Abstract: Photobioreactors according to embodiments of the present invention deliver nutrient gas intermittently to the photobioreactor media. In some embodiments, one or more gases are delivered according to a duty cycle or timing pattern. According to some embodiments, algae is grown in a photobioreactor using intermittent introduction of carbon dioxide. In other embodiments, carbon dioxide is supplied to algae grown in a photobioreactor in whole or in part from a head space above the media of the photobioreactor.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 18, 2010
Date of Patent:
September 27, 2016
Assignees:
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, SOLIX ALGREDIENTS, INC.
Inventors:
Guy Robert Babbitt, Michael Ryan Buehner, David Jacob Rausen, Richard Charles Schoonover, Christopher Wayne Turner, Kristina Weyer-Geigel, Bryan Dennis Willson, Peter Michael Young, David Eli Sherman, Jason Charles Quinn
Abstract: A top reference photobioreactor system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible floating photobioreactor having a buoyancy tube filled with a gas that is less dense, and a ballast tube filled with a substance, such as saltwater, that is more dense, than the liquid in which the photobioreactor floats. A top reference photobioreactor method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes controlling a depth of the top reference photobioreactor by controlling a volume and/or density of ballast in the ballast tube and/or by controlling a volume and/or density of gas in the buoyancy tube.
Type:
Application
Filed:
August 27, 2015
Publication date:
December 24, 2015
Applicants:
Solix Algredients, Inc., Colorado State University Research Foundation
Inventors:
Christopher Wayne Turner, Bryan Rhea McCarty, Peter Allen Letvin, Bryan Dennis Willson, Daniel Robert Herboldsheimer
Abstract: A top reference photobioreactor system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible floating photobioreactor having a buoyancy tube filled with a gas that is less dense, and a ballast tube filled with a substance, such as saltwater, that is more dense, than the liquid in which the photobioreactor floats. A top reference photobioreactor method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes controlling a depth of the top reference photobioreactor by controlling a volume and/or density of ballast in the ballast tube and/or by controlling a volume and/or density of gas in the buoyancy tube.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 11, 2011
Date of Patent:
September 29, 2015
Assignees:
SOLIX ALGREDIENTS, INC., COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Inventors:
Christopher Wayne Turner, Bryan Rhea McCarty, Peter Allen Letvin, Bryan Dennis Willson, Daniel Robert Herboldsheimer