Long-term performance of segmented benthic microbial fuel cells

Benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) are a class of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) that are an emerging technology under development for applications of persistent ocean monitoring. BMFCs function via anaerobic bacteria metabolizing organic matter in sediment and providing electrons to buried anodes. These anodes are electrically connected via an external circuit to an aerobic cathode positioned in the water column. Previous projects by this same group involved large-scale deployments that demonstrated deployment of BMFC systems via a boat-towed sled. These long carpet like anodes (termed “Magic Carpet”) have been shown to generate power densities of 5–10 mW m⁻² in systems ranging from 10–40 m² systems. A major challenge in the field remains scaling up these systems to generate practical levels of power. This paper evaluates two iterations of segmented 20 m² Magic Carpet BMFC systems and compares their long-term performance.