Pee power urinal-microbial fuel cell technology field trials in the context of sanitation

This paper reports on the pee power urinal field trials, which are using microbial fuel cells for internal lighting. The first trial was conducted on Frenchay Campus (UWE, Bristol) from February-May 2015 and demonstrated the feasibility of modular MFCs for lighting, with University staff and students as the users; the next phase of this trial is ongoing. The second trial was carried out during the Glastonbury Music Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton in June 2015, and demonstrated the capability of the MFCs to reliably generate power for internal lighting, from a large festival audience (∼1000 users per day). The power output recorded for individual MFCs is 1-2 mW, and the power output of one 36-MFC-module, was commensurate of this level of power. Similarly, the real-time electrical output of both the pee power urinals was proportional to the number of MFCs used, subject to temperature and flow rate: the campus urinal consisted of 288 MFCs, generating 75 mW (mean), 160 mW (max) with 400 mW when the lights were connected directly (no supercapacitors); the Glastonbury urinal consisted of 432 MFCs, generating 300 mW (mean), 400 mW (max) with 800 mW when the lights were connected directly (no supercapacitors). The COD removal was >95% for the campus urinal and on average 30% for the Glastonbury urinal. The variance in both power and urine treatment was due to environmental conditions such as temperature and number of users. This is the first time that urinal field trials have demonstrated the feasibility of MFCs for both electricity generation and direct urine treatment. In the context of sanitation and public health, an independent power source utilising waste is essential in terms of both developing and developed world

Removal of Hepatitis B virus surface HBsAg and core HBcAg antigens using microbial fuel cells producing electricity from human urine

© 2019, The Author(s). Microbial electrochemical technology is emerging as an alternative way of treating waste and converting this directly to electricity. Intensive research on these systems is ongoing but it currently lacks the evaluation of possible environmental transmission of enteric viruses originating from the waste stream. In this study, for the first time we investigated this aspect by assessing the removal efficiency of hepatitis B core and surface antigens in cascades of continuous flow microbial fuel cells. The log-reduction (LR) of surface antigen (HBsAg) reached a maximum value of 1.86 ± 0.20 (98.6% reduction), which was similar to the open circuit control and degraded regardless of the recorded current. Core antigen (HBcAg) was much more resistant to treatment and the maximal LR was equal to 0.229 ± 0.028 (41.0% reduction). The highest LR rate observed for HBsAg was 4.66 ± 0.19 h−1 and for HBcAg 0.10 ± 0.01 h−1. Regression analysis revealed correlation between hydraulic retention time, power and redox potential on inactivation efficiency, also indicating electroactive behaviour of biofilm in open circuit control through the snorkel-effect. The results indicate that microbial electrochemical technologies may be successfully applied to reduce the risk of environmental transmission of hepatitis B virus but also open up the possibility of testing other viruses for wider implementation

Handbook of Cell Biosensors

Handbook of Cell Biosensor