Patents by Inventor Takashi Mimitsuka
Takashi Mimitsuka has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11597694Abstract: Lactic acid is obtained by a method including (A) a step of continuous fermentation wherein a fermentation culture medium of a microorganism having an ability of lactic acid fermentation is filtered through a porous membrane having an average pore size of not less than 0.01 ?m and less than 1 ?m with a transmembrane pressure difference within the range of 0.1 to 20 kPa, and the permeate is collected, while retaining the non-permeated liquid in or returning the non-permeated liquid to the culture, and adding a fermentation feedstock to the culture; (B) a step of filtering the permeate obtained in Step (A) through a nanofiltration membrane; and (C) a step of distilling the permeate obtained in Step (B) under a pressure of not less than 1 Pa and not more than atmospheric pressure, at 25° C. to 200° C. to recover lactic acid.Type: GrantFiled: May 14, 2020Date of Patent: March 7, 2023Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Kenji Sawai, Hideki Sawai, Takashi Mimitsuka, Masateru Ito, Katsushige Yamada, Kenji Kawamura, Shin-ichi Minegishi, Izumi Nakagawa, Tatsuya Nagano
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Publication number: 20210301243Abstract: A method of producing a volatile chemical substance uses a culture apparatus including: a culture tank configured to culture a microorganism having an ability to produce a volatile chemical substance; a delivery line configured to deliver a culture liquid obtained by culture in the culture tank to the storage tank; and a storage tank configured to store a solution containing the chemical substance obtained by culturing the microorganism, the method including culturing the microorganism in the culture tank while retaining the solution in the storage tank, wherein a gas phase portion in the storage tank and a gas phase portion in the culture tank are connected to each other through a gas connection pipe.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 30, 2019Publication date: September 30, 2021Inventors: Hiroyuki MIZUNO, Takashi MIMITSUKA, Kazumi SUDA, Masashi HIGASA
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Publication number: 20200325097Abstract: Lactic acid is obtained by a method including (A) a step of continuous fermentation wherein a fermentation culture medium of a microorganism having an ability of lactic acid fermentation is filtered through a porous membrane having an average pore size of not less than 0.01 ?m and less than 1 ?m with a transmembrane pressure difference within the range of 0.1 to 20 kPa, and the permeate is collected, while retaining the non-permeated liquid in or returning the non-permeated liquid to the culture, and adding a fermentation feedstock to the culture; (B) a step of filtering the permeate obtained in Step (A) through a nanofiltration membrane; and (C) a step of distilling the permeate obtained in Step (B) under a pressure of not less than 1 Pa and not more than atmospheric pressure, at 25° C. to 200° C. to recover lactic acid.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 14, 2020Publication date: October 15, 2020Inventors: Kenji Sawai, Hideki Sawai, Takashi Mimitsuka, Masateru Ito, Katsushige Yamada, Kenji Kawamura, Shin-ichi Minegishi, Izumi Na kagawa, Tatsuya Nagano
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Publication number: 20200263208Abstract: A method of producing ethanol includes: a continuous ethanol fermentation step including culturing a microorganism with a fermentation feedstock containing cane molasses as a main component, filtering the resulting culture liquid through a separation membrane to recover a filtrate containing the ethanol and from which the microorganism has been removed; retaining or returning an unfiltered liquid containing the microorganism, in or to the culture liquid; and adding an additional fermentation feedstock to the culture liquid, and an ethanol concentration and purification step including distilling the filtrate collected in the continuous ethanol fermentation step and contains the ethanol, wherein the microorganism causes a centrifugal supernatant of the culture liquid to contain particles having an average particle diameter of 100 nm or more, and particles formed by the microorganism culture and contained in the filtrate containing ethanol have an average particle diameter of 40 to 80 nm.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 14, 2018Publication date: August 20, 2020Inventors: Hiroyuki MIZUNO, Takashi MIMITSUKA, Masashi HIGASA, Shinjiro SAWADA
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Patent number: 10683254Abstract: Lactic acid is obtained by a method including (A) a step of continuous fermentation wherein a fermentation culture medium of a microorganism having an ability of lactic acid fermentation is filtered through a porous membrane having an average pore size of not less than 0.01 ?m and less than 1 ?m with a transmembrane pressure difference within the range of 0.1 to 20 kPa, and the permeate is collected, while retaining the non-permeated liquid in or returning the non-permeated liquid to the culture, and adding a fermentation feedstock to the culture; (B) a step of filtering the permeate obtained in Step (A) through a nanofiltration membrane; and (C) a step of distilling the permeate obtained in Step (B) under a pressure of not less than 1 Pa and not more than atmospheric pressure, at 25° C. to 200° C. to recover lactic acid.Type: GrantFiled: December 25, 2009Date of Patent: June 16, 2020Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Kenji Sawai, Hideki Sawai, Takashi Mimitsuka, Ito Masateru, Katsushige Yamada, Kenji Kawamura, Shin-ichi Minegishi, Izumi Nakagawa, Tatsuya Nagano
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Publication number: 20200017886Abstract: A method produces an alcohol by continuous fermentation using a fermentation raw material, the method including: culturing a microorganism to obtain a fermented liquid, while supplying the fermentation raw material into a fermenter using a plurality of fermentation raw material supply systems; filtering the obtained fermented liquid through a separation membrane to obtain an alcohol-containing filtered liquid and an unfiltered liquid; and retaining or refluxing the obtained unfiltered liquid in the fermenter, in which the plurality of fermentation raw material supply systems each include a fermentation raw material tank for storing the fermentation raw material the same as each other, and a supply line connecting the fermentation raw material tank and the fermenter; and selecting a fermentation raw material supply system to be allowed to stop supplying the fermentation raw material in rotation from the plurality of fermentation raw material supply systems during the supply of the fermentation raw material.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2018Publication date: January 16, 2020Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Kazumi Suda, Masashi Higasa
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Patent number: 10428358Abstract: A method of producing a chemical product includes cultivating microorganisms or culture cells in a fermentation tank; transferring a culture liquid from the fermentation tank to a membrane separation tank to filter the culture liquid through a separation membrane; and collecting a fermentation product from a filtration liquid as the chemical product while refluxing an unfiltered culture liquid that has not been filtered to be joined to the culture liquid on an upstream side of the membrane separation tank, wherein one portion of the culture liquid to be transferred from the fermentation tank is allowed to bypass the membrane separation tank depending on a pressure at a culture liquid flow-in side of the membrane separation tank.Type: GrantFiled: February 24, 2016Date of Patent: October 1, 2019Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Kentaro Ishii, Ken Morita, Masashi Higasa, Kenji Sawai, Hideki Sawai, Katsushige Yamada, Shinichi Minegishi
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Patent number: 10370633Abstract: A continuous sterilizing apparatus circulates, through members constituting a flow channel, a sterilizing medium that sterilizes the members to sterilize the members, circulates a sterilizing liquid subjected to sterilization treatment through pipes, performs a series of pieces of treatment including heating treatment, holding treatment, and cooling treatment on the sterilizing liquid, controls a flow rate, a temperature, and a pressure to be preset conditions, and switches a liquid to be circulated through the flow channel from the sterilizing liquid to a liquid to be sterilized.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 2014Date of Patent: August 6, 2019Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Ken Morita, Yuki Yamamoto, Kenichi Otsuka
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Publication number: 20190093132Abstract: A method of producing a chemical product includes culturing a microorganism with a fermentation feedstock containing cane molasses as a main component; filtering the resulting culture liquid through a separation membrane to recover a filtrate which contains the chemical product and from which the microorganism has been separated; retaining or returning an unfiltered liquid containing the microorganism, in or to the culture liquid; and adding an additional fermentation feedstock to the culture liquid to carry out continuous fermentation; in which the microorganism cultured causes a centrifugal supernatant of the culture liquid to contain particles having an average particle diameter of 100 nm or more.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 16, 2017Publication date: March 28, 2019Inventors: Kenji Sawai, Takashi Mimitsuka, Kaoru Amagai, Shota Sekiguchi, Katsushige Yamada
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Patent number: 10093948Abstract: A method of producing alcohol from cellulose-containing biomass includes steps (1) to (8): step (1): pretreating a cellulose-containing biomass; step (2): saccharifying the pretreated cellulose-containing biomass obtained in step (1) with a saccharification enzyme; step (3): removing a saccharification residual solid from a saccharification treated product obtained in step (2); step (4): culturing an alcohol fermentation microorganism with an aqueous sugar solution obtained in step (3) as a fermentation raw material; step (5): removing the alcohol fermentation microorganism from a culture liquid containing the alcohol fermentation microorganism obtained in step (4); step (6): distilling the alcohol fermentation liquid obtained in step (5) to recover alcohol; step (7): passing and filtering a distillation residual liquid obtained in step (6) through a reverse osmosis membrane; and step (8): performing treatment of discharging a retentate obtained in step (7).Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2014Date of Patent: October 9, 2018Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Katsushige Yamada, Kenji Sawai, Koji Kobayashi
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Patent number: 9795923Abstract: A cartridge type hollow fiber membrane module includes: a cartridge type hollow fiber membrane element including a hollow fiber membrane bundle, a distribution cylinder, and an adhesive resin portion; a module case including a module case main body portion which has at least one port corresponding to a supply outlet of filtrate or an undiluted solution on a side surface, and a header which has a port corresponding to a supply outlet of filtrate or an undiluted solution, and accommodating the cartridge type hollow fiber membrane element; a first sealing member disposed to come into contact with the distribution cylinder and the header on an external side of a boundary surface between the supporting portion and the adhesive resin portion; and a second sealing member disposed to come into contact with an outer circumference portion of the distribution cylinder and the module case main body portion.Type: GrantFiled: February 14, 2013Date of Patent: October 24, 2017Assignee: TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC.Inventors: Hayato Inuzuka, Kohei Fujii, Norihiro Takeuchi, Atsushi Kobayashi, Takashi Mimitsuka
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Patent number: 9587253Abstract: The invention provides a method of producing a chemical product through continuous fermentation which includes filtering a culture of a microorganism or cultured cells with a separation membrane to recover a product from a filtrate and simultaneously retaining a nonfiltered fluid in, or refluxing it to, the culture, and adding fermentation materials to the culture, wherein a porous membrane having an average pore size of 0.01 ?m or more to less than 1 ?m is used as the separation membrane and the filtration is conducted with a transmembrane pressure difference in the range of 0.1 to 20 kPa. According to this method, the fermentation productivity of the chemical product can be largely elevated at high stability and a low cost.Type: GrantFiled: February 16, 2007Date of Patent: March 7, 2017Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Hideki Sawai, Katsushige Yamada, Takashi Mimitsuka, Kenji Sawai, Tetsu Yonehara, Yohito Ito, Masahiro Henmi
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Publication number: 20160168601Abstract: A method of producing a chemical product includes cultivating microorganisms or culture cells in a fermentation tank; transferring a culture liquid from the fermentation tank to a membrane separation tank to filter the culture liquid through a separation membrane; and collecting a fermentation product from a filtration liquid as the chemical product while refluxing an unfiltered culture liquid that has not been filtered to be joined to the culture liquid on an upstream side of the membrane separation tank, wherein one portion of the culture liquid to be transferred from the fermentation tank is allowed to bypass the membrane separation tank depending on a pressure at a culture liquid flow-in side of the membrane separation tank.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2016Publication date: June 16, 2016Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Kentaro Ishii, Ken Morita, Masashi Higasa, Kenji Sawai, Hideki Sawai, Katsushige Yamada, Shinichi Minegishi
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Patent number: 9365876Abstract: A method produces a chemical through continuous fermentation including: (a) culturing a cell in a culture medium in a fermentor to ferment a feedstock to produce a chemical; (b) conducting filtration of the culture medium with a separation membrane module; (c) separating a permeate containing the chemical from the culture medium while retaining a non-permeated liquid in the fermentor, and (d) supplying a gas from at least one of a lower portion of the separation membrane module and a pipe communicating between the fermentor and the separation membrane module to adjust a gas linear velocity in the separation membrane module to 0.15 cm/s to 70 cm/s while supplying the separation membrane module with a liquid.Type: GrantFiled: December 8, 2011Date of Patent: June 14, 2016Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Satoko Kanamori, Jihoon Cheon, Takashi Mimitsuka, Norihiro Takeuchi, Makoto Nishida, Yuji Tanaka
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Publication number: 20160160242Abstract: A method of producing alcohol from cellulose-containing biomass includes steps (1) to (8): step (1): pretreating a cellulose-containing biomass; step (2): saccharifying the pretreated cellulose-containing biomass obtained in step (1) with a saccharification enzyme; step (3): removing a saccharification residual solid from a saccharification treated product obtained in step (2); step (4): culturing an alcohol fermentation microorganism with an aqueous sugar solution obtained in step (3) as a fermentation raw material; step (5): removing the alcohol fermentation microorganism from a culture liquid containing the alcohol fermentation microorganism obtained in step (4); step (6): distilling the alcohol fermentation liquid obtained in step (5) to recover alcohol; step (7): passing and filtering a distillation residual liquid obtained in step (6) through a reverse osmosis membrane; and step (8): performing treatment of discharging a retentate obtained in step (7).Type: ApplicationFiled: July 10, 2014Publication date: June 9, 2016Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Katsushige Yamada, Kenji Sawai, Koji Kobayashi
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Publication number: 20160145559Abstract: A continuous sterilizing apparatus circulates, through members constituting a flow channel, a sterilizing medium that sterilizes the members to sterilize the members, circulates a sterilizing liquid subjected to sterilization treatment through pipes, performs a series of pieces of treatment including heating treatment, holding treatment, and cooling treatment on the sterilizing liquid, controls a flow rate, a temperature, and a pressure to be preset conditions, and switches a liquid to be circulated through the flow channel from the sterilizing liquid to a liquid to be sterilized.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 23, 2014Publication date: May 26, 2016Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Ken Morita, Yuki Yamamoto, Kenichi Otsuka
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Patent number: 9080190Abstract: A method produces cadaverine more efficiently and at a higher yield than production methods by the conventional fermentation methods. The method includes culturing coryneform bacterium/bacteria having an ability to produce cadaverine and having a resistance to 2,2?-thiobis(ethylamine). Preferably, the coryneform bacterium/bacteria has/have lysine decarboxylase activity and, preferably, the coryneform bacterium/bacteria has/have homoserine auxotrophy and/or a resistance to S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine.Type: GrantFiled: December 8, 2011Date of Patent: July 14, 2015Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Nanami Sasaki, Takashi Mimitsuka, Hideki Sawai, Kenji Sawai
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Patent number: 8999681Abstract: A method of producing cadaverine is more efficient and at a higher yield than production methods by the conventional fermentation methods. The method includes culturing coryneform bacterium/bacteria having a resistance to a pH of 5.5 or less. Preferably, the coryneform bacterium/bacteria has/have lysine decarboxylase activity and, preferably, the coryneform bacterium/bacteria has/have homoserine auxotrophy and/or a resistance to S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine.Type: GrantFiled: December 8, 2011Date of Patent: April 7, 2015Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Nanami Sasaki, Takashi Mimitsuka, Hideki Sawai, Kenji Sawai
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Patent number: 8871477Abstract: By a method for producing cadaverine by culturing a microorganism that extracellularly secretes lysine decarboxylase, by-production of lysine is suppressed, the yield of cadaverine relative to glucose consumption is improved compared to conventional production methods, and further, the load on the purification step in purification of cadaverine as a raw material for polyamide can be reduced.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2011Date of Patent: October 28, 2014Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.Inventors: Takashi Mimitsuka, Kazumi Suda, Hideki Sawai
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Patent number: 8669093Abstract: A method for producing D-lactic acid in high yield, and to provide a method for producing D-lactic acid with high selectivity, in which optical purity is high and a by-product organic acid is small. In one aspect, a microorganism, wherein activity of pyruvate formate-lyase (pfl) is inactivated or decreased, and further activity of Escherichia coli-derived NADH-dependent D-lactate dehydrogenase (ldhA) is enhanced, is cultured to efficiently produce D-lactic acid. With regard to a method for enhancing ldhA activity, by linking, on a genome, a gene encoding ldhA with a promoter of a gene which controls expression of a protein involved in a glycolytic pathway, a nucleic acid biosynthesis pathway or an amino acid biosynthesis pathway, suitable results are obtained compared to the method for enhancing expression of the gene using an expression vector.Type: GrantFiled: September 17, 2004Date of Patent: March 11, 2014Assignee: Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.Inventors: Mitsufumi Wade, Toshihiro Oikawa, Daisuke Mochizuki, Junko Tokuda, Miyuki Kawashima, Tadashi Araki, Reiko Abe, Hitoki Miyake, Hitoshi Takahashi, Hideki Sawai, Takashi Mimitsuka, Takashi Morishige, Yosuke Higashi