A process and apparatus for converting sequestered carbon to fuel, such as methane, and/or materials, such as fermentation substrates, biopolymers, bioplastics, oils, pigments, fibers, proteins, vitamins, fertilizers and animal feed. The apparatus comprises a deep well carbon-sequestering bioreactor coaxially located within a deep well anaerobic bioreactor. Carbon is sequestered into a photosynthetic biomass or a heterotrophic biomass, which is subsequently digested by an anaerobic biomass containing methanogenic microbes, whereby methane is a digestion product.

There is provided a biogas flux chamber constructed in one embodiment from a metal can with an open bottom and an epoxy interior coating. The chamber is inserted into the soil to allow influx of soil gases. The lid includes a sampling septum and a vent tube to prevent pressure build-up when the lid is in place which allows for an increase in interior gas concentrations. The rubber sampling septum is installed in a hole in the lid. The vent tube is constructed using flexible copper tubing inserted through the lid and secured using a bulkhead-fitting, and rubber O-ring to seal the insertion hole. The copper tubing is bent to form a double-curved C shape which positions the open ends of the tube above and below the lid surfaces.

Systems and methods provide a self-contained sealed apparatus that captures, filters, compresses and stores methane gas produced by the decomposition of bio-degradable organic materials. The system includes a rotatable and sealable chamber with an intermittent drive unit that mixes moist bio-degradable material during an anaerobic reaction, and captures methane gas generated by anaerobic decomposition. A filter to remove impurities, a low-pressure storage tank, a compressor and a high-pressure storage tank are interconnected and controlled by a system that monitors system parameters, that may include gas flow rate, temperature, and gas volume, and controls system parameters, that may include drive unit activation, generator operation, and compressor operation.

An organic waste treatment apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an acid fermenter 140, a methane fermenter 150, a thickener tank 300, and a separation membrane device 400, and includes: a first circulation line 141 in which a first circulation pump 141a is installed in a linked manner so that a part of organic waste being acid-fermented in the acid fermenter 140 is supplied to the methane fermenter 150; and a second circulation line 151 in which a second circulation pump 151a is installed in a linked manner so that a part of a anaerobic digestive fluid being methane-fermented in the methane fermenter 150 is supplied to the acid fermenter 140, in which the thickener tank 300 is installed between the methane fermenter 150 and the separation membrane device 400, supplied with concentrated circulating water from the separation membrane device 400, and supplies at least a part of the supplied concentrated circulating water to the methane fermenter 150 in an indirect injection manner, such that a means for perfectly removing offensive odor generated during a process of treating the anaerobic digestive fluid is organically coupled, and a high degree treatment process is performed, and as a result, it is possible to perfectly remove offensive odor and to reduce manpower and maintenance costs by automation of the entire facilities.

A sludge digester including a vessel and floating cover. The vessel includes a sidewall and an interior volume configured to receive and contain sludge. According to one embodiment, the cover comprises a frame structure that is constructed and arranged to form a skirt member formed at a periphery of the cover and extending downwardly into the vessel, and a continuous ballast ring attached to a lower portion of the skirt member and configured to form a trough member with an interior surface of the skirt member. The sludge digester may also include a guide system coupled to the sidewall and the skirt member and configured to allow vertical displacement of the cover with change in volume of at least one of a gas and a sludge contained in the vessel beneath the cover.

A feeding and discharging device (1) and a method of feeding and discharging with said feeding and discharging device (1), which hermetically convey the upstream object (3) from the upstream space (6) to the downstream space (7) which is separated from the upstream space (6), a loaded transition space (8) is formed after a sequence of the operations of opening the upstream opening (4), moving the upstream object (3) out of the upstream space (6) through the upstream opening (4), closing the upstream opening (4), an unloaded transition space (9) is formed after a sequence of the operations of opening the downstream opening (4), moving the upstream object (3) into the downstream space (7) through the downstream opening (4), closing the downstream opening (4), the scheme improves the air tightness of the feeding and discharging process, increases the flow of feeding and discharging, prolongs the service life of the device.

The present invention is related to an anaerobic photobioreactor and a method for active biomass cultivation, wastewater treatment, nutrients recovery, energy production and high-value products synthesis. Phototrophic bacteria are cultured in the anaerobic photobioreactor lighted with solar or artificial irradiation where certain light wavelengths are selectively discarded with a light selector installed on the top of the photobioreactor. In this light-based process wastewater treatment and resources recovery, like nutrients and high-value bioproducts (fertilizers, polymers and proteins) present in wastewater are performed simultaneously. Cultured biomass is treated by anaerobic digestion for biofuel production, including optative hydrolytic pre-treatment, and/or valuable bioproducts can be obtained in a downstream process.

Methods and systems for using encapsulated microbubbles to process biological samples are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method for using encapsulated microbubbles to process a biological sample includes creating a mixture comprising encapsulated microbubbles mixed with a biological sample and adding activation energy to the mixture to cause at least some of the microbubbles to oscillate or burst and thereby process the sample, including effecting cell lysis, shearing DNA, and/or performing tissue dispersion.

This disclosure may generally relate to a pressured vessel and, more particularly, to systems and methods for pressurizing a pressured vessel by producing a biogas using a recessed roof system. A pressured vessel may comprise a shell, wherein the shell may comprise a plurality of panels. The pressured vessel may further comprise a recessed roof and a deck. A method of collecting biogas from a pressure vessel may comprise disposing a liquid into the pressure vessel, disposing an anaerobic microorganism into the pressure vessel, adjusting a path of the biogas with a protruding baffle, collecting the biogas with the recessed roof, applying pressure to the outside of the recessed roof with the liquid such that the biogas pressure inside the recessed roof is increased, and removing the biogas from inside the recessed roof through a gas collection system.

Important variables which influence the efficiency of a hydrodynamic separation of dense materials using a hydrocyclone are the dynamic viscosity at the inflow of the hydrocyclone and the number of passes through the hydrocyclone. According to the invention, the method and the device allow a control of the viscosity in the hydrocyclone as well as the number of passes through the hydrocyclone when separating dense materials from a slurry in conjunction with an anaerobic fermentation of the constituents of the slurry which can be fermented. By fermenting the constituents of the slurry which can be fermented, the content of a fermentation reactor has a lower viscosity than the slurry being fed. The viscosity in the inflow of the hydrocyclone is set by means of a controlled return flow from a fermentation reactor, and the number of passes is set by a controlled return flow from the outflow of the hydrocyclone. The slurry is pumped into a return flow from the fermentation reactor. The viscosity in the inflow of the hydrocyclone is controlled by the throughput of the return pump on the basis of the content of solids of the slurry. The number of passes through the hydrocyclone is controlled via the ratio of the feed of the hydrocyclone to the feed of the fermentation reactor from which dense materials are removed. Because the process of diluting the slurry with the content of the fermentation reactor does not have an influence on the hydraulic dwell time in the fermentation reactor, the fermentation reactor can be designed for a smaller accumulation of slurry.