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Photo credit: Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya

The high demand for household electricity requires innovation of renewable energy sources as a substitute for fossil fuels which are increasingly depleted. Starting from this problem, a team of students from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya, East Java, created an environmentally friendly energy source from oil sludge waste bacteria. Head of the ITS Gasoileum Team Ramadhita Putra Purnomo explained that oil sludge is one of the wastes produced from the processing and storage of crude oil. If this waste is disposed of, special stages are required so that the waste does not pollute the environment. Rama and his team studied oil sludge waste and found the presence of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa bacteria as a microbial fuel cell (MFC) which has the potential to produce electrical energy from electrons resulting from the decomposition of nutrient glucose by bacteria.

To produce electricity, the bacteria need to be mixed with household waste, such as vegetables or fruits. The household waste is cut into small pieces and mixed with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The goal is to break down the nutrient glucose molecules into smaller pieces. Next, the mixture is put into a 1,000 milliliter tube that has been fitted with a multimeter anode and cathode. The mixture is arranged to form three layers of parts with a ratio of 1:3. From this mixture, a bio-electrochemical system will then occur that converts household waste glucose into electrons. These electrons then produce voltage and electric current.

To obtain maximum electrical potential, it takes up to seven days. In the seventh time span, the electrical energy produced by these bacteria reached 21 watts or equivalent to the power to light a flashlight. The results of this research have led the team to become the first winner in the 2024 Forum Improvement & Innovation Award (IIA) event recently.