Device for producing metabolites
AssigneeGeneren Labs, Inc.
InventorsMarkos Aurelio Salisbury, Robert Ersek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bioreactor for producing hydrogen gas and metabolites and methods for making and using the same. The bioreactor comprises a main reactor chamber, a semipermeable membrane, a sleeve, microorganism, such as cyanobacteria, for producing hydrogen gas and metabolites, a power supply, a substrate medium, a heating member, a plurality of tubing members, a collection reservoir, a pressure-sealed connecter member, a metabolite purifying filter member, a light source, and an agitator. The bioreactor utilizes light, fermentation, and other metabolic processes for the production of metabolites, derived from various microorganisms contained within the bioreactor through respective metabolic pathways.
Claims20
A bioreactor for producing metabolites, comprising:
- a main reactor chamber being bounded by a main reactor chamber periphery;
- a semipermeable membrane being formed from a semipermeable membrane sheet and disposed within the main reactor chamber periphery and including a membrane periphery for defining an inner lumen, the membrane periphery and the main reactor chamber periphery defining a substrate containment space;
- a metabolite purifying filter member being in communication with the inner lumen defined by said semipermeable membrane;
- and
- a collection reservoir being in communication with said metabolite purifying filter member,
- wherein a substrate medium disposed within the substrate containment space traverses said semipermeable membrane and enters the inner lumen for metabolite production to produce unfiltered metabolites that pass through said metabolite purifying filter member to provide the metabolites for storage in said collection reservoir, and
- wherein unfiltered biproducts produced during the metabolite production from the inner lumen are expelled via an outlet member having an outlet tubing member periphery and being in communication with the substrate containment space, the semipermeable membrane sheet being coiled around the outlet tubing member periphery and enclosing the outlet tubing member in more than one sheet layer of the semipermeable membrane sheet with a space being defined between adjacent sheet layers.
A method for producing metabolites via a hollow semipermeable membrane being formed from a semipermeable membrane sheet and disposed within a main reactor chamber and including a membrane periphery for defining an inner lumen, comprising:
- disposing a substrate medium into a substrate containment space defined between the membrane periphery and a main reactor chamber periphery of the main reactor chamber;
- enabling the substrate medium to permeate the semipermeable membrane and enter the inner lumen;
- producing unfiltered metabolites from the substrate medium within the inner lumen;
- filtering the unfiltered metabolites via a metabolite purifying filter member in communication with the inner lumen to produce the metabolites;
- and
- expelling unfiltered biproducts produced during the metabolite production from the inner lumen via an outlet tubing member having an outlet tubing member periphery and being in communication with the substrate containment space, the semipermeable membrane sheet being coiled around the outlet tubing member periphery and enclosing the outlet tubing member in more than one sheet layer of the semipermeable membrane sheet with a space being defined between adjacent sheet layers,
- wherein the filtered metabolites are stored in a collection reservoir in communication with the metabolite purifying filter member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.