Microbial fuel cell treatment of fuel process wastewater
First Claim
1. A method for cleansing fuel processing effluent containing carbonaceous compounds and inorganic salts, wherein at least a portion of said carbonaceous compounds includes one or more hydrocarbon compounds, the method comprising (i) contacting the fuel processing effluent with an anode of a microbial fuel cell, said anode containing microbes thereon which oxidatively degrade one or more of said carbonaceous compounds while producing electrical energy from said oxidative degradation, and (ii) directing processed effluent from said microbial fuel cell to an electrosorption device while directing said electrical energy to drive said electrosorption device that operates on said processed effluent, to reduce a concentration of one or more inorganic salts in said processed effluent, wherein said anode is in electrical communication with a cathode of the microbial fuel cell.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method for cleansing fuel processing effluent containing carbonaceous compounds and inorganic salts, the method comprising contacting the fuel processing effluent with an anode of a microbial fuel ell, the anode containing microbes thereon which oxidatively degrade one or more of the carbonaceous compounds while producing electrical energy from the oxidative degradation, and directing the produced electrical energy to drive an electrosorption mechanism that operates to reduce the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the fuel processing effluent, wherein the anode is in electrical communication with a cathode of the microbial fuel cell. The invention is also directed to an apparatus for practicing the method.
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Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A method for cleansing fuel processing effluent containing carbonaceous compounds and inorganic salts, wherein at least a portion of said carbonaceous compounds includes one or more hydrocarbon compounds, the method comprising (i) contacting the fuel processing effluent with an anode of a microbial fuel cell, said anode containing microbes thereon which oxidatively degrade one or more of said carbonaceous compounds while producing electrical energy from said oxidative degradation, and (ii) directing processed effluent from said microbial fuel cell to an electrosorption device while directing said electrical energy to drive said electrosorption device that operates on said processed effluent, to reduce a concentration of one or more inorganic salts in said processed effluent, wherein said anode is in electrical communication with a cathode of the microbial fuel cell.
Specification