CN209056555U - A Urine Microbial Fuel Cell for Power Generation and Lighting - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of urine microbiological fuel cells to be used for the device illuminated that generates electricity, and belongs to microbiological fuel cell field.Including urinal, feed liquor pond, microbiological fuel cell pile, energy collecting device, LiFePO4 cylindrical secondary battery etc., undiluted urine is collected from urinal；It is then delivered to a feed liquor pond, urine is automatically continuously fed in microbiological fuel cell pile system；Energy collecting device collects energy；Voltage storage is in LiFePO4 cylindrical secondary battery；The high voltage of battery is reduced to low-voltage using transformer, for running the interior lighting of urinal, so that the time other than daytime uses.The utility model is using urine as the microbiological fuel cell of matrix, urine contains degradable organic substances, with high electric conductivity and buffer capacity, the recycling of urine resource has been opened up while realizing wastewater treatment, this power generator can be used for dispersing area and achieve the effect that automation illumination, to further save hydroelectric resources.

Description

A Urine Microbial Fuel Cell for Power Generation and Lighting

technical field

The utility model relates to the field of microbial fuel cells, in particular to a device used for generating electricity and lighting by a urine microbial fuel cell.

Background technique

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are energy converters, which directly convert organic matter into electrical energy, which can be applied to sewage treatment to directly obtain electrical energy while realizing wastewater treatment. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of research in this field, self-layered membraneless microbial fuel cells (SSM-MFCs) have been gradually formed, and oxygen is the most common electron acceptor at the cathode due to its availability and high redox properties. On top, the anode is placed on the bottom layer. Such microbial fuel cell systems reduce cost and complexity and lower power density losses. In practical applications, stacking multiple units can achieve an effective power level, which is more scalable.

In municipal wastewater, human urine accounts for a low proportion of the total volume, but contributes most of the pollutants such as COD and nitrogen and phosphorus. At present, urine is mainly used for the use of fertilizers or the production of products such as struvite, and little attention is paid to the resource recovery of urine. Therefore, from the perspective of implementation, the focus is on the energy generated by urine recovery. Using urine as fuel, it contains a variety of degradable substances with high electrical conductivity and buffering capacity. Moreover, the unmixed urine does not cause cross-contamination with feces, and does not cause a greater impact on the microbial colonies on the electrode surface. Direct treatment of urine can alleviate the problem of COD, N, and P nutrient overload in urban sewage treatment plants, shorten hydraulic retention time, and reduce energy demand. Urine is used as fuel to drive microbial fuel cells, which can generate electricity and light while removing pollutants such as organic matter and nitrogen, enabling sustainable management and energy utilization of urine.

Chinese invention patent, application publication number: CN 105780882 A, application publication number: 20160720, the invention discloses an integrated energy-saving and emission-reducing men's toilet urinal, which includes a men's urinal, a wash basin is arranged above it, and a hand washing The water outlet of the basin is connected with the flushing port of the urinal, and the collected urine is decomposed into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water by oxidation-reduction reaction, which not only solves the corrosion of the pipeline by ammonia gas, but also decomposes the electricity generated in the oxidation-reduction reaction. Collect and supply other electrical modules in the system to achieve the effect of self-sufficient power supply, thereby saving electrical resources. The integrated energy-saving and emission-reduction device of the invention has the advantages of simple structure and convenient operation, avoiding separate use of the wash basin and the urinal, and saving resources. The disadvantage is that there are many branch circuits and circuit switch modules, management and maintenance are complicated, and the device needs to be connected to the water circuit, which is not suitable for use in scattered and waterless areas.

Chinese utility model patent, authorization announcement number: CN 203160380 U, authorization announcement date: 20130828, discloses a public toilet power generation device, including a urinal, the upper end of the urinal is connected to a cleaning liquid storage tank through a pipeline, and the lower end is connected to an electrolytic cell through a pipeline, The generator plate in the electrolytic cell is connected to the battery through wires. The utility model patent collects urine as the electrolyte solution for the primary battery reaction, turning waste into treasure, which is in line with the theme of green environmental protection. The disadvantage is that the maintenance of the electrode plate is complicated and the system cost is high.

Utility model content

1. Technical problems to be solved

For the existing separated microbial fuel cell system, although it can effectively treat ammonium in urine and generate electricity by consuming organic matter, it also leads to the occurrence of anaerobic ammonia oxidation, which leads to the problem of nitrate accumulation. The utility model provides a device for generating electricity and lighting with a urine microbial fuel cell, which expands the microbial fuel cell technology to outdoor practical applications. On the basis of increasing the total power output, the electrical energy can be stored for actual lighting.

2. Technical solutions

The purpose of the present utility model is achieved through the following technical solutions.

A device for generating electricity and lighting by a urine microbial fuel cell includes a urinal, a liquid inlet pool, an energy harvester, a battery pack, a transformer and a lighting device connected in sequence, and also includes a microbial fuel cell stack. The urine is continuously delivered to the microbial fuel cell stack, and then the positive and negative electrodes of the microbial fuel cell stack are connected to the energy harvester through wires to form a current loop, purify the urine and generate electricity and lighting.

Furthermore, the microbial fuel cell stack is composed of several cascaded battery devices connected in parallel, each cascaded battery device is composed of two battery modules connected in series, and each battery module is composed of several microbial fuel cells connected in parallel.

Furthermore, the cathode of the microbial fuel cell uses a stainless steel mesh as a current collector, and is wrapped with a layer of activated carbon column and inserted in the aerobic upper layer of the urine battery module; while the anode is a carbon fiber electrode inserted in the anaerobic lower layer.

Further, a ceramic carrier is arranged between the two cathodes in the upper part of the microbial fuel cell and between the two anodes in the lower part.

Furthermore, a porous polypropylene sheet is arranged between the cathode and the anode of the microbial fuel cell. Mainly to prevent any physical contact between the cathode and anode, thus avoiding short circuit, in addition perforations in the sheet allow the electrolyte to circulate. The top of the module is also set with a 3-5cm ultra-high height as a displacement space for the electrolyte.

Furthermore, a reference voltage source is provided behind the energy harvester, and subsequent voltages are stored in the battery pack. Additional energy harvesters to reduce heat loss from conductors to improve efficiency.

Further, the battery pack is composed of several batteries connected in parallel. The battery has high safety, cost performance and energy density, providing sufficient buffering for the system.

Furthermore, an AC-DC converter is connected in front of the lighting device. so that it can operate on DC voltage.

A method for generating electricity and lighting with a urine microbial fuel cell, the steps are as follows:

A, construct a kind of above-mentioned apparatus of urine microbial fuel cell for generating electricity and lighting;

B. The device collects urine through the urinal and the liquid inlet pool, and enters the microbial fuel cell stack;

C. The microbial fuel cell stack operates under the condition of long-term continuous flow to generate electricity and provide lighting;

D. The microbial fuel cell stack regularly replenishes fuel through pulse driving, and the device continues to operate.

Furthermore, the collected urine pH value was 6.4-8.4, the temperature condition was 19.5-22.5°C, and the urine hydraulic retention time was 1-3 d.

3. Beneficial effects

Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present utility model are:

(1) The urine microbial fuel cell of the present invention is used to generate electricity and illuminate the device, which adopts a stacked series-parallel model, and uses a horizontal self-layered columnar model, so that the anode and the cathode are immersed in the same electrolyte without short-circuiting, so as to promote microbial activity and power output;

(2) The microbial fuel cell of the present invention uses unseparated urine as fuel, and on the basis of reducing municipal water treatment, the anaerobic ammonia oxidation process in the device can be effectively reduced, and the accumulation of nitrates can be avoided, which is the recycling of the final waste. Utilize, generate the required energy while decontamination, with stability;

(3) The device and process of the urine microbial fuel cell of the present invention for generating electricity and lighting, storing electricity in the battery for charging and discharging cycles in a short period of time, and providing services to users in the case of self-sufficiency .

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the process flow diagram of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the top view of the microbial fuel cell stack of the present invention;

3 is a side view of a microbial fuel cell stack;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the microbial fuel cell.

In the figure: 1-urinal; 2-liquid inlet; 3-microbial fuel cell stack; 4-9-cascade battery device; 10-water inlet pipe; 11-water outlet pipe; 12-battery module; 13-cathode; 14 - anode; 15 - ceramic carrier; 16 - porous polypropylene sheet; 17 - energy harvester; 18 - reference voltage source; 19 - battery pack; 20 - transformer; 21 - AC-DC converter; 22 - lighting device; 23 - positive; 24 - negative.

Detailed ways

The present utility model will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Example 1

As shown in Figures 1-4, the utility model provides a device for generating electricity and lighting with a urine microbial fuel cell, including a urinal 1, a liquid inlet pool 2, an energy harvester 17, a battery pack 19, a transformer 20 and lighting The device 22 also includes a microbial fuel cell stack 3, the urine in the liquid inlet pool 2 is continuously transported to the microbial fuel cell stack 3, and then the positive electrode 23 and the negative electrode 24 are connected to the energy harvester 17 through wires to form a current loop.

The microbial fuel cell stack 3 includes 6 cascaded battery devices 4 to 9 connected in parallel. The cascaded battery devices 4 to 9 are respectively composed of two battery modules 12 connected in series. The battery module 12 is provided with 36 microbial fuel cells connected in parallel. The number of the above-mentioned cascaded battery devices and the number of microbial fuel cells in the battery module 12 can be set according to requirements. In this solution, there are 6 cascaded battery devices and 36 microbial fuel cells respectively.

The cathode 13 of the microbial fuel cell uses a stainless steel mesh as a current collector, and is wrapped with a layer of activated carbon column and is inserted in the aerobic upper layer of the urine battery module 12; while the anode 14 is a carbon fiber electrode inserted in the anaerobic lower layer. A ceramic carrier 15 with a thickness of 2 mm is arranged between the upper two cathodes 13 and the lower two anodes 14 . In addition, a porous polypropylene sheet 16 with a thickness of 2 mm is arranged between the cathode 13 and the anode 14, mainly to prevent any physical contact between the cathode and anode, thereby avoiding short circuit, and the perforation on the sheet allows the electrolyte to circulate.

Mainly to prevent any physical contact between the cathode and anode, thus avoiding short circuit, in addition perforations in the sheet allow the electrolyte to circulate. The top of the module 12 is also provided with an ultra-high space of 3 to 5 cm as a displacement space for the electrolyte. Urine is simultaneously transported to 6 cascaded battery devices 4-9 through the water inlet pipe 10, and then diffused to each battery module by gravity flow. Finally, a water outlet pipe 11 is set at the bottom of the cascaded battery devices 6-7. Liquid drains from here.

At the same time, the solution is to connect a reference voltage source 18 after the energy harvester 17. The voltage source model in this embodiment is LM385-2.7V, so that the subsequent voltage increase can be stored in the battery pack 19, and an additional energy harvester is added to Improve efficiency by reducing heat loss from conductors.

The battery pack 19 is composed of 8 lithium iron phosphate cylindrical batteries connected in parallel. The lithium iron phosphate cylindrical battery in this embodiment is 3.2V 5Ah. The battery has high safety, cost performance and energy density, and provides sufficient energy for the system. buffer. The high voltage output by the battery pack 19 can be reduced to the required low voltage by using a transformer, and the efficiency can reach more than 95%, and then an AC-DC converter 21 is connected in front of the lighting device 22 so that it can operate under DC voltage. The microbial fuel cell stack 3 operates under the condition of long-term continuous flow, collects and summarizes urine every day, the pH value is between 6.4 and 8.4, and the ambient temperature condition is between 19.5 and 22.5°C. The fuel is regularly replenished by pulse drive, and the urine hydraulic The residence time is 1-3d.

A device and process for generating electricity and lighting using a urine microbial fuel cell. After the urine passes through the microbial fuel cell, using the horizontal self-shunting mode, the urine is fully diffused into the interior of the reactor, which improves the growth and contact of microorganisms, thereby improving the treatment efficiency of pollutants. In addition, as the fuel of microbial fuel cells, urine can turn waste into treasure and can effectively output stable voltage; at the same time, from the perspective of sustainable development, the urine in municipal sewage can be treated and reused separately, which is a kind of The more advanced concept of sewage treatment also realizes the recycling of the ultimate waste and realizes the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction. The system can provide users with self-sufficient services outdoors, fully considering the actual characteristics of the surrounding environment, greatly reducing management costs and construction costs in the processing process, thereby further saving electricity resources.

A method for generating electricity and lighting with a urine microbial fuel cell, the steps are as follows:

A, construct the above-mentioned device;

B. The device collects urine through the urinal 1 and the liquid inlet 2, and enters the microbial fuel cell stack 3;

C. The microbial fuel cell stack 3 operates under the condition of long-term continuous flow to generate electricity and provide lighting;

D. The microbial fuel cell stack 3 periodically replenishes fuel through pulse driving, and the device runs continuously.

The microbial fuel cell stack 3 operates under the condition of long-term continuous flow, collects and summarizes urine every day, the pH value is between 6.4 and 8.4, and the ambient temperature condition is between 19.5 and 22.5°C. The fuel is regularly replenished by pulse drive, and the urine hydraulic The residence time is 1-3d.

The system runs continuously for 3 months, and monitors the effluent water quality every day. After the urine is treated, the effluent COD and TN have a good removal effect, and the voltage output is stable, as shown in Table 1.

The water inflow and outflow water quality and voltage test situation of undiluted urine in the embodiment of table 1

The invention and its embodiments have been described above schematically, and the description is not restrictive. The invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential features of the invention. What is shown in the accompanying drawings is only one of the embodiments of the present invention, and the actual structure is not limited thereto, and any reference signs in the claims shall not limit the related claims. Therefore, if those of ordinary skill in the art are inspired by it, and without departing from the purpose of the present invention, any structural methods and embodiments similar to this technical solution are designed without creativity, which shall belong to the protection scope of this patent. Furthermore, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" preceding an element does not exclude the inclusion of "a plurality" of that element. Several elements recited in a product claim can also be implemented by one element by means of software or hardware. The terms first, second, etc. are used to denote names and do not denote any particular order.

Claims (8)

1. The device of illumination 1. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell is used to generate electricity, including sequentially connected urinal (1), feed liquor pond (2), energy collecting device (17), battery pack (19), transformer (20) and lighting device (22), which is characterized in that further include micro- life Object fuel cell pack (3), urine is delivered continuously to microbiological fuel cell pile (3) in the feed liquor pond (2), then passes through conducting wire The anode (23) of microbiological fuel cell pile (3) and cathode (24) are connected on energy collecting device (17), current loop is formed, Purify the concurrent electric lighting of urine.
2. The device of illumination 2. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 1 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that Microbiological fuel cell pile (3) includes that several tandem cell devices are connected in parallel, by two in each tandem cell device Battery module (12) is in series, and each battery module (12) is connected in parallel by several microbiological fuel cells.
3. The device of illumination 3. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 2 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that The cathode (13) of microbiological fuel cell is inserted in using stainless (steel) wire as current collector in outside package layer of active carbon column The aerobic upper layer of urine battery module (12)；And anode (14) is that carbon fiber electrode is inserted in anaerobism lower layer.
4. The device of illumination 4. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 3 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that Ceramic monolith (15) are respectively provided between the cathode (13) of two, microbiological fuel cell top, between the anode (14) of lower part two.
5. The device of illumination 5. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 3 or 4 is used to generate electricity, feature exist In provided with porous polypropylene thin plate (16) among microorganism fuel cell cathode (13) and anode (14).
6. The device of illumination 6. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 1 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that A reference voltage source (18) is provided with after energy collecting device (17), subsequent voltage storage is in battery pack (19).
7. The device of illumination 7. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 6 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that The battery pack (19) is by several battery compositions in parallel.
8. The device of illumination 8. a kind of urine microbiological fuel cell according to claim 1 is used to generate electricity, which is characterized in that AC-DC converter (21) are connected with before lighting device (22).