| | Category | EGCH | P08 | Testing the Electrical Energy Production Capability of |
| | Microbial Fuel Cells |
| | Abstract | The purpose of this project was to test the capability of microbial fuel |
| | cells (MFCs) to generate electrical energy. If the MFCs generate an |
| | electrical current, then the maximum voltage reading will be |
| | approximately 100 mV without resistors and 5 mV with resistors for each |
| | MFC. The MFCs were assembled by using a guide found at Science |
| | Buddies, but the actual measurements were acquired without a guide. |
| | The types of data that were collected included voltage measurements |
| | with a resistor attached to the MFCs and the voltage reading without a |
| | resistor attached to the MFCs. Voltage measurements were also taken |
| | at different times of the day over a period of fourteen days. Power |
| | readings were calculated from the voltage readings of the MFCs with |
| | the resistors attached. As the experiment progressed, the voltage |
| | readings for when the MFCs did not have a resistor attached increased |
| | steadily until reaching a peak a voltage of around 380-395 mV. This |
| | same trend was also observed in the voltage readings for when the |
| | MFCs had resistors attached; however; the peak voltage was around |
| | 10-12 mV. Power generation also experienced a similar trend as the |
| | voltage readings. The results from the experiment showed that the |
| | hypothesis was wrong in predicting the maximum voltage of the MFCs. |
| | Instead of a maximum of 100 mV, the MFCs achieved a maximum of |
| | four times the predicted maximum. With resistors, the MFCs had 5-7 mV |
| | more than the predicted maximum. |
| | Bibliography | Kenyon College. (2013, April 21). Benthic Zone. Retrieved December |
| | 24, 2016, from |
| | https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Benthic_ZoneLogan, B. E. |
| | (n.d.). Microbial Fuel Cells. Retrieved December 23, 2016, from |
| | https://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/logan/bioenergy/research_mfc.htm |