UTILIZATION OF TOFU WASTE WATER

AND ORGANIC MATERIALS TO GENERATE

ELECTRICITY WITH MICROBIAL FUEL CELL
Author 1 : Marice Makanlehi, Author 2 : Yustin Lapenangga
Senior High School 01 Kalabahi, Alor, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesian

ABSTRACT

The use of electricity in Indonesia is increasing, this is very good but it raises a new problem because with the
increasing use of electricity, the use of energy is increasing so that there is a need for renewable energy. Tofu waste
is one of the household industrial wastes that has not been used properly and causes water pollution. One of the
renewable energies that is currently being developed is MFC (microbial fuel cell). This research was developed
using microbes derived from tofu waste and the electrodes used were zinc and copper. From the research, the
highest electric current was 15.4 mA and the lowest was 0.5 mA and was observed for 3 weeks.

Keywords: microbial fuel cell, tofu waste, electricity

1. INTRODUCTION

At this time the development of the world is very rapid and the use of electricity to support
human activities is needed. The electricity currently used comes from non-renewable energy, namely
energy that comes from fossils that were formed millions of times ago, if this energy continues to be used
it will run out so that a renewable energy source is needed. Renewable energy is useful energy collected
from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on the human time scale, including carbon
neutral sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal. This type of energy source is
different from fossil fuels, which are used up much faster than refilled.
Indonesian is a country that has a large area and a high population. As a country with diverse
geographical conditions and a dispersed population, Indonesia still faces challenges in meeting energy for
all its citizens. To date. the majority of villages that do not have electricity are located in eastern
Indonesia, such as Papua and West Papua. On April 3, 2020, President Jokowi explained that there are
325 villages in Papua and 102 villages in West Papua that do not have electricity. The same thing
happened in five villages in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and one village in Maluku. 1)

Meanwhile, according to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, in the
last 6 years, the electrification ratio in Indonesia has continued to increase. If in 2014 Indonesia's
electrification ratio was only at the level of 84.35%, then in 2020 yesterday the national electrification
ratio reached the level of 99.20%.2)
This causes the need to prepare renewable energy for use in the years to come if the energy
sources needed to generate electricity are currently used.
Currently, Indonesia has a high potential for clean and renewable energy. Based on data from the
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (KESDM), Indonesia has enormous potential for renewable
energy resources. The potential of these resources can be utilized to create equitable and clean energy
access. The portion of the new and renewable energy mix in the national energy mix in 2020 has only
reached 11.31% or only half of the target of 23% in 2025. For this reason, strategies and support from all
parties are needed to be able to realize this target. ESDM Dadan Kusdiana explained, now is the most
appropriate momentum for the development of EBT considering that Indonesian must make an energy
transition to new and renewable energy. Moreover, the development of NRE is supported by global
trends, while from a technological and economic point of view, NRE is already getting cheaper 3)

Currently, Indonesia has a high potential for clean and renewable energy. Based on data from
the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (KESDM), Indonesia has enormous potential for
renewable energy resources such as solar power, hydro power sources, wind, bioenergy, geothermal, and
marine power.
The potential of these resources can be utilized to create equitable and clean energy access. The
portion of the new and renewable energy mix in the national energy mix in 2020 has only reached
11.31% or only half of the 23% target in 2025.
At the international level, at least 30 countries in the world already have renewable energy
which accounts for more than 20 percent of their energy supply. The national renewable energy market is
projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decades and beyond. At least two countries, Iceland
and Norway, already generate all of their electricity using renewable energy, and many other countries
have set goals to achieve 100% renewable energy in the future. At least 47 countries around the world
already have more than 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. Renewable energy
resources exist over a wide geographic area, in contrast to fossil fuels, which are concentrated in a
number of countries. The rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies
results in significant energy security, climate change mitigation, and economic benefits. In international
public opinion surveys there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar and wind
power 4)
Microbial Fuel Cell or better known by the abbreviation MFC is an electrical energy generation
system by utilizing the interaction of bacteria found in nature by transferring electrons resulting from
microbial oxidation of reduced compounds (also known as fuel or electron donors) at the anode into
oxidized compounds (also known as fuel or electron donors). as an oxidizing agent). or electron acceptor)
at the cathode through an external electrical circuit. The charge balance of the system is maintained by the
movement of ions within the cell, usually across the ionic membrane. At the anode, microorganisms use
organic materials such as wastewater or additional nutrients to make electrons, protons, and carbon
dioxide. The electrons then flow through the electric meter to the cathode. At the cathode,
microorganisms can convert electrons to reduce oxygen to water under aerobic conditions 5,6) In this
study, tofu waste media is used, which is generally a home industry. Tofu waste comes from waste or
residue from processing soybeans into tofu which is wasted because it is not formed properly into tofu so
it cannot be consumed. Tofu waste consists of two types, namely liquid waste and solid waste. Liquid
waste is the largest part and has the potential to pollute the environment. This waste occurs because of the
remaining tofu water that does not clot, pieces of tofu that are destroyed due to an imperfect clumping
process and a yellowish cloudy liquid that can cause an unpleasant odor if left unattended (Nohong. 2010.
Utilization of Tofu Waste as an absorbent material for chromium, cadmium and chromium metals) iron in
landfill leachate, Kendari, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences,
Haluoleo University, Kendari.
Liquid waste in the tofu production process comes from the soaking process, washing
soybeans, washing tofu production process equipment, screening and pressing or printing tofu. Most of
the liquid waste produced by the tofu manufacturing industry is a thick liquid that is separated from the
lumps of tofu called whey. This liquid contains high levels of protein and can be decomposed quickly.
This waste is often disposed of directly without prior processing so that it produces a foul odor and
pollutes the environment (Kaswinarni, F. 2007. Technical Study of industrial solid and liquid waste
processing, thesis, environmental science study program.) 7)
Impacts caused by pollution of organic matter from tofu industrial waste are disturbances to
biotic life, decreased water quality due to increased organic matter content.
The presence of these organic compounds causes the liquid waste of the tofu industry to
contain:
• Organic matter contained in tofu liquid industrial waste is generally very high. These organic
compounds can be in the form of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The longer the organic materials in the
tofu liquid waste, the more the volume increases (Sugiharto, 1994. The basics of wastewater treatment,
Jakarta: University of Indonesia Publisher)
The aim is to reduce environmental pollution caused by research waste
Dressing up can generate electrical energy from renewable energy

2.RESEARCH METHOD
 A. Sample Preparation

Samples were obtained directly from the waste from the process of making people's tofu in the
Kalabahi area, Alor. Wastewater is collected and put into sterile glass bottles. Sterilization is carried out
by adding 70% alcohol so that the bottles do not carry contaminants when sampling liquid waste. At the
time of sampling the liquid waste, the bottle containing 70% alcohol was shaken and then the alcohol was
discarded. Next bottle
The sterile one is filled with 100 mL of tofu waste

B. MFC Process Preparation

Prepare the tools and materials needed other than tofu waste:
a. Tools
a. 2 pcs plastic containers
b. measuring tool AVO meter 1 pc
c. soldering iron 1pc
d. electric pipe
e. cable (positive negative)
f. zinc electrode 1pc
g. 1pc copper electrode

b. The materials used in this research are:

a. water 100 mL
b. rotten vegetables 20 g
c. 16.9 g. NaCl salt
d. agar 2 g
e. water for salt bridge 50 mL
f. enough iron glue

c. Research design
After that, the activities carried out were arranging tools and materials in a research design as shown
below:

Picture 1 : MFC research design

 Picture 2. MFC design image that has been included in the material

The electrodes used in this study were zinc and copper electrodes. The zinc electrodes are obtained from
zinc sold in stores while the copper is obtained from the copper wire wound on the 2.5 . NYA cable
We chose these two electrodes because they are easy to find and cheaper than the other electrodes

B. RESEARCH PROSEDUR

The steps taken in conducting research are as follows :

1. take waste water in the container thas has been sterilized with 70% alcohol
2. prepare organic material from rotten vegetables
3. prepare the containers and solder and than make hole in the containers with soldier
4. prepare tools (baker glass, petri dish,bunsen burner, string rod,tripod, neraca ohauss),
and materials (water, salt and jelly powder) to make a salt bridge 1 M
5. mix all the integredients and heat using a bunen burner until thickens
6. insert the salt bridge in paralon pipa and the solution freeze at room temperature
7. guilded salt bridge on container
8. input material organic, waste and water at the container and then connect with
electrode
9. the eletrodes are connected to voltmeter
10. make observation on the strength og the electric current generated
C. Observation Data Table

The MFC system was initially run for 24 hours to see the system's performance related to the
amount of electricity generated. The resulting current was observed using an ovometer or
multimeter. The research was started from September 6, 2021 to September 24, 2021. During the
process, substrate was added as microbial nutrition on September 23, 2021 due to a drastic
reduction in the substrate used
The following is a table of observations during the research process

BATAS
UKUR KUAT ARUS (mA)
2.5 2
2.5 14
2.5 14.5
2.5 15
2.5 15.4
5 1.34
5 1.4
5 1.4
 5 0.5
5 1.2
5 1.02
5 0.9
5 2.3
5 2.3

How to get the current strength value in the observation table using the formula

redeable scale
x measuring limit
maxmimum scale
d. Observation Data Graph Image :

18

16

14

12

10
BATAS UKUR
8 KUAT ARUS (mA)
6

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

This is a table and graph of observations that contain the current strength based on the measuring
limit

3.RESULT DISCUSSION
 18

16

14

12

10
BATAS UKUR
8 KUAT ARUS (mA)
6

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Subsection 1: The data generated in this study is the current strength resulting from the connection of the
two electrodes. The electrode plates used in this study were zinc (Zn)) and copper (Cu). Where zinc is the
electrode of the anode which is the negative pole and copper is the electrode of the cathode which is the
positive pole. The measured current is generated due to the movement of ions in the system, the
difference in redox potential at the anode and cathode and the chemical reactions that occur in the anode
and cathode compartments. Then the start of the study was carried out gradually from 24 hours to 26
hours and so on. Current strength is obtained by using the formula: The value indicated by the
needle/maximum scale x measuring limit (unit).
Subsection 2: In the study, the highest and lowest current strength were found. The highest current
obtained in the study was 0.0154 amperes and the lowest current obtained in the study was 0.002
amperes.
The decrease in current strength is due to a reduction in tofu waste as the substrate used and the
microorganisms degrading the organic matter contained in the liquid waste. The addition of organic
vegetables will increase the number of microorganisms contained in liquid waste so that it can accelerate
the process of degradation of organic compounds in liquid waste. The high current strength indicates that
the substrate has not been reduced and the organic content of the waste has not been completely degraded.
The replacement of the multimeter tool also greatly affects the research because it has different qualities

4. CONCLUSION

This research is expected to reduce environmental pollution caused by tofu waste and to
generate electrical energy from renewable energy. In addition, it is hoped that this research can overcome
the government's problems in preparing electricity supply throughout Indonesia so that it can be spread
evenly. Reduction of water and tofu waste is also very influential in measuring current strength. So that
treatment is needed to overcome this problem. One way to solve the problem is to add a substrate in order
to produce a large current.
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