Patents by Inventor Allan Haiming Gao

Allan Haiming Gao 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).

  • Patent number: 11091415
    Abstract: The disclosure is directed to a method for recovering products from a fermentation broth. The disclosure relates to the use of extractive distillation and/or dehydration to recover products which have close boiling points, such as ethanol and isopropanol, from a fermentation broth. In an embodiment, the recovery of product is completed in a manner that minimizes stress on the microbial biomass, such that it remains viable, at least in part, and may be recycled and reused in the fermentation process, which may result in increased efficiency in the fermentation process. The extractive distillation vessel and/or dehydration reactor may be used downstream of a distillation vessel. To minimize stress on the microbial biomass the distillation vessel may be under vacuum. The extractive distillation vessel may be used alongside a separation vessel such that the separation vessel is capable of recycling extractive distillation agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: LanzaTech, Inc.
    Inventors: Allan Haiming Gao, Robert John Conrado, Derek Wayne Griffin, Peng Tian
  • Publication number: 20210024961
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to the combination of a primary fermentation that converts gas to acetate with a secondary fermentation that converts acetate to a target product. Preferably, the gas contains carbon dioxide, such that the disclosure enables the fixation of carbon dioxide into useful products. The fermentations may be any combination of aerobic and anaerobic, batch and continuous. The fermenting microorganisms may typically be bacterial or fungal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Publication date: January 28, 2021
    Inventors: Sean Dennis Simpson, Allan Haiming Gao, Robert John Conrado, James Daniel Winkler, Alexander Paul Mueller, Steven Brown, Loan Phuong Tran, Michael Koepke, Christophe Daniel Mihalcea
  • Publication number: 20210008486
    Abstract: The invention provides for the optimal utilization of gas by a fermentation process, whereby the various components within the gas stream are separated to increase the efficiency of the microorganisms. The invention is capable of tailoring the composition of the gas being used by the fermentation process so as to enhance the production of various products. The invention is capable of applying such controlled separation and utilization of gas to produce different products in two parallel fermentation processes. The invention is also capable of applying such controlled separation and utilization of gas to produce one product in a first fermentation process, which may be converted to a different product in a second fermentation process. The invention is additionally capable of mitigating culture inhibition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2020
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Inventors: Allan Haiming Gao, Robert John Conrado, Sebastian Michal Bernasek, Michael Anthony Schultz
  • Publication number: 20200255362
    Abstract: The disclosure is directed to a method for recovering products from a fermentation broth. The disclosure relates to the use of extractive distillation and/or dehydration to recover products which have close boiling points, such as ethanol and isopropanol, from a fermentation broth. In an embodiment, the recovery of product is completed in a manner that minimizes stress on the microbial biomass, such that it remains viable, at least in part, and may be recycled and reused in the fermentation process, which may result in increased efficiency in the fermentation process. The extractive distillation vessel and/or dehydration reactor may be used downstream of a distillation vessel. To minimize stress on the microbial biomass the distillation vessel may be under vacuum. The extractive distillation vessel may be used alongside a separation vessel such that the separation vessel is capable of recycling extractive distillation agent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Publication date: August 13, 2020
    Inventors: Allan Haiming Gao, Robert John Conrado, Derek Wayne Griffin, Peng Tian
  • Publication number: 20200188809
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for recovering at least one product from a fermentation broth. The invention relates to the use of a vacuum distillation vessel to recover products, such as ethanol, from a fermentation broth, where the fermentation broth comprises viable microbial biomass, and where the recovery of the product is completed in such a manner to ensure the viability of the microbial biomass. The invention provides for product recovery at an effective rate so as to prevent the accumulation of product in the fermentation broth. To ensure the viability of the microbial biomass, the invention is designed to reduce the amount of stress on the microbial biomass. By ensuring the viability of the microbial biomass, the microbial biomass may be recycled and reused in the fermentation process, which may result in an increased efficiency of the fermentation process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2020
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Paul Alvin Sechrist, Nicholas Bourdakos, Robert John Conrado, Allan Haiming Gao, Jason Carl Bromley, Christophe Daniel Mihalcea, Michael Emerson Martin, Ignasi Palou-Rivera, Joseph Henry Tizard
  • Publication number: 20200156973
    Abstract: The invention provides for the integration of a gas fermentation process with a gasification process whereby effluent downstream from the gas fermentation process is recycled to the gasification process. The invention is capable of recycling one or more effluents including biogas generated from a wastewater treatment process, tail-gas generated from the fermentation process, unused syngas generated by the gasification process, microbial biomass generated from the fermentation process, microbial biomass generated from a wastewater treatment process, crude ethanol from the product recovery process, fusel oil from the product recovery process, microbial biomass depleted water, wastewater generated from the fermentation process, and clarified water from a wastewater treatment process to a gasification process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Publication date: May 21, 2020
    Inventors: Robert John Conrado, Allan Haiming Gao