US 5,078,882 AGranted

Bioconversion reactor and system

AssigneeBion Technologies, Inc.

InventorJere Northrop

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Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus and process useful for the biological transformation of waste materials into ecologically desirable materials. A meta system reactor is disclosed comprising three primary zones which are cyclically and dynamically connected by a circulating fluid. In the process of the invention, each of a bioreactor zone, solids ecoreactor zone and georeactor zone further comprise secondary subsystems and are cyclically connected by a series of recycle flows and organism movements to bioconvert the contained materials. The converted materials produced can be desirable and ecologically beneficial end products comprising gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor; a biologically active and highly beneficial humus material; and clean water which may be passed through a final wetlands polishing and biomonitoring system before discharge into a natural receiving water.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A process for the bioconversion of non-desirable materials comprising introducing a non-desirable material into at least one primary zone of a reactor comprising a bioreactor primary zone containing at least one microbial environment and having a microbial biomass, a solids ecoreactor primary zone containing a wetlands environment containing living organisms comprising microorganisms, animals and plants, adequate to capture solids from the bioreactor primary zone, a georeactor primary zone comprising a porus mixture of inert material with a complex flora and fauna of living organisms, all of said primary zones being cyclically and dynamically interconnected to each other by a communicating circulating fluid;

identifying at least one bioconverting subsystem, formed within a subzone of a primary zone to which the non-desirable material has been introduced, that actively bioconverts at least a portion of said non-desirable material;
cyclically transporting at least a portion of said identified bioconverting subsystem, by an aqueous stream to a further primary zone of the reactor;
collecting biologically produced solids from at least one bioconverting subsystem in a solids ecoreactor primary zone;
recovering at least a portion of said biologically produced solids as a beneficial humus material;
and, recovering water from the solids ecoreactor primary zone of the reactor.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.