Corn Waste has more potential than ethanol
Urbanization of the world has lead to an increased number of vehicles, houses and electrical appliances which in turn demands and increased amount of fuel.
Countries all over the world have managed to generate electricity using fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources of energy. However there will be a point when all these non-renewable sources of energy get exhausted.
And this is why there is a search for alternative renewable sources of energy going on.
And it was with this aim that some Environmental Engineering researchers have managed to come up with a means of generating ethanol from cellulose.
This cellulose used for generating ethanol is got from the everyday residue of corn, corn stover. Here basically, a microbial fuel cell is used for producing electricity from organic material where electricity is produced once sugar is collected.
There have been previous studies and research conducted where these fuel cells was used in the generation of electricity from glucose and from municipal wastewater. In addition to this, these cells can also generate hydrogen gas directly.
The latest study involves the use of corn stalks and leaves in the generation of electricity with the help of fuel cells.
Every year the United States produces about 250 million tons of corn stalks and leaves that constitutes a third of the waste produced in United States. 90% of this corn stover is usually left unused in the field.
As corn stover is about 70% cellulose or hemicelluloses that are locked in chains, it is possible to release organic sugars and other compounds found here though steam explosion.
These released compounds can then be used to feed microbial fuel cells, and thus produce electricity.
You find two electrodes and anaerobic bacteria in microbial fuel cells. It is this anaerobic bacteria that does not need oxygen to survive that consumes sugar and the other organic material found here to release electrons in the process.
The released electrons move to the anode of the microbial fuel cell where they flow to the cathode through a wire to produce electrical current. Positive hydrogen atoms are donated by the water found in the fuel cell which combines with electrons and oxygen to form water.
This is the process that takes place in microbial fuel cells that are inoculated with domestic wastewater and a medium containing glucose, corn stover. The resultant electricity that is produced with conversion of organic matter through biological oxygen demand removal is very high where about 93% of biological oxygen demand is removed.
Moreover, there is no residue of organic matter that may cause problems as there is nothing much left to oxidize. All available energy is converted to electricity here where about a watt of energy is produced for every square meter of surface area, at a potential of 0.5 volts.
As a bulb uses 60 watts of electricity, surface area has to be increased to increase wattage. And to increase voltage, these fuel cells have to be linked in series.
The resultant energy from steam exploded corn stover can be used for pumping water uphill for future use, for using light, heat and equipment and even to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen.
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3 Responses to “Corn Waste has more potential than ethanol”
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Think Solar Energy
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It’s a real pleasure to see the topic of bacteria in the creation of biofuels discussed with vigor. Keep up the good work!
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I think it’s a wonderful idea that you are promoting the benefits of corn wastes as energy. We will certainly need it in the future.