Abstract: A process for reducing cell death in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms includes the steps of mixing the organisms with water in a first reactor, strobing light onto the mixture of organisms and water for a period of time, passing the strobed mixture into another reactor, and discharging the mixture from the another reactor. The step of strobing light includes strobing light to the mixture of organisms and water at a frequency of between 10 Hz and 40 Hz. The strobing of the light is between twenty flashes per second and eighty flashes per second. The first reactor is a continuously stirred reactor. The another reactor is a plug flow reactor. The organisms are in an algal culture.
Abstract: A process for treating contaminated water has the steps of filtering the contaminated water through a filter so as to produce a filtrate therefrom, introducing nutrients and a biomass into an interior volume of the of a light reactor, passing the filtrate into the light reactor, reacting light with the nutrients and the biomass so as to produce a light-reacted biomass, transferring the light-reacted biomass to a dark reactor, reacting the transferred light-reacted biomass with carbon dioxide in the dark reactor, and filtering the reacted biomass from the dark reactor so as to remove the biomass therefrom. The nutrients in the biomass are continuously stirred within the light reactor in a toroidal circulation pattern.
Abstract: The present invention is a method for fermentation of algae or algaefaction method. The method includes feeding a hydrocarbon composition into a gasifier and pre-heating a biomass stream from a fermentation reactor. The biomass stream includes a liquid portion, a catalyst, and a biomass solids portion ranging between 15-92% by weight of the biomass stream. The biomass solids portion is algae or algal solids. The biomass stream is pre-heated to a temperature range between 200° F. and 500° F. Both the syngas and the pre-heated biomass stream are injected as a mixture into a reactor, where the mixture is separated into a gas component, liquid component, and solids component. The solids component is algal crude, which can be collected for processing as transportation fuels. The gas component is a lower temperature syngas, which can also be collected for processing as electricity or transportation fuels.
Abstract: The present invention is a system for harvesting algae in continuous fermentation. There is a harvester including a main moving belt, a plurality of rollers, and a motor for driving the main motor belt. There is a reactor tank and a vacuum extractor for applying a vacuum over a width of the main moving belt to extract biomass and to dry the main moving belt. The main moving belt has one end in the reactor tanks and another end extended into the vacuum extractor. The algae contained in the reactor tank is collected for further processing, including oil extraction. With algae harvested in the large-scale manner of the present invention, a more efficient oil extraction method can be used because of the concentration, temperature, and pressure can be more easily controlled.
Abstract: The present invention is a system for harvesting algae in continuous fermentation. There is a harvester including a main moving belt, a plurality of rollers, and a motor for driving the main moving belt. There is a reactor tank and a vacuum extractor for applying a vacuum over a width of the main moving belt to extract biomass and to dry the main moving belt. The main moving belt has one end in the reactor tanks and another end extended into the vacuum extractor. The algae contained in the reactor tank is collected for further processing, including oil extraction. With algae harvested in the large-scale manner of the present invention, a more efficient oil extraction method can be used because the concentration, temperature, and pressure can be more easily controlled.