Flow fuel cell powered by combustible agricultural waste

Abstract

Combustible agricultural waste is a potential source of energy because of its high organic content and heating value. As China’s economy develops, energy demand increases while environmental protection becomes more stringent. These competing demands make it urgent to find environmentally acceptable ways to extract energy from agricultural wastes. In this study, a liquid catalyst flow fuel cell (FFC) directly powered by combustible agricultural waste is investigated. This type of flow fuel cell can directly convert combustible agricultural waste at atmospheric pressure to electricity at 80–150°C and it is environmentally friendly. Polyoxometalates act as catalysts and charge carriers to drive the FFC. Wheat straw and wine residues were used to represent the main components of combustible agricultural waste. Experiment results indicated that the power density reached as high as 111 mW/cm2, hundreds of times higher than the output of a microbial cell.