Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4.2.3 Integration with Other Processes
It should be admitted that each process has its inherent merits and demerits; such is
the case with MFC technology. Thus, it is highly recommended that an MFC can
be incorporated with other processes for improved power generation or extended
applications. In addition, a flexible combination of such processes would enable
the system to efficiently cope with various specific conditions. For example,
Zhuang et al. [
122
] successfully integrated a Fenton reaction unit into MFC design
to realize in-situ Fenton-enhanced electricity generation, Liu et al. [
5
] built a
SBR-MFC system for cost-effective treatment of wastewater, while Sun et al. [
4
]
achieved self-sustainable hydrogen production in a MEC-MFC coupled system
without the need of an external power supply. With continuing advances and
multi-disciplinary interaction and the development of more coupled systems,
enhanced power generation and a further expanded application of MFCs can be
expected in the future.
5 Conclusions
The capacity of MFCs to extract energy from various substrates and for other
potential extended applications implies a great promise of MFC as a sustainable
and low-cost technology. Power densities have seen rapid improvement in the
past few years, more cost-effective materials are now available, the range of
applications has been considerably expanded, and pilot tests are well underway.
Nevertheless, we are still a long way from seeing MFCs implemented in real-
world large-scale systems. The capital costs need to be further reduced, reactor
designs and materials optimized, control systems implemented, and a better
understanding of the instability sought. This requires a more fundamental under-
standing of the biological communities that metabolize waste and transfer elec-
trons, and a higher degree of interactions between diverse disciplines such as
microbiology,
electrochemistry,
photochemistry,
materials
science,
electrical
engineering, and environmental engineering.
Driven by increasing concerns over energy and environment due to rapid
economic development and urbanization, China has started to take an active and
increasingly important role in pushing MFC technology forward toward practical
application. Some research areas in China are now leading the world, such as new
materials and integrated applications. Nevertheless, continuing efforts and
more investment in this area are needed to make MFC technology ultimately
commercially available one day.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) of
China (51008290), the Outstanding Young Scientists Foundation of Anhui Province, China
(10040606Y27), and the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of China for
the partial support of this study.
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