Vapor-fed bio-hybrid fuel cell.

backgroundConcentration and purification of ethanol and other biofuels from fermentations are energy-intensive processes, with amplified costs at smaller scales. To circumvent the need for these processes, and to potentially reduce transportation costs as well, we have previously investigated bio-hybrid fuel cells (FCs), in which a fermentation and FC are closely coupled. However, long-term operation requires strictly preventing the fermentation and FC from harming each other. We introduce here the concept of the vapor-fed bio-hybrid FC as a means of continuously extracting power from ongoing fermentations at ambient conditions. By bubbling a carrier gas (N

resultsSince vapor-fed direct ethanol FCs at ambient conditions have never been systematically characterized (in contrast to vapor-fed direct methanol FCs), we first assess the effects on output power and conversion efficiency of ethanol concentration, vapor flow rate, and FC voltage. The results fit a continuous stirred-tank reactor model. Over a wide range of ethanol partial pressures (2-8 mmHg), power densities are comparable to those for liquid-fed direct ethanol FCs at the same temperature, with power densities >2 mW/cm

conclusionsThe vapor-fed bio-hybrid FC enables extraction of power from dilute bio-ethanol streams without costly concentration and purification steps. The concept should be scalable to both large and small operations and should be generalizable to other biofuels and waste-to-energy systems.