Municipal Waste-based Microbial Electrolysis Cell for Sustainable Hydrogen-rich Gas Production

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🔬研究者:Provides experimental and modeling insights for microbial electrolysis cells using real municipal waste hydrolysates, useful for process optimization and scale-up studies.

🏢実務担当者:Demonstrates a technical pathway for converting organic waste into hydrogen, potentially applicable for waste management and clean fuel generation in decentralized settings.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights the potential of waste-to-hydrogen technologies to address both waste burden and clean energy targets, offering a policy lever for integrated waste and energy planning.

<title>Abstract</title> <p>India’s rapidly increasing municipal solid waste burden, alongside mounting pressure to adopt cleaner energy pathways, has raised interest in technologies capable of treating waste while simultaneously generating value-added fuels. Among these, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) remain comparatively underexplored for decentralized conversion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) into hydrogen-rich gas. In the present investigation, six OFMSW samples collected from institutional and residential locations were processed through segregation, particle-size reduction, anaerobic fermentation, and hydrolysis using municipal wastewater inoculum prior to electrochemical treatment. APHA-based characterization of the hydrolysates revealed COD (Chemical oxygen demand) values between 5750 and 7200 mg L⁻¹, BOD (biological oxygen demand) to COD ratios of 0.62–0.65, and total volatile solids ranging from 391 to 455 mg L⁻¹, conditions generally regarded as favorable for electroactive microbial activity. A single-chamber MEC reactor assembled with graphite-sheet anodes and stainless-steel cathodes, powered using a 6 V sealed lead-acid source, produced 1.32 and 1.94 L of gas from a 1000 g OFMSW basis for Sample 1 and Sample 2, respectively. Conversion efficiencies reached 60% and 72%, with the higher-performing substrate corresponding to the greatest organic loading (COD = 7200 mg L⁻¹), suggesting that substrate biodegradability exerted a measurable influence on electrohydrogenic performance. Theoretical hydrogen potentials of 1.08 L and 1.68 L were calculated from COD data. The correlation between higher organic loading (COD 7200 mg/L, Sample 2) and improved efficiency (72%) directly validates the core hypothesis of this study. To examine scale-up feasibility, a MATLAB/Simulink model (MEC_Industrial_Model_v3.1) was further developed, predicting hydrogen production approaching 7.0 L over a 12 h cycle together with steady-state current densities of 18–20 A m⁻². Taken together, the findings indicate that OFMSW-driven MEC systems could provide a technically viable route toward simultaneous waste stabilization and decentralized green hydrogen generation in rapidly urbanizing regions.</p>

• Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9890777/v1first seen 2026-06-04 04:24:03 · last seen 2026-06-16 04:30:25