Integrated power plant, sewage treatment, and aquatic biomass fuel production system
First Claim
1. A method for growing biomass while simultaneously reducing the quantity of nitrates and carbon dioxide that would otherwise be available for discharge into the environment, comprising:
- a) delivering wastewater containing elevated levels of nitrates, from a sewage treatment facility to an entry location of a biomass growth unit;
b) delivering carbon dioxide derived from exhaust gas of a power generation plant to said biomass growth unit;
c) providing a feed stock of biomass to the wastewater at the entry location of said biomass growth unit;
d) in the wastewater delivered to the biomass growth unit, photosynthetically growing a biomass from said nitrates and said carbon dioxide as said delivered nitrates and carbon dioxide are consumed and thereby converted into other compounds; and
e) harvesting the grown biomass.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Two waste products, nitrate-rich sewage wastewater and power plant CO2 emissions, are combined and converted into a renewable, biomass energy source, which supplies the fuel to the power plant. The power plant, wastewater treatment facility, and biomass growth unit are preferably located on one site and arranged for convenient transfer of the CO2 and wastewater to the biomass growth unit; harvesting, processing and return of biomass from the growth unit as fuel to the power plant; and discharge of the de-nitrated wastewater into the same body of water used as the heat sink by the power plant, e.g., a lake, river, or sound. The present invention thus provides an integrated approach to minimization of CO2 emissions and nitrate discharge while achieving improved efficiency in the generation and harvesting of the biomass.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for growing biomass while simultaneously reducing the quantity of nitrates and carbon dioxide that would otherwise be available for discharge into the environment, comprising:
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a) delivering wastewater containing elevated levels of nitrates, from a sewage treatment facility to an entry location of a biomass growth unit; b) delivering carbon dioxide derived from exhaust gas of a power generation plant to said biomass growth unit; c) providing a feed stock of biomass to the wastewater at the entry location of said biomass growth unit; d) in the wastewater delivered to the biomass growth unit, photosynthetically growing a biomass from said nitrates and said carbon dioxide as said delivered nitrates and carbon dioxide are consumed and thereby converted into other compounds; and e) harvesting the grown biomass. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for growing biomass while simultaneously reducing the quantity of nitrates and carbon dioxide that would otherwise be available for discharge into the environment, comprising:
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a sewage treatment facility that generates wastewater containing elevated levels of nitrates; a biomass growth unit exposed to sunlight and having an infeed end and a discharge end; a wastewater delivery path from the sewage treatment facility to the biomass growth unit; a power generating plant having a fuel combustion unit that emits an exhaust containing carbon dioxide gas; a gas delivery path from the power generating plant to the biomass growth unit, whereby carbon dioxide from the exhaust gas is introduced into the wastewater in the biomass growth unit; a source of feed stock of said biomass; a feedstock delivery path into the wastewater at the infeed end of the biomass growth unit; and a biomass harvester at the discharge end of the biomass growth unit. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification