Self-powered system based on Microbial Fuel Cells

Abstract

The deployment of traditional energy sources and, thus, the need for alternative options is now a reality. Although many substitutes can be considered, the development of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), which take advantage of the bacteria’s capacity of generating energy from the biomass, presents many opportunities. With their use, traditional batteries could be replaced and self-powered systems, which are be able to harvest, store and manage their own energy, could be created. Additionally, as the awareness on the impacts of environment pollution is increasing over the years, the monitoring of important soil characteristics such as pH and temperature supposes a great tool to prevent contamination from happening and affecting human’s health. This project in framed in the Final Degree project of the Biomedical Engineering degree and presents an approach to develop a self-powered system based on Microbial Fuel Cells for the monitoring of soil’s pH and temperature. To do so, the simulation software LTSpice has been used and modelling has been performed to mimic the electrical characteristics of an MFC. Additionally, a commercial DCDC converter has been analysed and the values of its different components have been changed in order to study its performance. Then, a pH and a temperature sensor have been modelled and the needs in terms of power and voltage have been obtained. Finally, the whole system has been combined with the MFC acting as an energy provider, the DCDC converter as the Power Management Unit (PMU) to regulate the outputs and the sensors to obtain measures from the environment.