Three students from the Faculty of Engineering of Universitas Indonesia (UI) won 1st place in the “Essay Competition Pertamina Goes to Campus (PGTC)” held by Pertamina on November 12-15, 2024, in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The students who are members of the AKSEN Team consist of Rawhillah Zaydanul Fitran, Delfito Syafi Umar, and Fariz Thufail Afaf. The three of them managed to outperform 1,103 other participants who presented various sustainable innovations in the energy sector.
In the competition, the AKSEN Team presented an innovation titled “Utilization of Livestock Manure through Microbial Fuel Cells and Sodium Ion Batteries to Increase Sustainable Electricity Availability in the 3T Region”. This idea focuses on innovative solutions to increase access to renewable energy in the 3T (Disadvantaged, Frontier, Outermost) regions of Indonesia which experience limited electricity supply.
“This project uses Microbial Fuel Cell or MFC technology by utilizing livestock manure as an energy source. This system is designed to be able to distribute electricity through a battery swap method, thus providing an efficient and sustainable solution for people in the 3T region,” said Rawhillah.
The MFC system—which is used in utilizing livestock waste as an energy source—uses a continuous flow, where livestock waste repeatedly enters and exits several MFC units. In the process, organic substrates, such as cellulose, will be broken down into simpler compounds, namely glucose, which are oxidized by Pseudomonas sp microorganisms into electrons. Furthermore, the resulting electrons will be used to generate electrical energy and make organic waste a sustainable solution for energy needs.
According to Rawhillah, each MFC stacking can produce a power of 56.5 Wh/day, and to meet household electricity needs, around 72 MFC stacking units are needed. The energy produced is stored in a sodium ion battery with a storage efficiency of up to 90%, producing power of up to 549.18 Wh/day. Next, this energy is converted into alternating current (AC) using a 1.5 kW pure sine wave inverter with 90% efficiency, producing an output power of 494.26 Wh/day.
The achievement achieved by the AKSEN Team received appreciation from the UI Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU. According to him, this achievement is proof that UI students have superior academic abilities, as well as concern for real problems in society, especially in the field of renewable energy.
“Their innovation in utilizing livestock manure through Microbial Fuel Cell technology and sodium ion batteries shows how science is applied to create sustainable solutions that have a major impact on communities in the 3T region. We are proud of their dedication and hope that this can be an inspiration for all UI students to continue to innovate and make positive contributions to the country,” said Prof. Heri.
