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, and 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 and volatile gases such as alcohols from a liquid stream using a fixed film bioreactor. The method includes a means of concentrating product gas stripped from a bioreactor.
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Citations
18 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, and 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 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A process for concentrating the chemical constituents of a stripping gas stream, regardless of the source of the stripping gas stream, using a membrane disposed within a plenum, said membrane having an upstream side and an opposite downstream side, said stream including stripping gases, water vapor, and stripped product gas, wherein said stripped product gas includes ammonia and/or volatile biomass fermentation products including butanol and other alcohols, comprising the steps of:
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(a) conveying the stripping gas stream to the upstream side of the membrane, said membrane having a high permeability rate for water and a lower permeability rate for the stripping gas; (b) applying a differential pressure between the upstream side of the membrane and the downstream side of the membrane, whereby water vapor passes through the membrane to the downstream side of the membrane as water vapor permeate, and the gas on the upstream side of the membrane becomes depleted of water vapor as retentate gas; (c) condensing the retentate gas formed in step (b) in a condenser to form condensate product and retentate gas that is deficient in said condensate product; and (d) combining the water vapor permeate formed in step (b) with the retentate gas that is deficient in condensate product to form a combined stripping gas. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification