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The purpose of this research is to determine if microfluidic technology can be used as a renewable energy application to determine optimization for increased power of Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells (BMFC). A microfluidic chip-based BMFC was designed to evaluate bacterial electricity at microscale distances. The system could be used to optimize biological parameters, geometry, and electrode scaling towards increased power. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip is built using elastomer microfluidics to provide biologically inert microfluidic confinement of the bacteria. The microelectrode matrix patterned onto glass substrate is based on the binary fractal H-architecture, which captures the charge without location bias and conducts it to the outside circuit. The results show up to ~120 mW/m^2 average power output density, non-optimized. This encouraging output shows that this device and associated technique are a major step forward for renewable power systems for maritime environments and demonstrates that microfluidics can be considered for power production. This can become a standardized test platform for future MFC research and optimized for power production. Once optimized, one chip can serve as a unit device in an array comprising a large-scale renewable power source and integrate continuous or periodic food sources., NAVWAR (SSC-PAC), http://archive.org/details/outputpoweroptim1094564035, Outstanding Thesis, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

The purpose of this research is to determine if microfluidic technology can be used as a renewable energy application to determine optimization for increased power of Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells (BMFC). A microfluidic chip-based BMFC was designed to evaluate bacterial electricity at microscale distances. The system could be used to optimize biological parameters, geometry, and electrode scaling towards increased power. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip is built using elastomer microfluidics to provide biologically inert microfluidic confinement of the bacteria. The microelectrode matrix patterned onto glass substrate is based on the binary fractal H-architecture, which captures the charge without location bias and conducts it to the outside circuit. The results show up to ~120 mW/m^2 average power output density, non-optimized. This encouraging output shows that this device and associated technique are a major step forward for renewable power systems for maritime environments and demonstrates that microfluidics can be considered for power production. This can become a standardized test platform for future MFC research and optimized for power production. Once optimized, one chip can serve as a unit device in an array comprising a large-scale renewable power source and integrate continuous or periodic food sources.

The objective of this project is to accurately quantify Navy contaminant loads by identifying, reviewing, demonstrating, and validating contaminant source tracking technologies that will provide a technical framework for Navy water program managers, enabling them to: (1) attribute existing contamination loads to support compliance programs; (2) clearly understand weaknesses, as well as how thos technologies can be used to develop management decisions for compliance; (3) use the scientific approach and these tools to prevent arbitrary and burdensome regulatory decisions and actions that negatively impact the Navy. This User's Guide will primarily focus on chemical fingerprinting, but will also touch on other key forensic techniques as needed. The product will provide the Navy with a means to attribute pollution loads for compliance programs so that a significant amount of money can be saved. The Navy will be able to identify base pollutant sources, which will in turn, help identify best management practices to reduce these sources.