Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Nexus
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nexus

Application of organic additives as voltage enhancers for

vermicompost-derived bio-battery
M. Devendran Manogaran a,b, Yun Hock Phua b,c, M Rashid Shamsuddin a,b,∗, Jun Wei Lim a,d,
Nurlidia Mansor b
a
HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute of Self-Sustainable Living (ISB), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), 32610 Seri Iskandar,
Perak, Malaysia
b
Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
c
Technology Department, Technical Services Division, Malaysian Refining Company, 76300 Sungai Udang, Melaka, Malaysia
d
Fundamental and Applied Sciences Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: Vermicomposting enhances the breakdown of the organic wastes into vermicompost by adding earthworms. Re-
Composting cent studies revealed the potential of vermicompost to be used as electrolyte of bio-battery however, the voltage
Vermicomposting is lower and less stable than conventional batteries. The main goal of this research is to evaluate the quality of ver-
Vermibattery
micompost generated and improve the voltage generation of vermicompost-derived battery. The vermicompost
Bio-battery
was first produced from green wastes collected in the vicinity of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) campus
Circular economy
at optimum carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 30:1. Next, humic and fulvic acid were extracted from vermicom-
post and used as electrolytes for bio-batteries with different organic additives namely, deionized water, spent
tea waste, spent coffee waste, fruit enzyme and lemon juice which served as voltage enhancers. Vermicompost
quality was established by final C:N ratio with respect to the total organic carbon and total Kjeldahl nitrogen as
well as humic and fulvic acid yields and moisture content analysis in comparison to commercial vermicompost
while voltage enhancement was assessed via voltage profiling using digital multimeter over a period of time. Key
highlights include the generated vermicompost reaching maturation on day 40 with mass reduction of 18% and
humic and fulvic acid yields at 3.41% and 0.38%, significantly higher than that of commercial vermicompost.
The highest voltage recorded was 0.62 V for humic acid electrolyte with fruit enzyme additive followed by humic
acid electrolyte with lemon juice additive which exhibited 0.61 V voltage generation. Should UTP make the move
to harness electricity from vermibatteries, a comprehensive economic feasibility study with sound assumptions
deduced that the payback period of the project is approximately 2.8 years which is very promising. Vermicom-
posting green wastes has multiple benefits from cutting down labour requirement to promoting eco-friendly waste
management and generating high-quality compost and bio-battery electrolytes.

1. Introduction
Improved standards of living and the booming population has re-
sulted in an exponential rise in food consumption. Consequently, there
is also an abundance of food waste being generated which has observed
a host societal issue. In fact, more than 2.1 billion tons of municipal solid
waste is produced globally per annum with only about 16% recyclable
and more than 46% directly discarded [1]. Of this large deposit of mu-
nicipal solid waste, food waste makes up as low as one quarter up 50%
apart from many others including plastic, metal and paper waste [2].
Such circumstances are a cause of extreme concern for its an indication
of imbalance in food systems in different parts of the globe and should
there be a case of toxic food waste, it can lead to sprouting biohaz-
ard concern which has an adverse effect on human health, biodiversity
and ecosystems. Accordingly, beginning the 1st of September 2015, the
Malaysian Government has made it mandatory to separate solid waste
into recyclable dry waste and non-recyclable wet waste at several states
and Federal Territories [3]. After sorting out recyclables, the residual
wastes containing kitchen and food waste are sent to landfills. Through
vermicomposting, a more comprehensive domestic waste management
system can be promoted to ease local landfills and reduce unnecessary
management cost. This practice is also in line with the circular econ-
omy model which promotes sustainable practices by taking waste and
converting it into a value-added material [4].

∗
Corresponding author at: HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute of Self-Sustainable Living (ISB), Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
(UTP), 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia.
E-mail address: mrashids@utp.edu.my (M.R. Shamsuddin).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexus.2022.100163
Received 10 August 2022; Received in revised form 28 October 2022; Accepted 21 November 2022
Available online 24 November 2022
2772-4271/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

Vermicomposting is an eco-friendly composting process whereby Table 1

worms are added as catalyst to breakdown the organic waste into vermi- Initial compost formulation.
compost [5]. Besides making the degradation process faster, the enzy- Green Waste Fallen Leaves Vegetable Scraps
matic and microbial activities by worms gives a better end product than
Weight, Q (kg) 1.3 2.7
the conventional composting method [6]. In fact, mature vermicompost
Theoretical C:N Ratio 50:1 20:1
can also accelerate the decomposition and humification of organic mat-
ter as humification occurs primarily during the maturation stage of ver-
micomposting as suggested by Hu, et al. [7] and Che, et al. [8]. The end
product is stabilized, sanitized, compatible and useful for plant growth
[9] while the approach itself is regarded as an eco-friendly, sustainable
method that alleviates environmental concerns and associated health
risks [10]. In order to make composting process faster, several deter-
minant factors such as carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of initial compost
mixture, particle size, temperature, pH, aeration, moisture content and
types of composting worms are required to be controlled at optimum
level [11].
Typically, the end product is used as fertilizer to promote plant
growth and increase the soil mineral value. Recently, several innova-
tive studies had been conducted to explore the potential of vermicom-
post for voltage generation where the vermicompost is used directly as
an electrolyte with or without an additive. Gouda, et al. [12] stated
that the secreted mixture in vermicompost is rich in metal ions, acids,
salts and enzymes. They further claimed that the potential difference can
generate similar amount of voltage with a commercial battery cell. Hu- Fig. 1. Composter used for vermicomposting.
mic substances can be subdivided into three main components: humin,
humic acid and fulvic acid [13]. Mehta, et al. [14] found that the elec-
trical features of humic acids and fulvic acids have been proven to be production could exhibit adverse effects to the environment if not man-
involved in chemical reactions such as electrostatic attraction, complex aged properly [20]. In this research work, both key components of ver-
formation or chelation and water bridging. All these processes involve micompost which are humic acid and fulvic acid were extracted and
ion exchanges which make these two complex organic acids a potential used as electrolytes to determine their potential as voltage enhancers.
green electrolyte for voltage generation. Comparing to humic acid, the
total acidity of fulvic acid is higher and the exchange capacity is more
2. Materials and methods
than double of humic acids [15].
Previously, Shamsuddin, et al. [16] prepared vermicompost at dif-
2.1. Raw materials preparation
ferent C:N ratios of 20, 25, 30 and 35 using organic waste abundantly
available in the vicinity of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP). The
Fallen leaves and vegetable scraps were collected around the vicin-
highest amount of humic acid extracted from 50 g vermicompost at ini-
ity of UTP. The feedstock materials were ground to a maximum size of
tial C:N ratio of 30 was 0.74 g (x% yield). Then, vermibattery cell was
3 mm and mixed uniformly according to the formulations depicted in
constructed with humic acid and additives as electrolyte, and zinc plate
Table 1. About 100 numbers of earthworms (red wiggler) were used as
and lead oxide plate as electrode. However, the maximum net voltage
composting agents and garden soil was added as the bedding for the
produced by the vermibattery cell was 0.44 V, which is still compara-
worms, similarly executed in a past study by Shamsuddin, et al. [16].
tively lower than a commercial battery cell hence the need to investigate
The initial C:N ratio of the mixture as depicted in Table 1 was calculated
methods to enhance voltage generation of vermibattery cell such that it
using Eq. (1):
can at least meet the standards of the commercial battery cell or even
better surpass it. Apart from this study, there has been no specific study Σ(Q × C) Σ(Q × C ∶ N ratio)
R= = (1)
on the application of organic additives to stabilize and enhance the volt- Σ(Q × 𝑁 ) ΣQ
age generation of vermicompost-derived batteries. where R is the C:N ratio of compost mixture, Q is the weight of ma-
A large majority of the recent available research focuses on the vana- terial (kg, wet basis), C and N is the carbon and nitrogen content (%)
dium redox flow battery (VRFB) which is stated to be one of the most respectively.
suitable energy storage systems for large-scale intermittently renewable
energy. Li, et al. [17] explored fructose, mannitol, glucose and D-sorbitol
as additives in electrolyte for VRFB whereas Wu, et al. [18] observed the 2.2. Composting activity monitoring
favourable effects of two cyclic organic additives which are phytic acid
and inositol on the stability and electrochemical behaviour of positive The composting activity was carried out in a custom-made composter
electrolyte for VRFB. Liu, et al. [19] also noted the immense potential of as shown in Fig. 1 with a maximum volume of 250 L, diameter of 60 cm,
DL-malic acid and L-aspartic acid as organic additives for negative elec- thickness of 5 mm and length of 90 cm with 28 aeration holes. As exe-
trolyte of VRFB. These past studies provided the justification to further cuted by Chaher, et al. [21] for the compost development, the pH and
explore on the potential of organic additives to enhance voltage gen- temperature were recorded in triplicates every second day at approxi-
eration of vermibattery cells. However, it is essential to note that the mately the same time of the day. After the readings were recorded, the
organic additives used in the previous research mentioned above are composter was watered and turned for mixing. Any physical observation
typically expensive and not readily available. In this research work, the on the pile and earthworms was also noted.
focus is more on the application of commonly available organic wastes
in every household or university campus as additives of the bio-battery. 2.3. Total organic carbon (TOC)
With this, the effort in waste conversion into value-added products can
be further intensified. This is step in the positive direction as common A 5 g of sample was transferred into a pre-weighed crucible and
inorganic additives used such as sulphuric acid to enhance the voltage heated to 500 °C in a furnace for 12 h. The final weight of sample

2
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

Fig. 2. Flow diagram of humic and fulvic acid extrac-

tion.
1L 0.1M Stir for 6 Add 6M HCl
NaOH hours Stir for 1 hour
100 g HA
Vermicompost Insoluble Humin Precipitate
(discarded)
Remaining solution Drying

0.1M NaOH Humic Acid

Supelite Supelite DAX-8 Amberlite

DAX-8 Resin resin saturated IR120 Resin
with Fulvic Acid

Drying
Discarded
Fulvic Acid

with crucible was weighed. The TOC percentage was calculated via
Eq. (2) and 3 [22]:
m2 − m0
Ash content = × 100%
m1 − m0
100 − Ash content
Car bon cont ent = (3)
1.8
where m0 is weight of empty crucible (g), m1 is initial weight of
sample with crucible (g), m2 is final weight of sample with crucible
(g).
2.4. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN)
A 500 mg of dried sample was weighed, and 15 mL of distillate water
was used as blank. Ten selenium tablets and 20 mL of 95 – 98% sulphuric
acid were added into each sample and blank. The mixtures were heated
and digested for 30 min at 10 rpm and repeated at 5 rpm for another
15 min. A 70 mL of 30% sodium hydroxide was added into each mixture.
Steam was then channelled to distil the mixture for 3 min while the other
end of the condenser was dipped into a 60 mL of boric acid solution. A
0.25 M H2 SO4 was used to titrate the blank and sample to pH 4.65 as
referred from Niedzialkoski, et al. [23]. TKN content in percentage was
calculated using Eq. (4):
V1 − V2
TKN = × C × 14.01 × 100%
m0
where V1 is volume of acid used to titrate the sample (mL), V2 is vol-
ume of acid used to titrate the blank, m0 is weight of sample (g), C
is the molarity of acid used for titration and double for bivalence acid
(mol/L).
2.5. Moisture content
A 10 g sample was transferred into a pre-weighed aluminium weigh-
ing boat and dried at 105 °C for 24 h until the weight was constant. The
final weight of sample with weighing boat was weighed. The moisture
content in percentage was calculated using Eq. (5) [24]:
m − m2
Moist ure cont ent = 1 × 100% (5)
m1 − m0
(2)
where m0 is weight of empty weighting boat (g), m1 is initial weight
of sample with weighing boat (g), m2 is final weight of sample with
weighing boat (g).
2.6. Mass yield
The moisture content and mass of initial compost mixture were mea-
sured. After the composting activity was completed, the moisture con-
tent and mass of mature compost were measured again. The mass yield
in percentage was calculated using Eq. (6) [25]:
[ ( ) ( ) ]
m1 100 − MC1 − m2 100 − MC2
Mass yield = 100 − ( ) × 100% (6)
m1 100 − MC1
where m1 is mass of initial compost mixture (kg), m2 is final weight of
mature compost (kg), MC1 is moisture content of initial compost mixture
(%), MC2 is moisture content of mature compost (%).
2.7. Humic acid and fulvic acid extraction
The humic acid and fulvic acid were extracted according to a method
proposed by Lamar, et al. [26]. Fig. 1 illustrates the process flow of
humic and fulvic acid extraction.
(4)
2.7.1. Humic acid extraction
A 100 g of dried vermicompost was weighed and 0.1 M NaOH was
added until the final volume was made to 1 L in a beaker. The mix-
ture was stirred for 6 h to ensure total dissolution of humic acid and
fulvic acid. Then, the mixture was centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 min.
The insoluble material was discarded, and the alkaline supernatant was
collected. Next, 6 M HCl was added to flocculate humic acid dropwise
to the alkaline supernatant until pH 1 was achieved. The mixture was
stirred for 1 hour with constant pH monitoring. The mixture was cen-
trifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 min to separate humic acid precipitate. The
humic acid was dried at 90 °C to constant weight. The weight of humic

3
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

Table 2
Vermibattery electrolyte composition matrix.

Deionized Water (50 g) 50 g Spent Tea Waste 50 g Spent Coffee Waste 50 g Fruit Enzyme 50 g Lemon Juice

Dried VC (100 g) 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E
Humic Acid∗ 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E
Fulvic Acid∗ 3A 3B 3C 3D 3E
∗
Average amount extracted from 100 g of dried vermicompost.

Copper Electrode Aluminium Electrode

(Cathode) (Anode)

Electrolyte

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of vermibattery.

acid extracted was recorded as mHA (g) and the yield of humic acid from
100 g of vermicompost was calculated using Eq. (7) [27]:
mHA
Humic acid yield = × 100% (7) Fig. 4. Voltage measurement for battery 2D.
100

2.7.1. Fulvic acid extraction

Fulvic acid-containing extract was passed through a glass chromatog-
raphy column with Supelite DAX-8 resin. The effluent was discarded,
and deionized water was used to wash the resin. The fulvic acid was
desorbed by passing 0.1 M NaOH solution through the column. The ful-
vic acid-NaOH solution was passed repeatedly through Amberlite IR120
hydrogen form ion exchange resin contained in a glass column. Deion-
ized water was then used to wash the column. The wash was added to
the purified fulvic acid solution. Next, the solution was concentrated us-
ing a rotary evaporator at 55 °C before further drying at 90 °C to constant
weight. The weight of fulvic acid extracted was recorded as mFA (g) and
the yield of fulvic acid from 100 g of vermicompost was calculated using
Eq. (8):
mFA
Fulvic acid yield = × 100% (8)
100

2.8. Vermibattery construction and voltage measurement

The standard batteries (labelled as 1A, 2A and 3A) contained only
dried vermicompost (VC), humic acid and fulvic acid as electrolyte,
respectively. Four organic additives added which are spent tea waste,
spent coffee waste, fruit enzyme and lemon juice. The organic additives
were added to give the following combination of battery electrolyte as
shown in the Table 2:
Copper and aluminium plates (2.5 cm x 7.5 cm) were used as cath-
ode and anode, respectively. Fig. 3 illustrates the schematic diagram of
the vermibattery. The voltage reading was recorded using a digital mul-
timeter as depicted in Fig. 4 at 0 min, 15 min, 30 min, 60 min, 3 h,
12 h and 24 h. The voltage profile for each battery was then plotted for
comparison.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Physical observation, temperature and pH monitoring
It was observed that composting process released minimal unpleas-
ant odor, indicating a balance and healthy composting process at C:N
Fig. 5. Physical appearance of mature vermicompost.
ratio of 30. A high C:N ratio will slow down the vermicomposting pro-
cess or eventually diminished because of fast cell growth and depletion
of available nitrogen in the mass [28]. While a low C:N ratio results in
nitrogen volatilization in the form of ammonia and odors which is en-
hanced by high temperature and basic pH. Besides, the number of earth-
worms was observed to multiply as the composting progressed due to
a conducive environment for vermicomposting. Towards the end of the
vermicomposting process, the worms become less active and gradually
decrease in number due to food competition. Fig. 5 depicts the mature
compost generated whereas Fig. 6 portrays the condition of the earth-
worms on the 50th day. Fig. 7(a) and (b) shows the temperature and
pH profile of vermicompost, respectively. The temperature fluctuation
was largely caused by the weather as the experiment took place out-
door. Since there was no significant distinction of three characteristic
composting phases (mesophile, thermophile and maturation), tempera-
ture profile was not a reliable indicator of the maturation point [16].
Nevertheless, temperature ranges from 26 °C to 30 °C was favorable for
the living of earthworms.

4
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

Table 3
Compost characterizations of generated vermicompost and commercial product.

Generated Commercial
Vermicompost Vermicompost

TOC (%) 19.56 16.13

TKN (%) 0.58 0.78
Final C:N Ratio 33.72 20.68
Initial Moisture Content (%) 52.72 -
Final Moisture Content (%) 46.96 53.03
Mass Yield (%) 82.19 -
Average Weight of Humic Acid 3.41 1.69
Extracted (g/100 g dried
vermicompost)
Yield of Humic Acid (wt%) 3.41 1.69
Average Weight of Fulvic Acid 0.38 0.05
Extracted
(g/100 g dried vermicompost)
Yield of Fulvic Acid (wt%) 0.38 0.05

Fig. 6. Condition of earthworms on day 50.

day 40 based on pH profiles in Fig. 7 (b), indicated by the constant pH

On the other hand, the fluctuations in pH can be attributed to bacte-
rial activity that naturally regulates the pH in between 6 and 7. The high
bacterial growth increased the consumption of organic wastes where the
bacteria broke down the complex carbonaceous material and released
organic acids which lowering the pH. However, the low pH was not con-
ducive which hinder bacterial growth and the population decreased. The
pH was then increased, promoting the regeneration of the bacteria and
the cycle repeats [16]. The compost reached its maturation stage around
readings.
3.2. Quality of vermicompost
Summary of compost characterizations was listed in Table 3 in com-
parison to commercial vermicompost.
The final C:N ratio of the generated vermicompost was found close
to the optimum ratio of 30, indicating an even decomposition of or-

Fig. 7. (a) Temperature and (b) pH profile of vermi-

compost.

5
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

ganic wastes as microorganisms consume around 30 parts of carbon for

each part of nitrogen [28]. In contrast, the starting materials of com-
mercial vermicompost are typically rich in nitrogen content in order 1 - Vermicompost 2 - Humic Acid 3 - Fulvic Acid
to increase the rate of compost maturation. Although it is beneficial
from business standpoint, lower C:N ratio caused an uneven decompo-
1A 2A 3A
0.70
sition. At 3.41 and 0.38 g/100 of vermicompost, the amount of humic
and fulvic acid extracted from the generated vermicompost was about 0.60
50% and 87% higher than commercial vermicompost, respectively. The

Voltage (V)
results obtained is more than two folds higher as compared to a pre- 0.50
vious study by Shamsuddin, et al. [16] which observed the weight of
humic acid extracted from vermicompost with initial C:N ratio of 30 0.40
is 0.74 g from 50 g of vermicompost. Such circumstances high degree
of decomposition and conversion of unstable organic matter into hu- 0.30
mic substances through humidification process [29]. As the generated
vermicompost was prepared in smaller batch, good quality control was 0.20
able to be achieved through constant turning and moisturising of the 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
pile every alternate day. This provided good aeration and distribution (a) Time (min)
of organic materials which created a conducive decomposition and hu-
1A 1B 1C 1D 1E
midification environment. 0.70
Given mass reduction of approximately 20%, vermicomposting helps
to reduce the amount of organic wastes and convert them into value 0.60
added product. Besides being solely used as fertilizer, good moisture

Voltage (V)
content of the end product enables the application of vermicompost as 0.50
bio-battery electrolyte to hold any aqueous solution due to its high water
holding capability [30]. The moisture content gives proper contact of 0.40
the electrolyte with the electrodes for ion exchange.
0.30
3.3. Voltage generation from vermicompost
0.20
The voltage profiles for standard batteries and each organic additive 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
were plotted in Fig. 8 from 0 to 360 min as the voltage equilibrium had (b) Time (min)
been reached at 3 h for all the batteries.
Fig. 8(b) shows the voltage of battery containing vermicompost was 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E
0.70
generally lower and fluctuating the most due to its semi solid state. The
presence of internal resistance made the ions hard to move around the
0.60
electrolyte. In contrast, humic and fulvic acid electrolytes which were
Voltage (V)

in liquid state, allowed the ions to move freely and provided a better
0.50
surface contact with the electrode for electron transfer. Humic and ful-
vic acids contain functional group of an acidic nature with the fulvic
0.40
acid having double of the total acidities [24]. Both batteries gave high
initial voltage however, the latter depleted in a faster rate. This can be
0.30
explained by its smaller extractable amount which was only 0.383 g
per 100 g dried vermicompost in average. Humic acid, on the other
0.20
hand, gave a more stable and sustain voltage profile as it is the main
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
extractable component. (c) Time (min)
The highest voltage recorded was 0.62 V for humic acid battery with
3A 3B 3C 3D 3E
fruit enzyme as the additive as shown in Fig. 8(c). This is notably higher
0.70
than in past studies by Shamsuddin, et al. [16] which observed the max-
imum net voltage produced from humic acid battery is 0.44 V as well
0.60
as in another study by Khare and Bundela [31] which gathered that the
Voltage (V)

maximum voltage produced from vermicompost mixed with wastewa-

0.50
ter from biscuit factory, potato processing factory and cow dung are
0.385 V, 0.292 V and 0.232 V, respectively. In general, fruit enzyme 0.40
and lemon juice boosted initial voltage by 0.22 V (from about 0.6 V,
battery without additive) but the voltage dropped in a fast pace as the 0.30
fast reaction corroded the electrode faster. Upon equilibrium, their volt-
ages were the lowest compared to others. On the contrary, spent coffee 0.20
waste and tea waste did not boost the voltage much but gave lower volt- 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
age drop over the period of 24 h. In some of the batteries for example (d) Time (min)
humic acid battery with spent coffee waste, the voltage was lower than
that of standard battery which was possibly caused by the dilution effect Fig. 8. Voltage profile of (a) control setup without any additive and (b) vermi-
when the two components mixed. compost, (c) humic acid and (d) fulvic acid batteries with deionized water (A),
Overall, humic acid batteries resulted in higher voltage with greater spent tea waste (B), spent coffee waste (C), fruit enzyme (D) and lemon juice
stability profile compared to the vermicompost and fulvic acid batteries. (E) as the additives.
Fruit enzyme and lemon juice are effective in enhancing the voltage gen-
eration however, the electrodes have to be replaced more frequently due

6
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al. Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163

300,000.00 Fig. 9. Cash flow diagram of the vermicomposting

project.
200,000.00
Cumulative Cash Flow (RM)

100,000.00
Payback Period
0.00
0 1 2 3 4
-100,000.00

-200,000.00

-300,000.00

-400,000.00
Initial Investment
-500,000.00
Year

Fig. 10. Illustration of vermicompost pile con-

nected in series.

to vigorous redox reaction. Spent tea waste and coffee waste promise a To calculate the payback period of the project, the following calcu-
slower voltage drop although they do not boost the voltage much. This lations are performed:
limitation can be overcame by connecting the batteries in series up to 50 kg 30 days kg
desired voltage. Vermicompost produced = × × 0.80 = 1200
day month month

3.4. Economic feasibility of vermicomposting project 1200 kg RM 15 RM 18, 000

Compost Saving = × =
month kg month
Economic feasibility is as key consideration taken into account by RM 900 RM 4500
stakeholders when upscaling any lab scale project for large scale appli- Manpower cost = × 5 manpowers =
month ⋅ manpower month
cation. The internal rate of return (IRR) is a deliverable often discussed
during the economic feasibility evaluation of a project as it depicts the RM 18, 000 − RM 4500 12 months RM 162, 000
Net Saving = × =
value at which the discounted cost of the project is equal to its dis- month year year
counted income, giving a rather objective overview on the profitability
USD 7.50 RM 4.50
of the initial investment [32]. To evaluating the profitability of vermi- Init ial Invest ment = × × 13, 454.89 f t 2 = RM 454, 102.54
composting project, the following assumptions have been made: f t2 1 USD

Init ial Invest ment RM 454, 102.54

i Green wastes are collected from UTP Chancellor Complex compound Rat e of Ret urn = = = 2.8 years
Net Saving RM 162, 000∕year
ii Green waste collected = 50 kg/day
iii Mass yield = 80% Fig. 9 illustrates the cash flow diagram of the vermicomposting
iv Cost of commercial vermicompost = RM 15/kg project with a payback period of approximately 2.8 years which proves
v Cost of warehouse = USD 7.50/ft2 that this project can bring about huge saving for the university. The
vi Size of warehouse = 25 m x 50 m = 1250 m2 = 13,454.89 ft2 payback period computed is also favorable, drawing similarities with
vii Money value is constant. a past study conducted by Torres, et al. [33] for the development of a

7
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al.
compost tea brewer machine which reported a promising payback pe-
riod of 2.4 years. Hence, this attribute serves as an additional merit for
implementation of this idea in UTP.
Visualizing each of the vermicompost pile as individual battery
which is connected in series with copper and aluminium electrodes as
illustrated by Fig. 10, the voltage produced is expected to be able to
light up the warehouse or the ventilation fan. Therefore, external elec-
trical energy supply will not be needed as the warehouse is viewed as a
self-sustaining system.
4. Conclusion
With proper monitoring and optimum control on the determinant
factors, better quality vermicompost was produced from green wastes
gathered around the vicinity of UTP such as fallen leaves and vegetable
scraps. The mass reduction is about 18% and the final C:N ratio of the
vermicompost is 33.64, which is close to the initial C:N ratio, indicat-
ing even decomposition and humification of organic wastes. The yields
of humic and fulvic acid extracted from the generated vermicompost
are higher at 3.41% and 0.38% respectively as compared to commer-
cial vermicompost at 1.69% and 0.05%. From these parameters, it is
proven that the quality of the generated vermicompost is better that the
commercial vermicompost. Besides being a soil enhancer alone, vermi-
compost and the extracted acids has demonstrated great potential for
application as green electrolytes in bio-battery. To further enhance the
voltage generation, organic additives were added to boost and stabilize
the voltage. The highest voltage recorded was 0.62 V for the humic acid
battery with fruit enzyme as additive. Although the generated voltage is
lower than that of normal simple dry cell battery of 1.5 V, the vermibat-
tery could reduce the dependency of on inorganic additives which are
typically used. Furthermore, the primary advantage is that the vermi-
battery can be safely decomposed after use without exhibiting any haz-
ardous effects to the environment. Future work can delve into other po-
tential organic additives and even inorganic additives for enhancement
of voltage generation however, care should be given if using the later.
If adapted for real-life application purposes, positive reinforcement is
foreseen across multiple Sustainable Developed Goals (SDG) promoted
by the United Nations, particularly SDG 11 to instil sustainable cities and
communities via eco-friendly practices. Additionally, a comprehensive
economic analysis revealed that should this vermicompost project be
upscaled in UTP for voltage generation, the payback period is approxi-
mately 2.8 years which is highly favorable. In a nutshell, vermicompost-
ing campus green wastes has multi-fold benefits of cutting down labor
requirement, promoting eco-friendly waste management and generating
value-added products such as high-quality compost and bio-battery elec-
trolytes apart from being economically feasible mapping to the circular
economy framework.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare no competing interest. Author Rashid Sham-
suddin received research grant from Yayasan Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS (YUTP).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
M. Devendran Manogaran: Visualization, Investigation, Writing –
original draft, Writing – review & editing. Yun Hock Phua: Methodol-
ogy, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft. M Rashid
Shamsuddin: Conceptualization, Supervision, Project administration,
Funding acquisition, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Jun Wei
Lim: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Nurlidia Mansor: Writ-
ing – review & editing.
Data Availability
Data will be made available on request.
8
Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163
Funding
Funding acquired from Yayasan Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
(YUTP) (015LC0-198) was acquired.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Yayasan Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS (YUTP) for the research grant (015LC0-198) and HICoE-
Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Universiti
Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) for the full support in this research.
References
[1] C.H. Kim, J.H. Ryu, J. Lee, K. Ko, J. Lee, K.Y. Park, H. Chung, Use of black soldier fly
larvae for food waste treatment and energy production in Asian countries: a review,
Processes 9 (2021) 161.
[2] I. Brás, E. Silva, L.T. De Lemos, Feasibility of using municipal solid wastes rejected
fractions as fuel in a biomass power plant, Environ. Prot. Eng. 46 (2020) 53–62.
[3] I.A. Abu Bakar, S.K. Ramayan, V.S. Sangaran, Public inclination towards waste seg-
regation programme (a case study on the effectiveness of #Asingkan campaign in
Klang Valley), Ideal. J. 5 (2020).
[4] M.D. Manogaran, R. Shamsuddin, M.H. Mohd Yusoff, M. Lay, A.A. Siyal, A review on
treatment processes of chicken manure, Clean. Circ. Bioeconomy 2 (2022) 100013.
[5] S.S. Das, L. Goswami, S.S. Bhattacharya SS, Chapter 3 - Vermicomposting: earth-
worms as potent bioresources for biomass conversion, in: R. Kataki, A. Pandey,
S.K. Khanal, D. Pant (Eds.), Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengi-
neering, Elsevier, 2020, pp. 79–102.
[6] J.A. Malik, Urban Solid Waste Management Techniques with Special Reference to
Vermicomposting, in: S.B. Tsai, Z. Yuan, J. Yu, X. Liu (Eds.), Waste Management
Techniques For Improved Environmental and Public Health: Emerging Research and
Opportunities, IGI Global, USA, 2020, pp. 53–79.
[7] X. Hu, T. Zhang, G. Tian, L. Zhang, B. Bian, Pilot-scale vermicomposting of sewage
sludge mixed with mature vermicompost using earthworm reactor of frame compos-
ite structure, Sci. Total Environ. 767 (2021) 144217.
[8] J. Che, W. Lin, J. Ye, H. Liao, Z. Yu, H. Lin, S. Zhou, Insights into compositional
changes of dissolved organic matter during a full-scale vermicomposting of cow dung
by combined spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques, Bioresour. Technol. 301
(2020) 122757.
[9] S.T. Raza, J. Wu, E.R. Rene, Z. Ali, Z. Chen, Reuse of agricultural wastes, manure, and
biochar as an organic amendment: a review on its implications for vermicomposting
technology, J. Clean. Prod. 360 (2022) 132200.
[10] S.T. Raza, J.L. Tang, Z. Ali, Z. Yao, H. Bah, H. Iqbal, X. Ren, Ammonia Volatilization
and Greenhouse Gases Emissions during Vermicomposting with animal manures and
biochar to enhance sustainability, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18 (2021) 178.
[11] K. Palaniveloo, M.A. Amran, N.A. Norhashim, N. Mohamad-Fauzi, F. Peng-Hui,
L. Hui-Wen, Y. Kai-Lin, L. Jiale, M.G. Chian-Yee, L. Jing-Yi, B. Gunasekaran, S. Ab-
dul Razak, Food waste composting and microbial community structure profiling,
Processes 8 (2020) 723.
[12] A. Gouda, M. Reali, A. Masson, A. Zvezdin, N. Byway, D. Rho, C. Santato, Biodegrad-
ability and compostability aspects of organic electronic materials and devices, Elec-
tron. Waste (2022) 255–297.
[13] Y. Wei, X. Wu, R. Zeng, C. Cai, Z. Guo, Spatial variations of aggregate-associated
humic substance in heavy-textured soils along a climatic gradient, Soil Tillage Res.
197 (2020) 104497.
[14] N. Mehta, K.J. Shah, Y.I. Lin, Y. Sun, S.Y. Pan, Advances in circular bioeconomy
technologies: from agricultural wastewater to value-added resources, Environments
8 (2021) 20.
[15] Isrun, M.B. Cyio, I. Wahyudi, U. Hasanah, H. Mubarak, A decrease in the activity
of Hg2+ to the provision of humic acid and fulvic acid onentisols polluted by heavy
metals of mercury, IOP Conf. Ser. 681 (2021) 012045.
[16] R. Shamsuddin, A. Borhan, W. Lim, Humic acid batteries derived from vermicom-
posts at different C/N ratios, IOP Conf. Ser. 206 (2017) 012067.
[17] S. Li, K. Huang, S. Liu, D. Fang, X. Wu, D. Lu, T. Wu, Effect of organic additives
on positive electrolyte for vanadium redox battery, Electrochim. Acta 56 (2011)
5483–5487.
[18] X. Wu, S. Liu, N. Wang, S. Peng, Z. He, Influence of organic additives on electro-
chemical properties of the positive electrolyte for all-vanadium redox flow battery,
Electrochim. Acta 78 (2012) 475–482.
[19] J. Liu, S. Liu, Z. He, H. Han, Y. Chen, Effects of organic additives with oxygen- and
nitrogen-containing functional groups on the negative electrolyte of vanadium redox
flow battery, Electrochim. Acta 130 (2014) 314–321.
[20] E.M. Melchor-Martínez, R. Macias-Garbett, A. Malacara-Becerra, H.M.N. Iqbal,
J.E. Sosa-Hernández, R. Parra-Saldívar, Environmental impact of emerging contam-
inants from battery waste: a mini review, Case Stud. Chem. Environ. Eng. 3 (2021)
100104.
[21] N.E.H. Chaher, M. Chakchouk, A. Nassour, M. Nelles, M. Hamdi, Potential of
windrow food and green waste composting in Tunisia, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res.
Int. 28 (2021) 46540–46552.
[22] H. Kauser, M. Khwairakpam, Organic waste management by two-stage composting
process to decrease the time required for vermicomposting, Environ. Technol. Innov.
25 (2022) 102193.
M.D. Manogaran, Y.H. Phua, M.R. Shamsuddin et al.
[23] R.K. Niedzialkoski, R. Marostica, F.M. Damaceno, L.A.d.M. Costa, M.S.S.d.M. Costa,
Combination of biological processes for agro-industrial poultry waste management:
effects on vermicomposting and anaerobic digestion, J. Environ. Manag. 297 (2021)
113127.
[24] L.J. Hau, R. Shamsuddin, A.K.A. May, A. Saenong, A.M. Lazim, M. Narasimha,
A. Low, Mixed composting of palm oil Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) and Palm Oil Mill
Effluent (POME) with various organics: an analysis on final macronutrient content
and physical properties, Waste Biomass Valoriz. 11 (2020) 5539–5548.
[25] J.H. Lew, A.K.A. May, M.R. Shamsuddin, Aqsha, A.M. Lazim, M.M. Narasimba, Ver-
micomposting of palm oil Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) based fertilizer with various
organics additives, IOP Conf. Ser. 736 (2020) 052014.
[26] R.T. Lamar, D.C. Olk, L. Mayhew, P.R. Bloom, A new standardized method for quan-
tification of humic and fulvic acids in humic ores and commercial products, J. AOAC
Int. 97 (2014) 721.
[27] A.K.A. May, R. Shamsuddin, L.J. Hau, A. Aqsha, N. Mansor, N.I. Mustapa,
M. Narasimha, Investigation of pesticidal ability of humic acid derived from palm oil
Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) vermicompost, Int. J. Recycl. Org. Waste Agric. 9 (2020)
237–247.
Energy Nexus 8 (2022) 100163
[28] M. Hakimi, R. Shamsuddin, R. Pendyala, A.A. Siyal, H. AlMohamadi, Co-anaero-
bic digestion of chicken manure with the addition of Cymbopogan citratus, Mentha
piperita and Citrus sinensis as fly deterrent agents: biogas production and Kinetic
study, Bioresour. Technol. Rep. 15 (2021) 100748.
[29] O.S. Moghadam, S.A. Ataei, A. Hemati, Determining the best extractant and extrac-
tion conditions for fulvic acid through qualitative and quantitative analysis of ver-
micompost, Azarian J. Agric. 3 (2015) 75–80.
[30] E. Pigares, M. Lakshmi Prabha, Electric Potential from Vermicomposting of Spent
Tea waste by employing Exotic Earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae, Int. J. ChemTech Res.
6 (2014) 1022–1027.
[31] A.P. Khare, H. Bundela, Generation of electricity using vermicompost with different
substrates through single chamber MFC approach, Int. J. Eng. Trends Technol. 4
(2013) 4206–4210.
[32] J. Jjagwe, K. Chelimo, J. Karungi, A.J. Komakech, J. Lederer, Comparative perfor-
mance of organic fertilizers in maize (Zea mays L.) growth, yield, and economic
results, Agronomy 10 (2020) 69.
[33] E.C. Torres, E.V. Sicat, M.M. Cinense, C.G.G. Somera, Development of a compost tea
brewer machine, Int. J. Eng. Trends Technol. 69 (2021) 140–148.