Process to harvest organic materials from trees
OwnerKevin GARDNERinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for harvesting organic material recovers sugars, proteins, aromatics, organic acids and mixtures thereof, from the sapwood of trees or recently pruned sections, e.g. branches. The process involves drilling entry and exit ports to access the sapwood layer and the use of spiles, driven into the ports, to create fluid tight seals for the tubing, which delivers and recovers the solution, which solubilizes the harvested organic material and flows through the sapwood layer. The close proximity of entry and exit ports permits the flow of a pressurized solution. The recovered pumped solution or products therefrom, if desired, can be used in a fermentation medium to prepare products, e.g. alcohol, fatty acids.
Claims22
A process for harvesting organic material including sugars, proteins, aromatics, organic acids and mixtures thereof from a tree or a recently pruned section of a tree therefrom comprising:
- a) creating at least one entry port and at least one exit port in close proximity for flow of solution into and out of the vascular structure present in the sapwood of the tree or section of a tree;
- b) attaching tubing to the entry port and tubing to the exit port;
- c) pumping a solution through the tubing into the entry port, through the vascular structure and out the exit port;
- d) recovering the pumped solution with soluble organic material from the tree through the tubing attached to the exit port;
- and
- e) collecting the recovered solution from the tree or the pruned section of a tree in a vessel, wherein the proximity of the entry and exit port is sufficient to permit a direct fluid flow there between.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.