During the first period of Bioo Panel project most of the tasks carried out were dedicated to product development, dissemination, and research activities. Electrogenic bacteria were selected and tested in lab to future implementation in the Bioo panel product, the cells’ configuration and design was developed to meet the plant and MFC requirements, and the first prototypes were tested in field.
During the second period of Bioo Panel project the tasks were focused on P-MFC optimization, mechanical and electric integration designs, and scale-up and manufacturing process. Different plant species were selected to future studies of the bacterial community evolution, filtering system and electrode optimized, and a new simplified Bioo panel prototype was constructed to adequate all the previous optimizations, reduce the costs, and facilitate underground installation.
During this third period of Bioo Panel project the tasks were focused on implementation, field testing, and final analyses and publications:
Electrical layout proved non-viable to interconnect directly to the grid, and other alternative applications were proposed like low power harvesting applied technologies. Interconnection studies were held verifying that parallel connection performed better than in series.
Manufacturers were selected after best value for money, time efficiency and reduction of environmental impacts analyses following specific criteria detailed in part B. In-house tests were carried on, constructing 4 Bioo Panels inside Bioo’s facilities that were subjected to theoretical optimal environmental conditions; during the test, several issues were observed and corrected accordingly.
A Deployment was completed successfully at the Ibiza’s Biotechnological Botanical Garden; 5 Bioo Panels were installed in the facilities, connected to the garden’s watering system, to a wireless connection and mini-PC for remote analysis purposes, and to a waterproof screen continuously depicting graphics of the electrical output for technology demonstration and dissemination purposes. The deployment was remotely monitored and verified that all the bacterial community and electronic components were functioning properly.
The performance of the previously selected plant species for the optimization of the bacterial community electrical production was studied in real conditions; these plant species were Canna indica, Phragmites australis, and Sporobolus indicus. The results shown that the plants did increase the microbial growth, but that there were no major differences between the three selected plant species in terms of electrical performance of the bacterial community inside the Bioo Panel. Life Cycle Analysis was carried out by a subcontracted specialized company, whose detailed results were presented in D5.2; it was highlighted that the lifespan of the product is a key aspect. Technical assessment included some adjustments of the MFC compartments and watering system, oxidations processes were observed and noted for future improvements and biological optimizations were proposed as the addition of other carbon sources to promote anaerobic bacterial growth. Regarding the economic feasibility,
Pre-certification study concluded that the Bioo Panel electricity generation is uncapable to reach any short circuit risk for the user, therefore a pre-certification process would not even be considered by official sources. In terms of IPR, Arkyne worked with a subcontracted law company to send a European Patent, EP20382828, and Bioo’s brand and logo trademark is registered since 2017 with the international trademark nº 1357959; both were attached in D7.2. Scientific publications through the development of an article with Bioo’s results were submitted.
