Patents by Inventor Seth M. Foulkes

Seth M. Foulkes 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: 8114663
    Abstract: A waste management and resource recovery system that uses the different waste streams from typical waste sources as fuel or feedstock for its subsystems that, in turn, produce fuel, feedstock or energy for other subsystems such that all the different waste streams are effectively managed. The subsystems include a gas burner for solid and fuel wastes that supplies heat to a hydrothermal processor for saccharification of paper and cardboard. The resulting saccharification broth, along with kitchen wastes and blackwater, are supplied to a bioreactor using dark fermentation to produce hydrogen and volatile fatty acids. The hydrogen and volatile fatty acids are supplied to hydrogen and microbial fuel cells to produce electrical energy for operating the system and potable water. A steam accumulator is added to provide sufficient temperatures and pressures to reach the necessary thermodynamic states for the saccharification process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventors: Michael V. Henley, Lixiong Li, Theodore V. Marolla, William Wallace, Seth M. Foulkes