Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Japan
Email: re0178ke@ed.ritsumei.ac.jp (T.Y.); n-trang@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp (T.N.); taguchi@se.ritsumei.ac.jp (K.T.)
*Corresponding author
Manuscript received October 20, 2024; accepted December 7, 2024; published April 25, 2025.
Abstract—In this study, a water level sensor based on Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) is proposed. The objective is to realize a low-cost water level sensor that does not require external energy. Copper was used as one of the cathode materials to sustain the output voltage of the MFC. Several cathodes were used to estimate the water level position. Sensing was also performed in two liquids with different Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) values. As a result, water level fluctuations could be immediately ascertained from changes in output voltage. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the sensor reaction time was not affected by differences in COD values.
Keywords—Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC), water-level sensor, copper cathode, low cost, external powerless, muddy water
Cite: Tomoya Yabuzaki, Soichiro Hirose, Trang Nakamoto, and Kozo Taguchi, "Proposal for a Low-Cost Water Level Sensor without External Power Using MFC,"
International Journal of Engineering and Technology, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 103-106, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
