US 6,299,774 B1 · Anaerobic digester system

Abstract

A process to recover energy, reduce pollution potential, and add value to organic waste such as animal manure is described. The process involves the anaerobic digestion of feedstocks, such as animal manure, at low to high temperatures in batch, semi-continuous or continuous reactors. The process makes use of existing handling and storage equipment at the farm and requires minimal supervision and skill by the operator. The system is not affected by high concentrations of volatile acids and ammonia or nitrogen. The productivity of the anaerobic digester system, in terms of methane a gas production and quality, is exceptionally high. The anaerobic digester requires only a singe reaction vessel. Consequently, the process is low cost and does not interfere with regular farm operations.

Claims31

Dependent claims

An anaerobic digester system for converting cellulose-containing feedstock into useful materials, wherein the system comprises:

a feedstock slurry feeder;
a plurality of conduits connecting various components of the system;
a single pressurizable anaerobic digester comprising agitation means, one or more feed ports, one or more discharge ports, and a reaction vessel for holding a reaction solution comprising an anaerobic microbe which converts an aqueous slurry of cellulose-containing feedstock into at least one useful gas and an enriched effluent;
a pressurizer;
and
one or more gas processors directly or indirectly connected to the anaerobic digester;
wherein the headspace of the anaerobic digester is pressurized to at least about 10 psi to form the enriched effluent and the at least one useful gas during anaerobic digestion of the cellulose-containing feedstock.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Anaerobic digester system

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Anaerobic digester system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims31