Operational Principles Of MFCs

Abstract

In this chapter, after describing how the microbial fuel cell operates and how the chemical energy resulting from the oxidation of a substrate through oxidation/reduc-tion reactions is converted into electricity with chemical reactions, the factors affecting the performance of the fuel cell including the effect of temperature, the effect pH, external resistance, type of electrode, size, and distance of electrodes, type, and composition of microorganisms, as well as the shape, structure, and size of the chamber have been investigated. Since the purpose of fuel cell design is to produce electric current from microorganisms, therefore, the current density criterion and how to calculate it are briefly explained.