Recovering energy from liquid sanitary waste through direct alcohol fuel cells

The evolution of energy systems can take place through different ways and, sometimes, by using processes already known but needing to be improved by continuous research and development. This is the case of direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC), known since a century ago, but whose operating mode consists of employing (under specified conditions) alcohol. The objective of this work is not only to show the sustainability of these devices but mainly their application for supplying re-cycled ethanol and glycol, recovered from sanitary liquid wastes, to be used for biomedical apparatuses and plant located inside hospital pavilions, such as neonatology, resuscitation and surgery rooms, where, electric energy must not be interruptible for safety reasons and, as a consequence, DAFC must always be working. The proposed solution is supported by the U.E. Act (Directive 2006/12/CE) that allows waste recovery in order to produce energy. It is an innovating and alternative manner to provide a good use of sanitary liquid wastes instead of sending them to common and regular disposal.