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US 11,884,904 B2Granted
Gas fermentation using multiple-pass trickle bed reactors
AssigneeICM, Inc.
InventorsAlbert Bennett, Jonathan N. Orr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The subject matter of this application is using novel biological reactors for the fermentation of gases into liquid products. More specifically, the subject matter relates to the use of a Multiple-Pass Trickle Bed Reactor (MP-TBR) for the anaerobic or aerobic and biological fermentation of gases generated from industrial processes and/or from the gasification of biomass and other organic carbon sources. The products may include, but are not limited to, ethanol and other valuable chemicals.
Claims16
A device used to carry out biological fermentation processes in a production facility comprising:
- a multiple-pass trickle bed reactor for production of alcohols, acids and/or metabolic by-products, based on the biological fermentation of gases generated by industrial processes or the gasification of organic materials, the multiple-pass trickle bed reactor comprising multiple vessels with at least one vessel having at least one section, and further wherein the sections of the reactor include a first section and a second section separated by a liquid-gas barrier and wherein the sections are arranged sequentially,
- a liquid recirculation circuit that removes liquid fermentation broth from a bottom of the reactor and supplies the fermentation broth to a top of the reactor to be flowed back through the reactor, and
- a first gas recirculation circuit that recirculates gases within the first section and a second gas recirculation circuit that recirculates gases within the second section, wherein the first gas recirculation circuit and the second gas recirculation circuit each provides gas recirculation flow rates that range from 2× to 10× a volumetric flow of gases supplied to the reactor.
A method comprising:
- providing a single or multiple-stage process for production of alcohols, acids and/or other potentially valuable metabolic by-products, from biological fermentation of gases generated by industrial processes and/or gasification of organic materials by using a multiple-pass trickle reactor comprising an organism, the multiple-pass trickle bed reactor comprising multiple vessels with at least one vessel having at least one section, and further wherein the sections of the reactor include a first section and a second section separated by a liquid-gas barrier and wherein the sections are arranged sequentially, the reactor including the organism,
- removing liquid fermentation broth from a bottom of the reactor and supplying the fermentation broth to a top of the reactor using a liquid recirculation circuit, and
- recirculating gases within the first section using a first gas recirculation circuit and recirculating gases within the second section using a second gas recirculation circuit, wherein the first gas recirculation circuit and the second gas recirculation circuit each provides gas recirculation flow rates that range from 2× to 10× a volumetric flow of gases supplied to the reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.