Supervisors - Alan Harper, Heriot-Watt and Igor Goryanin, University of Edinburgh
PhD Student - Ourania Dimou, Heriot-Watt University
Status - Closed
This programme of work aims to accelerate a prototype Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) into a commercial unit for efficient conversion of liquid co-products from the food and drink industry into renewable energy. A knowledge exchange alliance has been established between M Power World (MPW) Ltd who developed the prototype MFC, Heriot Watt University that has extensive knowledge on process engineering concerning MFCs and The University of Edinburgh that has in-depth knowledge about the systems biology of MFCs. The consortium has established contact with the whisky industry, where the MFC technology can enable the malt whisky industry to convert its 1.6 billion litre liquid by-products into 250-300 GWh bio-energy, which is close to 3% of the total renewable electricity production in Scotland. To take the “industry-ready” prototype forward towards commercial scale operation for a range of waste waters it is crucial for M Power World Ltd to understand the fluid dynamics of their system both for efficient scale-up and design of low-cost solution for the electrodes of the MFC.