Potential use of banana waste as fuel for the generation of electrical current

Flores S.R.; Benites S.M.; Cruz-Noriega M.D.L.; Nazario-Naveda R. · AIP Conference Proceedings (2025) · DOI: 10.1063/5.0289618

Resumen

The demand for electrical energy has suffered a significant increase since industrialization, and currently, humanity can only carry out its daily activities if it has this supply. By 2024, an electricity supply of 1,614 TWh will be needed. Currently, efforts are being made to sustainably generate electrical energy through non-conventional alternatives to stop depending on fossil sources. In this sense, microbial fuel cells are presented as a promising alternative because they use a wide variety of wastes as a fuel source (MFCs). This research uses banana waste, which is abundant in the north and east of Peru; 4?kg of banana waste was used as fuel in single-chamber MFCs. The electrical current and maximum voltage shown were 3.591 ± 0.474?mA and 0.925 ± 0.087?V on the twelfth day, where they showed an optimal pH of 5.87 ± 0.34 whose electrical conductivity was 264.67 ± 24.72 mS/cm. The electrical power density shown was 2.571 ± 0.097?mW/cm2 at a current density of 0.475 A/cm2, with a Rint. of 89.244 ± 9.747 ω and a maximum oxidation-reduction potential of 247.63 ± 29.54?mV.

Instituciones: Universidad Autónoma del Perú