The presently disclosed subject matter relates to an industrial system for processing various plant materials to produce marketable materials. Particularly, the system integrates subcritical water extraction technology and includes a pre-processing module and a two-stage extractor (processing module) with constant control of temperature, pressure, and/or residence time. In some embodiments, the final product of the disclosed system can include feedstock constituents for biofuel production (sugars and/or oil), biochar, raw materials for various industries (such as pulp for manufacturing paper or cellulose for use in various industries). The disclosed system can be modular or non-modular, stationary or mobile, and can include prefabricated elements with programmed automatic or manual operation so that it can be easily moved and/or assembled on site.

The invention relates to a method for the simultaneous production of a solid transformation product of the substrate and crude ethanol comprising the following steps: •preparing a substrate from milled or flaked biomass comprising proteinaceous matter which originates from soya bean, rape seed, or mixtures thereof, optionally in further mixture with proteinaceous matter originating from fava beans, peas, sunflower seeds, lupine, cereals, and/or grasses, •mixing said substrate with live yeast in a dry matter ratio of from 1:1 to 10,000:1 and adding water in an amount which provides a ratio of wet bulk density to dry bulk density from 0.60 to 1.45 in the resulting mixture; •incubating said mixture for 1-48 hours at a temperature of about 20-60° C.; and •separating crude ethanol and wet solid transformation product from said mixture; further comprising that the incubation is performed as a continuous plug-flow process in a vertical, non-agitated, closed incubation tank with inlet means for said mixture and additives and outlet means for the solid transformation product and crude ethanol. The invention further relates to the products of this method as well as uses thereof.

Biocatalytic conversion systems and methods of producing and using same that have improved yields are disclosed. The systems and methods involve co-fermentation of sugars and gaseous substrates for alcohol, ketone, and/or organic acid production. The systems and methods may include biocatalytically converting at least one sugar substrate into at least one of alcohol, at least one ketone, and/or at least one organic acid. The systems and methods may further include biocatalytically converting gases that comprise CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to at least one alcohol and/or at least one organic acid, thereby adding extra revenue to biorefineries.

A fermentation unit and a method of carrying out fermentation are described. The fermentation unit can be transported from one facility to another to carry out a fermentation process. The fermentation unit and method allow for the fermentation of a C1-containing substrate from a source at a particular facility to produce products such as alcohols and acids. Examples of the source of the C1-containing substrate include without limitation steel manufacturing processes, coal and biomass gasification processes, coke manufacturing processes, etc. The fermentation unit can be housed within a container having a volume of less than about 6 m.sup.3.

A system is for producing products, advantageously solvents, by fermentation, advantageously multi-stage fermentation. The fermentation is complemented with pervaporation as in situ product recovery technology, combined with a multistage condensation of the permeate. The condensates are separately introduced in the downstream processing of the system to recover the produced products, advantageously solvents. The system for producing products, advantageously solvents, by fermentation is simplified and has an overall improved energy efficiency, compared to systems described in the art.

Systems and methods that include starch derived from grain as a carbon source for propagation of microorganisms.

The present invention relates to the cultivation of microalgae for the production of biofuels. In this scenario, the present invention provides a vertical flow agitation system for microalgae culture tanks comprising: a source of energy generation (1); an energy storage device (2); a control system (3); an electric motor (4); at least one end of travel sensor (5); an agitation plate (6); a torque transmission system (7); and at least two lateral drive elements (8).

A process for fermenting syngas is provided which is effective for decreasing an amount of time needed to inoculate a main reactor. The process includes propagating a culture of acetogenic bacteria to provide an inoculum for a main reactor and fermenting syngas in the main reactor.

A process for production of biofuels from algae can include cultivating an oil-producing algae by promoting sequential photoautotrophic and heterotrophic growth. The method can further include producing oil by heterotrophic growth of algae wherein the heterotrophic algae growth is achieved by introducing a sugar feed to the oil-producing algae. An algal oil can be extracted from the oil-producing algae, and can be converted to form biodiesel.

The invention provides a process for producing a fermentable gas stream from a gas source that contains one or more constituent which may be harmful to the fermentation process. To produce the fermentable gas stream, the gas stream is passed through a specifically ordered series of removal modules. The removal modules remove and/or convert various constituents found in the gas stream which may have harmful effects on downstream removal modules and/or inhibitory effects on downstream gas fermenting microorganisms. At least a portion of the fermentable gas stream is preferably capable of being passed to a bioreactor, which contains gas fermenting microorganisms, without inhibiting the fermentation process.