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US 7,507,554 B2Granted
Process for the production of ethanol from algae
AssigneePropulsion Logic, LLC
InventorsRonnie A. Bush, Kevin M. Hall
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention describes a process for the production of ethanol by harvesting starch-accumulating filament-forming or colony-forming algae to form a biomass, initiating cellular decay of the biomass, fermenting the biomass in the presence of a yeast, and the isolating the ethanol produced. The present invention further relates to processing of the biomass remaining after ethanol production to recovering biodiesel starting materials and/or generation of heat and carbon dioxide via combustion.
Claims22
A process for forming ethanol from algae, comprising:
- (a) growing starch-accumulating, filament-forming or colony-forming algae in an aqua culture environment;
- (b) harvesting the grown algae to form a biomass;
- (c) initiating decay of the biomass;
- (d) contacting the decaying biomass with a yeast capable of fermenting it to form a fermentation solution;
- and,
- (e) separating the resulting ethanol from the fermentation solution.
3 more elements
A process for forming ethanol from algae, comprising:
- (a) harvesting a natural bloom of starch-accumulating, filament-forming or colony-forming algae to form a biomass;
- (b) harvesting the grown algae to form a biomass;
- (c) initiating decay of the biomass;
- (d) contacting the decaying biomass with a yeast capable of fermenting it to form a fermentation solution;
- and, separating the resulting ethanol from the fermentation solution.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.