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IIT-G develops technology to generate energy by treating wastewater

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Guwahati: The Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) has developed a bio-electrochemical device – microbial fuel cell (MFC) – which can generate green energy by treating wastewater.

“The use of organic material such as wastewater in MFC makes it an eco-friendly device that offers a dual benefit of bioelectricity generation and waste management. This research was supported by a grant from the department of science and technology (DST), government of India,” a statement from IIT-G issued here on Wednesday said.

The research was led by Prof. Mihir Kumar Purkait along with his PhD student Mukesh Sharma, from the department of chemical engineering, IIT-G.

The team developed a bio-electrochemical device that converts chemical energy contained in organic substrates into electrical energy through microbes.

Rapid population growth has led to rising energy demands and environmental concerns, necessitating the development of renewable and sustainable energy production techniques.

Along with several renewable energy sources (solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, and geothermal energy, among others), the sustainable energy sources also include ‘blue energy’ sources of energy harvesting.

These are sources of energy generation that have no negative impact on the environment, and energy is generated from various waste, such as sewage waste and food industries waste.

Lauding the work of the research team, IIT-G director T.G. Sitharam said, “This development has provided an excellent sustainable energy source along with treating several wastewater. After scaling the process, it can be used as a source of clean energy using municipal wastewater and other such areas economically.”

Explaining the long-term impact of the research Prof. Purkait said, “Further implementation of this process may provide an excellent alternative to several costlier renewable energy extraction processes. The conducted study reveals that the prepared CEMs (cation exchange membranes) are cheaper and perform better as compared to the several reported membranes, assisting in the separation of charges and potential development.”

‘MFC’ is a bio-electrochemical reactor system that utilises electrons liberated in the biochemical oxidation of organic substrates catalyzed by anaerobic microbes.

A conventional MFC reactor comprises an anaerobic biotic anode chamber, an aerobic biotic or abiotic cathode chamber, and a separator such as a proton exchange membrane (PEM).

The research is dedicated to synthesising several novel high-performance CEMs comprising a polymeric blend of several high-end polymers doped with cellulose acetate (CA) and other modifiers like graphene oxide (GO) to obtain membranes with high ion exchange capacity (IEC) and proton conductivity.

Dual-chamber MFC design has been selected since it is the most widely utilised design owing to its usefulness in wastewater treatment and energy generation.

The research focuses on the development of cost-effective and high-performance CEMs for application in MFCs.

“A larger-scale setup is in the developing stage. Further, funding sources would encourage and support the process to develop a working setup near the municipal wastewater treatment plant at IIT-G, which would further help understand the complications involved during the large-scale functioning of the technology,” the statement said.

 

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