THE EFFECT OF POME SOURCES AND SALT ADDITION ON MICROBIAL FUEL CELL PERFORMANCE

• Main Author: Zakiyyah, Salsabila
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/54723
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Indonesia is the largest palm oil-producing country in the world, and consequently also produces high amounts of palm oil waste (Palm Oil Mill Effluent, POME). Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an alternative technology that can generate electricity by utilizing POME waste as a substrate. The performance of MFC which is measured from the current and power density production is strongly influenced by the substrate sources and the ionic conductivity. This study aims to determine the effect of POME sources and salt addition on MFC performance. In this study, 2 sources of POME were used, (1) the waste from sterilization/boiling (Prb) process and (2) from the fatpit or so-called effluent (Eff), which was combined with the addition of Na salt with concentrations of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5% to increase the ionic conductivity. Based on potentiodynamic measurements, in general, the highest power density and current density are obtained by the POME source from boiling (Prb). This shows that the performance of MFC in variations of Prb is better than Eff. The addition of salt shows a positive trend in Prb by producing a Pmax value reach 1,876 mW/m2, a value of I when Pmax is 6.2 A/m2, and OCV 0.52 mV (Prb 0.5% Na). In contrast to Prb, in Eff, the Pmax was 663 mW/m2, the I value at Pmax was 3.33 A/m2, and OCV was 0.38 mV (0.05% Na). The effect of adding salt is also seen in the result of ohmic resistance. The lowest ohmic resistance was produced by MFC with the addition of the highest salt (0.5% Na), 3.381 ? for Prb, and 3.824 ? for Eff.