Process for the treatment of methane emissions
AssigneeNewlight Technologies, LLC
InventorsMarkus Donald Herrema, Kenton Kimmel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates generally to a system and method for the treatment of gaseous emissions comprising methane, and in one specific embodiment, to a system and method for the treatment of emissions through the use of methanotrophic microorganisms. Certain embodiments of the invention are particularly advantageous because they reduce environmentally-destructive methane emissions and produce harvestable end-products.
Claims13
A method of producing a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and a methane monooxygenase (MMO) in a culture of methanotrophic microorganisms in the presence of non-methane organic compounds, the method comprising:
- a) providing a gaseous emission, wherein said gaseous emission comprises methane and one or more non-methane organic compounds;
- b) providing a microorganism culture medium, wherein said culture medium comprises copper, one or more of nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus, oxygen, carbon, potassium, and/or iron, and a culture of methanotrophic microorganisms that can metabolize said methane and said one or more non-methane organic compounds;
- c) exposing said gaseous emission to said culture;
- d) adjusting the concentration of copper in said culture medium to a concentration sufficient to effect production of particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) or soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) by said culture of methanotrophic microorganisms;
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- e) depleting said culture medium of nitrogen, wherein said depletion causes said culture of methanotrophic microorganisms within said culture medium to generate said polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).
A system for producing a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and a methane monooxygenase (MMO) in a culture of methanotrophic microorganisms in the presence of non-methane organic compounds, comprising:
- a) a source of gaseous emissions, wherein said gaseous emissions comprise methane, and at least one non-methane organic compound that influences the metabolism of methanotrophic microorganisms;
- b) a culture of methanotrophic microorganisms, wherein said microorganisms are capable of metabolizing said methane and said non-methane organic compound;
- c) a culture medium, comprising copper and one or more of nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus, oxygen, carbon, potassium, and/or iron;
- d) a bioreactor that encloses or contains said gaseous emissions and said culture medium;
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- e) a conveyer that conveys said gaseous emissions into said bioreactor, wherein the concentration of copper in said culture medium is adjusted to a concentration sufficient to effect production of particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) or soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) by said methanotrophic microorganisms, and wherein the nitrogen in said culture medium is depleted, and wherein said depletion causes said culture of methanotrophic microorganisms to use a portion of said methane in the presence of said non-methane organic compounds to generate a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.