Patent ID: 11888200
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  C  Y | IPC C  H

Claim 0:
1. A plant-sediment microbial fuel cell system comprising:
a single chamber reactor having:
a bottom surface and one or more walls defining a cavity,
a bottom opening near a bottom end of the reactor, and
a top opening near a top end of the reactor;

a wastewater inlet tube connected to the bottom opening and configured to supply the single chamber reactor with wastewater to be treated;
a treated water outlet tube connected to the top opening and configured to emit treated water;
a first layer of gravel disposed on the bottom surface of the single chamber reactor;
a first layer of sediment disposed on top of the first layer of gravel and containing microorganisms for treating the wastewater;
a first layer of granular activated carbon or granular activated carbon with graphene oxide or sand with graphene oxide disposed on top of the first layer of sediment for enhancing electron transfer, current generation rate, and wastewater treatment;
one or more anodes located on top of the first layer of granular activated carbon or granular activated carbon with graphene oxide or sand with graphene oxide;
a second layer of gravel disposed on top of the one or more anodes;
a second layer of sediment disposed on top of the second layer of gravel and containing microorganisms for treating the wastewater;
a second layer of granular activated carbon or granular activated carbon with graphene oxide or sand with graphene oxide disposed on top of the second layer of sediment for enhancing electron transfer, current generation rate, and wastewater treatment;
one or more cathodes located on top of the second layer of granular activated carbon or granular activated carbon with graphene oxide or sand with graphene oxide, the one or more anodes and the one or more cathodes configured to generate electrical voltage; and
a battery connected to the one or more anodes and the one or more cathodes and configured to store the electrical voltage generated by the one or more anodes and the one or more cathodes.