Electricity From Benthic Fuel Cells

摘要

Work in India on the potential of natural water bodies to generate electricity tested an array of electrode assemblies and materials in three static water locations (two ponds and a lake) and three bodies of flowing water (two rivers and a stream). The anode was sunk into the bottom sediments; the cathode was placed on or just beow the water surface or, in the case of the stagnant water sites, on the surface of the algal mat.Anode arrays were either single or double (graphite) connected in series, or two graphite and one stainless steel connected in series. The work showed the feasibility of harnessing electricity through benthic fuel cells and a general finding was that power output increased with anode surface area, almost doubling with addition of the second anode and rising to eight or nine times the base level when three anodes were in the circuit.These ranges of increase were observed irrespective of other variables such as cathode location or characteristics of the water body. The authors concluded that ecological water bodies offered a good platform for harnessing electrical energy but that significant work was needed to optimise physical and chemical variables affecting system design.