KR20090091878A - Microbial fuel cell based on adaptive electrode for changing water level - Google Patents

Abstract

A microbial fuel cell based on adaptive electrode for changing water level is provided to maximize surface area per unit area through a bar type negative and positive electrodes, to increase current productivity, and to control the number of bar type negative and positive electrodes. A microbial fuel cell(100) based on adaptive electrode for changing water level comprises a fixing body(120) which fixes a plurality of bar type negative electrodes(110) buried in a precipitate(20) of the aqueous solution(10) to be vertically arranged and to be detachable; and a buoyant body(140) floating on the solution, which fixes a plurality of bar type positive electrodes(130) to be vertically arranged and to be detachable.

Description

Microbial fuel cell based on water level adaptive electrode {MICROBIAL FUEL CELL BASED ON ADAPTIVE ELECTRODE FOR CHANGING WATER LEVEL}

The present invention relates to a microbial fuel cell, and more particularly, to a technology for stably producing power without being subject to change in water level.

In general, microbial fuel cells use electrons generated from the energy metabolism of microorganisms. The principle is that electrons generated from microorganisms decompose organic matter to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), and electrons, protons, are negative electrodes of fuel cells. At the same time, the quantum moves to the positive electrode through the lead wire and moves to the positive electrode through the microbial fuel cell, and the electrons and quantum moved to the positive electrode are reduced to water by reacting with oxygen, and as the electrons move to the positive electrode The principle is that current is generated.

Recently, researches on such microbial fuel cell development technologies have been actively conducted. In addition to the 2007-0115701 filed by the present applicant, a power supply system and method thereof using a microbial fuel cell (hereinafter referred to as a 'prior patent') Many have been disclosed.

The power supply system of the prior patent, as shown in the accompanying drawings, through a cathode layer for collecting electrons generated during the decomposition of organic matter of microorganisms present in the organic wastewater and passing them to a separate external circuit, and an external circuit A microbial fuel cell unit for purifying organic wastewater and generating electricity, including a cathode layer for reducing the transferred electrons to water, a DC-DC converter unit for boosting power supplied through the microbial fuel cell unit, and a DC- The battery unit is configured to receive and charge the boosted electricity through the DC converter unit.

The main feature of the above-mentioned patent is to convert the wastewater by the microorganisms into the power that can be used in real life using the energy from the process of decomposing organic matter of the wastewater, and to decompose the sediment or sludge of the lake bottom or septic tank.

However, as shown in FIG. 2, since the cathode layer and the anode layer are plate-shaped, the surface area of the cathode layer and the anode layer contacting the sediment is extremely limited, thereby purifying organic wastewater and producing a current. Inefficient

In addition, since the cathode layer is disposed under the microbial fuel cell unit, and the anode layer is fixed to have a fixed potential difference that saturates the water therein with air, when the water level fluctuation of organic wastewater such as a lake and a septic tank occurs, It is a structure that cannot function as a battery.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by maximizing the surface area per unit area through a plurality of bar negative and positive electrodes composed of a plurality of rods, by configuring the rod positive electrode to float on the water surface stable power in a limited space without being dependent on the water level change Promote production.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, a microbial fuel cell based on a level change adaptive electrode includes a fixture for vertically attaching and detaching and arranging a plurality of rod negative electrodes embedded in an aqueous solution, and vertically attaching and detaching a plurality of rod positive electrodes. It is fixed to be arranged and contains a buoyant body suspended in an aqueous solution.

In addition, the fixed position between the bar negative electrode and the fixed body is variable, the fixed position between the bar positive electrode and the buoyancy body is characterized in that it is variable.

And, the buoyancy body is characterized in that composed of foamed polystyrene material.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to increase the current production by maximizing the surface area per unit area through a plurality of bar negative and positive electrodes.

In addition, since the number of the bar negative and positive electrodes can be adjusted, installation is easy even in a limited space.

In addition, the rod positive electrode is configured to float on the water surface to provide a stable power production without being dependent on the water level change.

1 is a view showing the configuration of the 2007-0115701 filed by the present applicant,

2 is a view showing the configuration and the water level of the present applicant filed 2007-0115701 is lowered,

3 is a view illustrating the construction of a microorganism fuel cell based on a water level change adaptive electrode according to the present invention;

Figure 4 is a measurement of the current production between the conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell, and the microorganism fuel cell based on the water level change adaptive electrode of the present invention,

5 is a configuration diagram comparing the conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell and the microbial fuel cell based on a water level change adaptive electrode according to the present invention as the level of the aqueous solution is lowered.

Figure 6 is a view of measuring the current output of each of the conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell according to the configuration of Figure 5, and the microorganism fuel cell based on the water level change adaptive electrode of the present invention.

** Description of symbols for the main parts of the drawing **

100: level change adaptive electrode based microbial fuel cell

110: rod negative electrode 120: fixed body

130: rod positive electrode 140: buoyant body

10: aqueous solution 20: precipitate

30: lead wire

Specific features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description based on the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims are defined in the technical spirit of the present invention on the basis of the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the term in order to explain his invention in the best way. It should be interpreted to mean meanings and concepts. In addition, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known function and its configuration related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, it should be noted that the detailed description is omitted.

Referring to FIG. 3, the level change adaptive electrode-based microbial fuel cell 100 of the present invention includes a bar negative electrode 110, a fixture 120, a bar positive electrode 130, and a buoyancy body 140. do.

Specifically, the rod negative electrode 110 generates electrons, hydrogen ions, and carbon dioxide as the active microorganism is oxidized, and collects electrons, and is provided in plural numbers so as to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

It is also received perpendicular to the precipitate so that a large surface area abuts the precipitate.

Fixing body 120 is fixed to the center of the vertical bar negative electrode 110 to a fixed position and is embedded in the sediment 20 of the bottom of the aqueous solution 10, the fixed position is changed vertically through detachment.

Here, it is assumed that the fixture is embedded in the sediment of the bottom of the lake including sand, soil, and gravel, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be embedded in sewage and wastewater treatment plants or septic tanks.

The bar positive electrode 130 reduces the electrons applied from the bar negative electrode 110 through the conductive wire 30 and the hydrogen ions to generate water, and is provided in plural numbers so as to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. Are accepted.

Through the oxidation and reduction of the rod negative and positive electrodes contained in the aqueous solution, electrons move from the rod negative electrode to the rod positive electrode along the wire to generate current.

The buoyancy body 140 is composed of expanded polystyrene (expanded polystyrene, styrofoam) material to be fixed while assuming the center of the vertical pole electrode 130 in a fixed position and to float (floating) on the top of the aqueous solution, the fixed position is detachable Through vertically variable.

It is assumed that the buoyancy body 140 of the present invention is a foamed polystyrene material, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be replaced with rubber and wood having buoyancy.

In addition, since the bar negative electrode 110 and the bar positive electrode 130 are detachable by the fixing body 120 and the buoyancy body 140, and the number thereof can be adjusted, the bar negative electrode 110 and the bar positive electrode 130 may be applied in a narrow place without being limited to the installation space.

Hereinafter, a microbial fuel cell composed of a conventional plate type electrode and a level change adaptive microbial fuel cell of the present invention are driven and compared and described based on the measured amount of current, respectively.

Figure 4 is a view of measuring the current production amount between a conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell, and a plurality of cylindrical electrode-based microbial fuel cell of the present invention, Figure 5 is a conventional plate according to the lower water level of the aqueous solution A microbial fuel cell and a microbial fuel cell of the present invention are compared. FIG. 6 is a conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell according to the configuration of FIG. 5, and a microbe fuel based on a water level change adaptive electrode according to the present invention. It is a figure which measured the current production amount of each battery.

Referring to FIG. 4, the microbial fuel cell of the present invention has a surface area more than two times larger than that of a conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell, and produces a current of 2.5 to 3 times higher, and the amount of generated current is a rod. It can be seen that it is proportional to the surface area of each of the negative electrode and the rod positive electrode.

In addition, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the conventional plate-type microbial fuel cell can be seen that the current output of the initial 0.35mA continuously decreases to 0.2mA as the water level of the aqueous solution is reduced.

However, the microbial fuel cell of the present invention continuously produces an average of 0.95 mA of current irrespective of the water level decrease in the aqueous solution.

As described above and described with reference to a preferred embodiment for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described as described above, it is a deviation from the scope of the technical idea It will be understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations can be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, all such suitable changes and modifications and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (4)

A fixture for fixing the plurality of rod negative electrodes embedded in the precipitate of the aqueous solution so as to be vertically detached and arranged; And A buoyant body fixed to detach and arrange a plurality of rod positive electrodes vertically, and floating on the aqueous solution; Level change adaptive electrode based microbial fuel cell comprising a. The method according to claim 1, A level change adaptive electrode-based microbial fuel cell, characterized in that the fixed position between the bar negative electrode and the fixture is variable. The method according to claim 1, The level position adaptive electrode-based microbial fuel cell, characterized in that the fixed position between the rod positive electrode and the buoyancy body is variable. The method according to claim 1, The buoyancy body, Level-level adaptive electrode-based microbial fuel cell, characterized in that made of expanded polystyrene material.