TY - GEN
T1 - Efficient energy harvester for microbial fuel cells using DC/DC converters
AU - Park, Jae Do
AU - Ren, Zhiyong
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging technology for sustainable energy production. An MFC employs indigenous microorganisms as biocatalysts and can theoretically convert any biodegradable substrate into electricity, making the technology a viable solution for sustainable waste treatment or autonomous power supply. However, the electric energy currently generated from MFCs is not directly usable due to the low voltage and current output. Moreover, the output power can fluctuate significantly according to the operating points, which makes stable harvest of energy difficult. This paper presents an MFC energy harvesting scheme using two layers of DC/DC converters. The proposed energy harvester can capture the energy from multiple MFCs at the most efficient operating point and at the same time form the energy into a usable shape.
AB - Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging technology for sustainable energy production. An MFC employs indigenous microorganisms as biocatalysts and can theoretically convert any biodegradable substrate into electricity, making the technology a viable solution for sustainable waste treatment or autonomous power supply. However, the electric energy currently generated from MFCs is not directly usable due to the low voltage and current output. Moreover, the output power can fluctuate significantly according to the operating points, which makes stable harvest of energy difficult. This paper presents an MFC energy harvesting scheme using two layers of DC/DC converters. The proposed energy harvester can capture the energy from multiple MFCs at the most efficient operating point and at the same time form the energy into a usable shape.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81855184441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=81855184441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ECCE.2011.6064292
DO - 10.1109/ECCE.2011.6064292
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:81855184441
SN - 9781457705427
T3 - IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition: Energy Conversion Innovation for a Clean Energy Future, ECCE 2011, Proceedings
SP - 3852
EP - 3858
BT - IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition
T2 - 3rd Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2011
Y2 - 17 September 2011 through 22 September 2011
ER -