Potential of Seawater as a Source of Electrical Energy based on Electrochemical - Voltaic Cells

The seawater has 3.5% amount of salinity; thus, it can be categorized as electrolyte. It indicates that seawater can be used as an alternative source of electrical energy using electrochemical-voltaic cells through an oxidation-reduction process. This study aims to determine the generation capacity and electrical power generated by the prototype of the Volta cell type electrochemical power generation system. This research was conducted experimentally by using seawater as an electrolyte solution and varying the number of electrodes, consisting of 5, 10, 15, and 20 cells. The voltage and electric current data was retrieved and recorded using the national instrument LabVIEW. The results showed that the average power generated would increase 7 times with the addition of the number of electrode cells and for the generation capacity would increase 2 times. The use of bicarbonate to prevent corrosion of the copper cathode will reduce the electric current and consequently reduce the performance of the voltaic cell.