Evaluation of Scale-Up And Environmental Factors On Microbial Fuel Cell

Considering the recent world situation of the  electricity for mankind and also energy requirements have been increasing exponentially worldwide. People is facing on their energy challenge and most countries in the world are on their way searching for new renewable energy resources technologies which consider for environment protection. An estimated 1.3 billon people – 17.3% of the global population – did not have access to electricity services for their daily lives, especially at night. Various studies on alternative renewable energy generation are becoming more and more priority, because humanity's increasing concern for electricity needs and climate change is happening. One potential way to continue to be explored as a solution to solve this problem is the over-reliance on electricity based on fossil fuels. Then the microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an opportunity challenge that is very interesting for further development. There are still many open opportunities to find out the effect of increasing volume and environmental factors on MFC operations. The results showed that the maximum value for mixed samples was 12720 ± 114.31 mV / m2, 9830 ± 81.79 mV / m2 and 1650 ± 65.32 mV / m2 for mixed samples of persimmon and soil waste, leaf molds and rice bran respectively -one; the electromotive force of the sample mixture of persimmon and soil waste is around 22 ± 0.01 V / m2. In addition, the power density correlates with an increase in the MFC scale which reaches 2109.9 mW / m2, 2319.88 mW / m2, 4384.06 mW / m2 and 10317.19 mW / m2 for 100 cm2, 150 cm2, 300 respectively. cm2 and 500 cm2 respectively. And the voltage generator works well even on a number of environmental factors (especially pH and humidity). In summary, this study shows and agrees that voltage generation can be maintained to increase during reactor increases and MFC by using organic waste (especially using persimmon fruit waste) can be operated under any environmental conditions

Landslide Mitigation through Biocementation

Landslide and other geo-disasters are causing a great damage to people and the resources all over the world. An environment friendly countermeasure of landslide disasters is necessary. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a bio-cementation process that can improve the geotechnical properties of granular soils through the precipitation of calcium carbonate (calcite) at soil particle contacts. This MICP can be an environment friendly solution for the biocementation of soil. In this study, an evaluation of biocemented soil has been carried out through direct shear test and direct simple shear test. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) tests were conducted to analysis the calcite precipitation inside the biotreated soil by bacteria by using Toyoura sand and silica sand no. 4. It was observed that the amount of calcite generated in silica sand was larger than Toyoura sand. The particle shape influences the result of calcite precipitation and consequent strength of the bio-cemented sand. The amount of strength which was obtained by direct shear test and direct simple shear test indicated the granular soil became bio-stabilized within 7 days of application of nutrients from the surface. However, the amount of generated calcite was not uniformed in different layers while applying the nutrients and bacterial from the surface which was revealed by X-ray CT scan test

Bioelectricity from Organic Solid Waste

Resource recovery and recycling of organic waste is a great challenge in the world. The unmanaged organic waste causes a great damage to the environment and the public health both in the developing countries and industrial parts of the world. In this research, an innovative method was adopted to generate bioelectricity from the organic waste by using the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). Various types of organic wastes such as livestock waste, food waste, fruit waste were used as the substrates of the microbial fuel cell. All the experiments were carried out in the same sized one chamber microbial fuel cell and the similar electrode materials. It was observed that all the organic wastes can be used to generate bioelectricity through microbial fuel cell. The generated electricity can be used in several environmental monitoring sensors and can be used as an alternate power source in the developing countries. The by-products of the bioelectricity generation can be used as soil conditioner in the organic depleted soil and agricultural fields

Basic and morphological properties of Bukit Goh bauxite

Investigation conducted by International Maritime Organization (IMO) concluded that the loss of the Bulk Jupiter that carrying bauxite from Kuantan has uncovered evidence to suggest liquefaction led to loss of stability. This research analysed Bukit Goh bauxite and comparison was made with International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC Code) standard. To analyse these characteristics of the bauxite, four samples were selected at Bukit Goh, Kuantan ; two of the samples from the Bukit Goh mine and two samples from the stock piles were tested to identify the bauxite basic and morphological properties by referring to GEOSPEC 3 : Model Specification for Soil Testing ; particle size distribution, moisture content and specific gravity and its morphological properties. Laboratory tests involved including Hydrometer test, Small Pycnometer test, Dry Sieve test and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscop (FESEM) test. The results show that the average moisture content of raw Bukit Goh bauxite is 20.64% which exceeded the recomended value of maximum 10%. Average fine material for raw bauxite is 37.75% which should not be greater than 30% per IMSBC standard. By that, the bauxite from Bukit Goh mine do not achieved the minimum requirements and standards of the IMSBC standard and need to undergo beneficiation process for better quality and safety

Urine-activated origami microbial fuel cells to signal proof of life

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. The adaptability and practicality of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are highly desirable traits in the search for alternative sources of energy. An innovative application for the technology could be to power portable emergency locator transmitters (ELTs). Such devices would ideally need to be lightweight, robust and fast-in terms of response. Urine is an abundant resource, and with MFCs, could be the ideal fuel for powering ELTs, with the compelling advantage of also indicating proof of life. We developed novel origami tetrahedron MFCs (TP-MPFCs) using photocopier paper to test different urine-based inoculants. When inoculated with urine extracted from the anode chambers of working MFCs a stack of 6 abiotic MFCs produced a usable working voltage after just 3 h 15 min; enough to energise a power management system. The anodes of established TP-MFCs were then removed and air-dried for 7 days before being inserted into new paper reactors and refrigerated. After 4 weeks, these MFCs displayed an immediate response to fresh urine and achieved a functional working voltage in just 35 minutes. Two paper MFCs connected in parallel were able to transmit 85 radio signals and in a series configuration 238 broadcasts over 24 hours. These findings demonstrate that simple, inexpensive, lightweight paper MFCs can be employed as urine-activated, "proof of life" reporting systems. This journal i

Seasonal Variation of Contaminated Geo-Environmental Condition of Yamaguchi Bay Tidal Flat, Japan

In this study, the seasonal variation of geo-environmental condition of Yamaguchi Bay tidal flat has been studied. Yamaguchi bay is located at the south part of Yamaguchi prefecture and was famous for its different kind of shells and other living creatures. However, a sharp declination of a catch of shells and crabs have been observed in recent years. Particularly, the living creatures related to the tidal flat mud have been suffered a damage. Recently, the horseshoe crabs which used to come onto shore to mate is declining in Yamaguchi bay which is not good for the marine ecosystem of this area. The mud samples were collected from the tidal flat area once in every month by using the tube sampler. Then the samples were cut into specified layer and measured the different geo-environmental parameters (acid volatile sulfide, pH, loss on ignition, COD, Electrical conductivity) at the laboratory in each layer. It was observed that the acid volatile sulfide (AVS) which is the most important parameter for the living condition of the living creatures is over the safe limit (0.2 mg/g-dry mud) during the summer. The other parameters such as pH, LOI, have also significant variation in different seasons but they were still within the safe limit. The COD value of the tidal mud also showed a significant variation during the summer and the winter. However, the higher AVS value was one of the reasons for the declination of horseshoe crabs and other living creature in the tidal flat of Yamaguchi bay, Japan