Bioenergy production from freeze dried Chlorella vulgaris biomass via microbial fuel cell

• Published in: Journal of Thermal Engineering
• Main Author: Zainal M.H.; Mohamad S.A.S.; Tunku Kudin T.I.; Ameran H.M.; Kamalruzaman N.K.A.; Hassan O.H.; Ali A.M.M.; Yahya M.Z.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Yildiz Technical University 2016
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85035057298&doi=10.18186%2fjte.69264&partnerID=40&md5=0e396c3c4032d377602a6d06de4e39c5
• ISSN: 21487847
• DOI: 10.18186/jte.69264

Algae biomass has strong and complex cell wall structure that is a hindrance for microbial digestion. In this work, two extracted algae biomass, which are freeze dried and spray dried Chlorella vulgaris biomass is applied to investigate the generation of bioelectricity by using single chamber air-cathode Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). MFC was fed with freeze-dried algae powder to produce energy and determine its degradation efficiency. MFC with freeze-dried algae biomass was generating voltage around 739 mV from bacterial metabolism with algae substrate and phosphate buffered medium. Based on the power curve obtained, the maximum power density is 159 mW/m2 with 2.5 g/L of substrate concentration. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiency is 54.2% and Coulombic efficiency (CE) obtained is 28.4%.