Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are using a combination of beer, wastewater and microbes to demonstrate fuel-cell technology.
Lars Angenent, Ph.D., assistant professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering, has received a $400,000 Career grant from the National Science Foundation to develop microbial fuel cell (MFC) kits and an accompanying booklet of physics, chemistry and biology lessons that pertain to the cell. In addition, Angenent will make the kits available to high school science teachers everywhere as an exciting, visual, hands-on way to teach science. As part of the grant, he will be working with Victoria L. May, assistant dean for science outreach in Arts & Sciences and director of the university’s Science Outreach program.
Using MFC technology, Angenent is treating wastewater donated by local brewery Anheuser-Busch, and in so doing creating electricity in a six-liter device a bit bigger than a large thermos. He uses a mixed medium containing thousands of organisms and optimizes environmental conditions to select for a bacterial community with improved electron transfer in anode biofilms, thereby increasing the electron transfer rate. In addition, he plans to work with a single-culture biofilm to allow a full understanding of how to use operating conditions to manipulate electron transfer in anode chambers.
“Anheuser-Busch is supporting us not with money, but with wastewater, of which they have an ample supply,” said Angenent. “They’re very happy to be working with us because they have a keen interest in biofuels and bioenergy.
I bet they do - beer-making is energy intensive and produces a lot of wastewater. Research like this might one day lead to a “greener” beer.
