 4.988 ± 0.331 while exhibiting an electrical conductivity of 92.756 ± 5.651 mS/cm with an internal resistance of 4.988 ± 0.331 Ω. In addition, the chemical oxygen demand was reduced by 66.39%, and the maximum ORP value was 161.20 ± 8.14 mV.