Microbial Fuel Cell Technology

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Socio-Economics Driver

Science & Technology Driver

Bioscience Technology

Technology Readiness Level

Intellectual Property

- LY2021P04291 - LY2021P04290 - PI2020003649

At A Glance

Based on the statistic, Malaysian consume about 1.8 million chicken and each chicken averagely produced around 3.5kg/month of chicken manure (CM). According to Malaysian Veterinary Council (2019), the broiler growth in around 30-42 days before being marketed, with average sales weight is around 2.3kg of manure. Roughly, a broiler produced around 42kg of manure annually. The chichen farmer still lacks a waste recovery system for energy and treatment. Chicken farms have a frequent practice of just passing chicken manure to the garden for fertiliser purposes without further improving the chicken manure to be a better biofertilizer. This has resulted in the wastage of highly potential energy and chances to have high yield crops. The Michrobial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology uses electrogenic bacteria (EB) to further simplify CM and be a high quality biofertiliser (2 folds increment of leaves number) at the same time generate the electricity (2.4W/m2). The enchances EB stress tolerance in their plant hosts by inducing the expression of stress-response genes, phytohormones, and stress-related metabolites. The activity of EB in the rhizosphere, its role as a root colonizer, its biocontrol potential, the associated mechanisms of biocontrol and the ability of EB to increase crop productivity.

Problem Statement

1) Depletion of natural resources

2) Global warming

3) Price fluctuation for fossil fuel

4) Volume of solid and liquid wastes in wastewater treatment plants in landfill

5) High cost of biosolid waste management and limited space for landfills

The Innovation

Microbial Fuel Cell Amicrobial fuel cell is a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy by the catalytic reaction of microorganismInternet of Things (IOT) Moisture content and voltage of MFC can be displayed via smartphone or pc using local server or internet

Solution

Competitive Advantage

1) Self-sustain MFC - using its own energy to feed itself- prolong the electricity generation period time

2) Automatic watering system - the MFC is equipped with the moisture content thus can be monitored online

3) Internet of Things - data of voltage and moisture content can be monitor using smartphone

Commercial Potential

1) Can be scalable to produce electricity at higher power

2) Alternative to renewable energy simultaneously treat the waste

3) Contribute to solve the issue (cost) for the disposal of biololids become biofertilizer

4) Simple and economical process; save operational cost

5) Contribute to efficiency of watering plantation for sustainable of lifespan

Impact

1) Farm Industry Alternative - Renewable energy for electricity and waste treatment, opportunity for industries to generate their own electricity supply and additional of biofertilizer

2) Economic Alternative - Cheap renewable energy from waste instead of non-renewable energy and biofertilizer

3) Society - A cheaper version of renewable energy which is green and clean. By recycling poultry dropping, pollution due to its disposal can be reduced and provide free-pollution to the environment

4) STEM Education - The overall flow and processess of the technology will be translated into a module and aims to be embedded into KSSM curriculum under the theme of Green Technology

5) Sustainable Development - Reduce utlisation of non-renewable resource (gas/fossil fuels) for electricity and reduce ollution potential