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US 2003/0153071 A1Published application
Bioreactor for the microbial conversion of materials in lump and/or paste form
OwnerJorg Sattler, Dieter Sattlerinventors
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OwnerJorg Sattler, Dieter Sattlerinventors
Estimating the term…
The invention relates to a bioreactor for microbial conversion of substances (2) in lump and/or paste form, comprising a reactor chamber (3) which is heat-insulated in relation to the environment and which comprises at least one reactor tank (4) with an essentially U-shaped cross-section; a segmented worm conveyor (5) located in the or each reactor tank (4), coaxially in relation to said reactor tank, said segmented worm conveyor(s) rotating in the semicircular area of the U-shaped cross section (5); devices (6) for guiding gas and/or liquid and at least one supply and delivery device for each of the substances to be converted. At least a proportion of the devices (6) for guiding gas and/or liquid is located in the U-shaped area of the reactor tank (4) beneath the axle (7) of the segmented worm conveyor (5).
Bioreactor (1) for the microbial conversion of lumpy and/or pasty materials (2), incorporating a reaction chamber (3) thermally insulated from the environment and including at least one reactor tank (4) with an essentially U-shaped cross-sectional profile, a segmented worm-drive conveyor (5) coaxially extending in the longitudinal direction in each reactor tank (4) and rotating in the semicircular part of the U-shaped profile, with gas- and/or fluid-carrying devices (?6), as well as at least each one infeed and discharge device (30, 40) for the materials to be converted, characterized in that at least part of the gas- and/or fluid-carrying devices (?6) are positioned in the semicircular section of the reactor tank (4) underneath the shaft (7) of the segmented worm-drive conveyor (5).
Bioreactor as in one or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas- and/or fluid-carrying devices (?6) located in the semicircular section are provided with an end piece in the form of a perforated plate flush-mounted in the wall of the reactor tank (4).
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two reactor tanks (4) are positioned parallel to each other in a side-by-side configuration.
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the segmented worm-drive conveyor (5) encompasses conveyor segments (11) mounted at an angle around its center axis (12) along a helical line (13) and axially spaced from one another.
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conveyor elements (11) include a shaft section (14) radially extending from the center axis (12) of the segmented worm-drive conveyor (5) as well as a head piece (15) connected to the outer end of and extending in a transverse direction relative to said shaft section (14).
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the segmented worm-drive conveyor(s) (5) is/are driven in programmed fashion.
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the infeed device (30) is positioned at the feed-in front end of the (first) reactor tank (4) and the discharge device is positioned behind the tail end or next to the open transverse side of the (last) reactor tank (4).
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reactor tank(s) (4) or the entire bioreactor (1) can be tilted from its/their primary operational horizontal position in the longitudinal direction by up to 90°.
Bioreactor as in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it includes at least one heat-exchanger and filtering system for extracting heat from, and filtering, the exiting gas and for preheating the newly introduced gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.