Abstract: A process is described for the separation of hydrocarbon residues from oil and tar sands by microbiological activity. Hydrocarbon residues are released from the sands by contacting with a suspension of oxidase-synthesizing, hydrocarbon-metabolizing microorganisms.

Abstract: A method is described for converting substantially untreated organic sludge into useful substances. The sludge may include primary sludge, a mixture of primary and secondary sludges from municipal wastewater treatment facilities, slurries of agricultural manure, and other organic wastes. The sludge is mechanically comminuted to reduce the size of organic solids, the sludge is then further mechanically disintegrated and thereafter it is subjected to enzyme hydrolysis to produce a biologically stable colloidal slurry with improved biochemical potential reactivity. Typically, the hydrolysis step is followed by a further cell/particle disintegration step and a secondary hydrolysis step. If necessary, heavy metals are removed from the suspension in a chelating step which are recovered as a recyclable concentrate. The suspension can be used as a liquid fertilizer or it can be dewatered. If used as a liquid fertilizer the suspension can be inoculated with microalgae to enrich the fertilizer with nitrogen.

Abstract: A method is described for converting treated sludge into an improved concentrated organic feedstock. The method includes conditioning of sludge with hydrolytic enzymes, the mechanical disintegration of tissue and cell components, the removal of heavy metals, autolysis and dewatering to produce an organic fertilizer or feedstock. Product stabilization for long-term storage is achieved by acidification or addition of granular sorbents. Agricultural fertilizers are produced from input raw material such as sludge from municipal waste-water treatment facilities or sludge from biological processing of other organic wastes. Animal feed protein concentrates are produced from cultured cellular biomass sludge inputs. The separated heavy metals fraction may be refined to recover individual minerals. Energy usually expended for disposal of sludge as wastes may be applied to recycling such sludge into useful products of this invention.

Abstract: An auxiliary process and method for use in wastewater treatment plants, modifying conventional primary and secondary treatment, to condition the effluent for use as agricultural irrigation water containing liquified fertilizer and soil amendment materials. Primary sludge and skimmed materials are comminuted and added to the volume of organic materials available for secondary treatment. A bacterial inoculum is added to accelerate the microbial reduction of biodegradable materials into a biomass of cells. The separated predominantly cellular secondary sludge is processed to rupture the cellular structure thus releasing the protoplasm to colloidal suspension. Combined with the mainflow of secondary clarified effluent, the resultant micro-particulate effluent is thereby conditioned for effective chelation treatment to remove heavy metal ions and for effective disinfection with reduced requirements for toxic reactants.

Abstract: A five-step manufacturing method using broad spectrum hydrolytic enzymes to decompose the volatile fraction of organic waste materials into lower molecular weight, intermediate substrate nutrients to be consumed in turn by selected microorganisms to produce a cellular biomass of microbial cells subsequently harvested for use as a bio-protein feed supplement for farm and domestic animals. A wide range of agricultural, industrial and organic waste materials may be used as the input raw material resource for biochemical processing to bio-protein feed. Applied to the use of cattle manure slurry as raw materials, the biolytic decomposition step employs hydrolyzing enzymes to dismutate volatile organic insoluble high molecular weight proteins, starches, fats, and partially hydrolyzed cellulose compounds into soluble, low molecular weight nutrient intermediates in solution, from which the relatively stable cellulose-lignin solid by-product fraction is separated and dewatered.