Simulación de una Celda de Combustible Microbiana

Abstract

A microbial fuel cell is simulated with data obtained from a high Andean locality. In the first phase, a microbial fuel cell (MCF) was designed and built with materials available in the environment with the aim of generating electricity. A dual experimental structure was chosen, consisting of two chambers separated by a proton exchange membrane. For the implementation of the CCM, the anodic chamber was configured with mud from the Pichan paramo where a carbon electrode connected to an external circuit was placed, the proton exchange membrane was continuously placed in the previously established space, then it was filled with distilled water dissolving 20 [g] of salt in the cathode chamber, and the other electrode was introduced forming the CCM circuit. Important parameters such as Ph, temperature, oxygen and voltage were monitored for 24 days, the monitoring was carried out for 24 days. An Arduino card was used for data collection, the ratio of the voltage produced was varied, so it was possible to observe that as glucose was supplied, the amount of bioelectricity increased, in proportion to the concentration received. The behavior and electrical operation of the CCM was obtained by connecting an external load of different sizes without losing the variability characteristics of the CCM, generating an equivalent model and then performing a simulation to obtain a quantitative comparison of the electrical operation. This process was considered useful since it allows evaluating the internal losses produced, leading to other designs and improving their efficiency. This emerging technology presents interesting perspectives due to technological progress in which electronic devices are increasingly more efficient and require less power for their operation.