IIT Guwahati develops device to generate energy from wastewater

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GUWAHATI, Assam: The researchers of IIT-Guwahati made a bio-electrochemical device that could generate energy from wastewater using microbes as a catalyst.

The bio-electrochemical is a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) that can generate energy from various kinds of wastewater. In this bio-electrochemical reactor, organic and inorganic waste is broken down or oxidised using microbes as a catalyst in anaerobic conditions.

The device has three major components – an anode chamber, a cathode chamber and a Proton Exchanging Membrane (PEM) that acts as a separator. This PEM transports protons to the anaerobic cathode chamber, while an outer circuit transports the electrons to the anaerobic cathode chamber, thus completing the circuit.

Mihir Kumar Purkait, Professor, IIT Guwahati’s Department of Chemical Engineering, has said that in the long run, this device could serve as an effective alternative to various other expensive renewable energy technologies. India right now is heavily dependent on imported renewable energy technologies such as Photo Voltaic (PV) cells which are generally imported from the United States of America and China. Once this technology is scaled up, it could be used in various places and its capacity could be enhanced so that it can process all kinds of wastewater.