Microbial fuel cells: Advances in electrode modifications for improvement of system performance

There is an increasing trend to conduct the researches related to Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) in the recent years. Limited power output has been the major obstacle for the practical application and upscaling of MFCs. Attempts have been made on electrode modifications such as anode treatments, cathode modifications with catalysts and bio cathodes developments to produce varying degrees of improved output current depending upon the types of modifications. Power density and Coulombic efficiency have been considered as the important parameters to analyze the system performances. This paper overviews on the advances made in MFCs’ researches focusing on different types of electrodes modifications along with the involved methodology. Furthermore, the system performances of different modified MFCs are compared in terms of the power density and the Coulombic efficiency.     

Direct methanol fuel cell bubble removal mechanism using magnetic actuation

This article develops a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with a magnet-actuated bubble removal mechanism. A micro-DC motor is used to control the bubble removal mechanism. The lower magnetic device is operated to extrude a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) runner to compress the liquid fuel in the anode flow channel, forcing the CO₂ bubbles in the runner to flow toward the outlet end. The bubble retention in the anode flow channel is thereby improved, enhancing the cell performance. The proposed mechanism stability and performance and Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) runner are also discussed.     

BiFeO3可见光催化降解甲基紫

采用柠檬酸-硝酸盐燃烧法制备了光催化剂BiFeO₃。采用SEM,XRD,FTIR等技术对光催化剂BiFeO₃进行表征。表征结果显示,光催化剂BiFeO₃晶相纯、粒径小、比表面积大,存在Fe#x02014;O的弯曲振动和伸缩振动。实验结果表明：通过鼓气及加入H₂O₂可有效提高BiFeO₃对甲基紫可见光催化降解的效率;在300mL质量分数为1.5#x000d7;10^-5的甲基紫溶液中加入0.9g光催化剂BiFeO₃和0.1mL质量分数为30%的H₂O₂溶液,当反应时间为240min时,甲基紫去除率可达99%。     

Wood-Specific Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Patterns in Soot Using Gas Chromatography-Atmospheric Pressure Laser Ionization-Mass Spectrometry (GC-APLI-MS)

If organic matter is burnt, the combustion of wood produces the highest amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) compared with other fossil energy sources such as oil, coal, or gas. Emissions from wood combustion are increasingly of special interest due to the rising use of wood as a renewable energy source in residential heating in Europe. To the authors' knowledge, reproducible wood-specific PAH patterns in soot were identified for the first time by use of a sampling interval of only 5 min in this study. The short sampling interval was enabled by the very sensitive analytical method of gas chromatography–atmospheric pressure laser ionization–mass spectrometry (GC-APLI-MS) applied. The analysis of 40 PAH of soot from wood logs of spruce, pine, larch (softwood) and beech, birch, oak (hardwood), and wood pellets, as well as wood briquettes, showed 13.46–250.62 mg/kg for ∑40 PAH and 10.75–177.94 mg/kg for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency PAH standard (without acenaphthylene and anthracene). Highest concentrations occurred in the samples from birch with bark, beech, and wood briquettes. Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, naphthalene, and alkylated naphthalenes were also detected. Significant concentrations of the very toxic dibenzopyrenes (up to 11.30 mg/kg) are reported. Softwood soot contained highest amounts of 2–4-ring PAH, followed by hardwood which is in accordance with the presence of highest amounts of abietic acid in softwood, a known precursor of retene and phenanthrene. PAH in soot from five spruce samples from different locations show a mean ∑40 PAH concentration of 13.46 mg/kg (n = 5, minimum 8.03, maximum 23.32 mg/kg, SD = 5.65) and exhibited a typical pattern that differed from all other wood soot samples. The distributions of alkylated naphthalenes of the spruce samples show a bell-shape distribution in contrast to the alkylated phenanthrenes/anthracenes of all samples (except the wood pellets), showing a slope distribution. The data indicate that wood-specific PAH patterns exist and under the applied conditions, spruce logs produced the least toxic soot.     

城市生活垃圾机械生物处理效果

采用机械生物处理工艺研究了淋洗水解、脱水与好氧生物干燥对城市生活垃圾的处理效果.结果表明:在淋洗水解及压榨脱水机械生物处理阶段,控制淋洗液与生活垃圾重量比2∶1,停留时间1.2 ～1.4 d条件下,生活垃圾可以减量49.7％.而过程中产生的淋滤液COD为32 939 mg/L、pH为5.1、COD∶N∶P=261∶5∶3.6,可以进行厌氧消化处理或作为碳源进行资源化利用.在好氧生物干燥阶段,通风量采用0.08 m3/min,2～3d堆体温度可升至73℃,7d左右即可产出LCV高达15 000 kJ/kg左右的高品位垃圾衍生燃料(RDF),其产率为38.2％,氯元素含量低于0.5％,重金属含量较低,满足燃料要求.     

某“W”型锅炉炉效低的综合治理

针对某锅炉经济性差的问题,从设备、运行及自动控制等方面分析,并进行了相应整改。影响炉效的主要因素有煤质恶化、灰渣含碳量高、排烟温度高和CO浓度高等,同时炉膛燃烧不稳定也是影响燃烧效率的重要因素。通过漏风整改、制粉系统优化、燃烧优化调整和控制系统优化等方法有效提高了锅炉经济性。研究表明：分析锅炉经济性降低的影响因素时应抓住主要因素,兼顾其他,科学的生产管理是保证锅炉运行经济性的重要基础;入炉煤质恶化是最主要的外在因素;良好的自动控制系统能有效稳定燃烧参数,提高燃烧效率;降低飞灰含碳量的主要工作应集中在制粉系统优化调整;完整而系统的燃烧调整试验能够保证锅炉运行控制参数的科学合理,并需要正确调整氮氧化物排放和锅炉效率之间的关系。     

生物阴极式碳纸隔膜微生物燃料电池的反硝化和产电性能

为了探讨生物阴极式廉价隔膜微生物燃料电池(microbial fuel cell,MFC)的基本性能,首先以生物反硝化作用为基础构建了生物阴极MFC,并进一步以涂布聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)的廉价碳纸代替昂贵的质子交换膜(PEM)构建碳纸隔膜生物阴极式MFC。研究结果显示,对于生物阴极式MFC,阴极室中最适宜反硝化细菌生长的NO-3-N浓度为99.2 mg/L,此时输出电压最高可达0.11 V,1 h内NO-3-N的去除率达到80.0%,COD去除率为62.8%;以涂PTFE的碳纸代替PEM的生物阴极式MFC与有PEM的MFC最高输出电压基本一致(均达到0.22 V,外阻500Ω),但碳纸隔膜MFC的产电更稳定。结果验证了廉价隔膜生物阴极式MFC的可行性,并为其应用于污水脱氮奠定基础。     

Accurate sampling of PCDD/F in high temperature flue-gas using cooled sampling probes

In a laboratory-scale combustion reactor, flue-gas samples were collected at two temperatures in the post-combustion zone, 700 °C and 400 °C, using two different water-cooled sampling probes. The probes were the cooled probe described in the European Standard method EN-1948:1, referred to as the original probe, and a modified probe that contained a salt/ice mixture to assist the cooling, referred to as the sub-zero probe. To determine the efficiency of the cooling probes, internal temperature measurements were recorded at 5 cm intervals inside the probes. Flue-gas samples were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Samples collected at 700 °C using the original cooling probe showed higher concentrations of PCDD/Fs compared to samples collected using the sub-zero probe. No significant differences were observed between samples collected at 400 °C. The results indicated that artifact formation of PCDD/Fs readily occurs during flue-gas sampling at high temperatures if the cooling within the probe is insufficient, as found for the original probe at 700 °C. It was also shown that this problem could be alleviated by using probes with an enhanced cooling capacity, such as the sub-zero probe.Although this may not affect samples collected for regulatory purposes in exit gases, it is of great importance for research conducted in the high-temperature region of the post-combustion zone.     

铁及铁铜氧化物对臭氧氧化酸性红B的催化效能

采用自蔓延溶胶凝胶法分别制备了铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物催化剂,以酸性红B为降解对象,对比了单独臭氧氧化、铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物催化臭氧氧化对酸性红B的降解效果,考察了磁力搅拌速度(500～1 640 r/min)、溶液pH(3～11)、臭氧投加速率(3.55～28.4 mg/min)对铁铜复合氧化物催化性能的影响。结果表明,与单独臭氧氧化比较,铁氧化物和铁铜复合氧化物均能加速酸性红B的降解,促进色度和COD的去除,结合催化剂的表征结果,推断催化剂表面羟基促进臭氧分解产生.OH是其氧化性能较好的主要原因,另外,催化剂的吸附能力对催化性能也有一定影响。随着磁力搅拌速度、溶液pH、臭氧投加速率的增大,铁铜复合氧化物催化臭氧氧化酸性红B的效果越好。     

阴极液及底物浓度对AFB-MFC同步废水处理及产电性能影响

为了提高厌氧流化床微生物燃料电池（AFB-MFC）的性能,并为双室MFC寻找价廉、易得、无污染的阴极液,在曝气量16～24 L/h、温度（35±2）℃、回流量10.2 L/h、阴极底边距阴极室内底部17.3 cm、外电阻250 Ω、水力停留时间（HRT）14.0～14.9 h以及进水pH 7.81～8.37下,研究了阴极液及底物浓度对系统产电及废水处理性能的影响。结果表明,使用缓冲溶液、阳极室出水和自来水作阴极液时,自来水的产电性能最佳,阴极液种类不影响系统有机基质的去除。以自来水为阴极液时,阴极液pH及电导率随运行时间增加而增加,COD去除率为80.11%～89.29%,输出电压及功率密度开始随运行时间增加而增加,之后稳定在440～452 mV和48.40～51.08 mW/m²之间。增加底物浓度对COD去除率影响不大,而输出电压及功率密度随底物浓度增加而下降;底物COD浓度由3 307.09 mg/L增至9 520 mg/L时,COD去除率在85.77%～94.44%之间,输出电压及功率密度则分别由449 mV和50.40 mW/m²下降至406 mV和41.21 mW/m²。自来水作阴极液可避免二次污染及阴极液对阳极室微生物的影响,并得到高的产电能力。