title: The influence of anodic helical design on fluid flow and bioelectrochemical performance.
abstract: In this study three different tubular helical anode designs are compared, for each helical design the pitch and nominal sectional area/liquid flow channel between the helicoids was varied and this produced maximum power densities of 11.63, 9.2 and 6.73Wm(-3) (small, medium and large helical flow channel cross-sections). It is found that the level of mixing and the associated shear rates present in the anodes affects both the power development and biofilm formation. The small helical flow channel carbon anode produced 40% more biofilm and this result was related to modelling data which determined a system shear rate of 237s(-1), compared to 52s(-1) and 47s(-1) for the other reactor configurations. The results from computational fluid dynamic modelling further distinguishes between convective flow conditions and supports the influence of helical structure on system performance, so establishing the importance of anodic design on the overall electrogenic biofilm activity.
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK. Electronic address: iain.michie@southwales.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Iain S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Michie
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Pusan National University (PNU), Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Rae
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Dinsdale
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guwy
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK.
authors.forename: Giuliano C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Premier
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D004560:Electricity; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D012212:Rheology; D062065:Wastewater; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Biofilm; Fluid flow; Helical anode; Microbial fuel cells; Performance