Applications of the rotating photobioreactor
First Claim
1. A process for recovering volatile and non-volatile products from a substrate-laden influent stream using microorganisms growing in a rotating bioreactor contactor, said bioreactor including a vessel, a shaft mounted for rotation within said vessel about a shaft axis, a plurality of axially spaced-apart, growth plates attached to the shaft, each of the plates having surfaces to which a fixed film of the microorganisms are attached, means for rotating the shaft and plates about the axis, comprising the simultaneous steps of:
- (a) operating the rotating bioreactor as an aerobic, facultative or anaerobic reactor;
(b) feeding the influent stream past the growth plates such that the growth plates are partially submerged within the stream, whereby, as they grow, the microorganisms convert the substrate to volatile products and accumulate biomass; and
(c) passing a stripping gas past the growth plates to harvest the volatile products as stripped gas.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method to recover and harvest nutrients from a liquid stream by incorporating them into microorganisms grown in a rotating photobioreactor. The method further includes optionally integrating the rotating photobioreactor with a composting or biogenic drying process.
7 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A process for recovering volatile and non-volatile products from a substrate-laden influent stream using microorganisms growing in a rotating bioreactor contactor, said bioreactor including a vessel, a shaft mounted for rotation within said vessel about a shaft axis, a plurality of axially spaced-apart, growth plates attached to the shaft, each of the plates having surfaces to which a fixed film of the microorganisms are attached, means for rotating the shaft and plates about the axis, comprising the simultaneous steps of:
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(a) operating the rotating bioreactor as an aerobic, facultative or anaerobic reactor; (b) feeding the influent stream past the growth plates such that the growth plates are partially submerged within the stream, whereby, as they grow, the microorganisms convert the substrate to volatile products and accumulate biomass; and (c) passing a stripping gas past the growth plates to harvest the volatile products as stripped gas. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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2. A process for removing and harvesting nutrients from a nutrient-laden, liquid influent stream using autotrophic or phototrophic microorganisms growing in a rotating photobioreactor, said bioreactor including a vessel, a shaft mounted for rotation within said vessel about a shaft axis, a plurality of axially spaced-apart, growth plates attached to the shaft, each of the plates having surfaces to which a fixed film of the microorganisms is attached, means for rotating the shaft and plates about the axis, illumination means for shining light upon the microorganisms, and means for harvesting the microorganisms from the growth plates, comprising the simultaneous steps of:
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(a) shining light upon the microorganisms with the illumination means; (b) feeding the carbon source into the vessel; and (c) feeding the influent stream past the growth plates such that the growth plates are partially submerged within the stream, whereby, as they grow, the microorganisms remove nutrients from the influent stream, capture the nutrients in biomass, emit oxygen gas, and convert the influent stream to a nutrient-deficient effluent stream; and
further comprising(d) using the harvesting means to remove a portion of the microorganisms from the surfaces of the growth plates. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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43. A process for concentrating the chemical constituents of a stripping gas stream, however said stripping gas stream may have been produced, comprising the steps of:
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(a) conveying the stripped gas to an upstream side of a membrane disposed within a plenum, said membrane having a high permeability rate for water and a lower permeability rate for the stripping gas, and said stripping gas stream comprising stripping gas, water vapor, and ammonia gas; (b) applying a differential pressure between the upstream side of the membrane and an opposite downstream side of the membrane, whereby water vapor passes through the membrane to the downstream side of the membrane as water vapor permeate within plenum gas, and the gas on the upstream side of the membrane becomes depleted of water vapor as plenum retentate gas; and (c) combining the plenum gas formed in step (b) with the retentate gas that is deficient in condensate product to form a combined stripping gas. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification