Abstract
Production of biohydrogen has the potential to be a renewable energy alternative to current technology. Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) system is new bio-electrochemical processes that are capable of producing hydrogen gas and has higher efficiency when compared with other processes. This study describes the mathematical model of MEC for hydrogen production from wastewater batch reactor. The model is based on material balances with the integration of bio-electrochemical reactions describing the steady-state behaviour of biomass growth, consumption of substrates, hydrogen production and power current characteristics. The model predicts the concentration of anodophilic, acetoclastic methanogenic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenic microorganisms. In this study the effect of varying changes of initial concentration, effect of stoichiometric and kinetic parameters on MEC in a batch reactor to be used with open-loop identification test. In this model will also be examined effect of competition between the three microbial populations between anodophilic, hydrogenotrophic and acetoclastic.
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Abbreviations
- \( S \) :
-
Substrate concentration (mg-S L−1)
- \( x_{a} \) :
-
Concentration of anodophilic microorganisms
- \( x_{m} \) :
-
Concentration of acetoclastic microorganism
- \( x_{h} \) :
-
Concentration of hydrogenotrophic microorganisms
- \( Q_{{H_{2} }} \) :
-
Hydrogen production rate (mL/day)
- \( q_{max,a} \) :
-
Maximum reaction rate of the anodophilic microorganism [mg-A mg-x−1 d−1]
- \( q_{max,m} \) :
-
Maximum reaction rate of the acetoclastic methanogenic microorganism [mg-A mg-x−1 d−1]
- \( K_{S,a} \) :
-
Half-rate (Monod) constant of the anodophilic microorganism [mg-A l−1 or mg-M l−1]
- \( K_{S,m} \) :
-
Half-rate (Monod) constant of the acetoclastic methanogenic microorganism [mg-A l−1 or mg-M l−1]
- \( K_{M} \) :
-
Mediator half-rate constant [mg-M l−1]
- \( K_{d,a} \) :
-
Microbial decay rates of the anodophilic microorganism [d−1]
- \( K_{d,m} \) :
-
Microbial decay rates of the acetoclastic methanogenic microorganism [d−1]
- \( K_{d,h} \) :
-
Microbial decay rates of the hydrogenotrophic microorganism [d−1]
- \( K_{h} \) :
-
Half-rate constant [mg l−1]
- \( Y_{M} \) :
-
Oxidized mediator yield [mg-M mg-A−1]
- \( Y_{{H_{2} }} \) :
-
Dimensionless cathode efficiency [dimensionless]
- \( Y_{h} \) :
-
Half-rate constant [mg l−1]
- \( V_{r} \) :
-
Anodic compartment volume [l]
- \( m \) :
-
Number of electrons transferred per mol of H2 [mol-e− mol-H −12 ]
- \( F \) :
-
Faraday constant [A d mol-e−1]
- \( R \) :
-
Ideal gas constant [ml-H2 atm K− mol-H −12 ]
- \( T \) :
-
MEC temperature [K]
- \( P \) :
-
Anode compartment pressure [atm]
- \( E_{applied} \) :
-
Electrode potentials [V]
- \( R_{ext} \) :
-
External resistance [Ω]
- \( R_{int} \) :
-
Internal resistance [Ω]
- \( I_{MEC} \) :
-
MEC current [A]
- \( E_{CEF} \) :
-
Counter-electromotive force for the MEC [V]
- \( M_{Total} \) :
-
Total mediator weight percentage [mg-M mg-x−1]
- \( M_{red} \) :
-
Reduced mediator fraction per each electricigenic microorganism (mg-M mg-x−1)
- \( M_{ox} \) :
-
Oxidized mediator fraction per each electricigenic microorganism (mg-M mg-x−1)
- \( A_{sur,A} \) :
-
Anode surface area [m2]
- \( \mu_{max,a} \) :
-
Maximum growth rate of the anodophilic microorganism [d−1]
- \( \mu_{max,h} \) :
-
Maximum growth rate of the hydrogenotrophic microorganism [d−1]
- \( \beta \) :
-
Reduction or oxidation transfer coefficient [dimensionless]
- \( i_{0} \) :
-
Exchange current density in reference conditions [A m2−1]
- \( \gamma \) :
-
Mediator molar mass [mg-M mol −1med ]
- \( \upalpha_{1} \) :
-
Dimensionless biofilm retention constant for layers 1
- \( \upalpha_{2} \) :
-
Dimensionless biofilm retention constant for layers 2
- \( \upmu_{\text{h}} \) :
-
Hydrogen growth rate [d−1]
- \( \upeta_{\text{ohm}} \) :
-
Ohmic losses due to resistance to the flow of ion in the electrolyte and electrode [V]
- \( \upeta_{\text{conc}} \) :
-
Concentration loss due to mass transfer limitation [V]
- \( \upeta_{\text{act}} \) :
-
Activation loss due to activation energies and electrochemical reactions [V]
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Acknowledgment
This research was supported by the “IPPP-PV050/2011B” and “UMRG-RP006H-131CT” Program, University of Malaya.
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Azwar, M., Hussain, M.A., Abdul-Wahab, A.K. (2014). The Effect of Internal Parameters on Biohydrogen Production in Batch Microbial Electrolysis Cell Reactor. In: Hamdan, M., Hejase, H., Noura, H., Fardoun, A. (eds) ICREGA’14 - Renewable Energy: Generation and Applications. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05708-8_2
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