A mobile emissions control system is provided for diesel engines operated on ocean-going ships at-berth. The emissions control system comprises two essential elements: an emissions capturing system and an emissions control system. The emissions control system may be mounted on a towable chassis or mounted on a barge, allowing it to be placed alongside ocean-going ships at-berth. The emission capturing system captures exhaust from a ship's diesel engine and conducts it into the emissions control system, which cleans the exhaust and then passes clean air into the atmosphere through an exhaust outlet.

The invention described herein presents compositions and methods for a multistep biological and chemical process for the capture and conversion of carbon dioxide and/or other forms of inorganic carbon into organic chemicals including biofuels or other useful industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical, or biomass products. One or more process steps utilizes chemoautotrophic microorganisms to fix inorganic carbon into organic compounds through chemosynthesis. An additional feature described are process steps whereby electron donors used for the chemosynthetic fixation of carbon are generated by chemical or electrochemical means, or are produced from inorganic or waste sources. An additional feature described are process steps for the recovery of useful chemicals produced by the carbon dioxide capture and conversion process, both from chemosynthetic reaction steps, as well as from non-biological reaction steps.

A bioenergy management system and method for generating and supplying on-demand auxiliary electrical power is disclosed. The system/method includes a biogas generation unit (BGU) that produces biogas from dairy farm manure and stores the biogas in a biogas storage unit (BSU). An stored energy electric generation unit (SEGU) converts the stored biogas to electricity. A biogas control unit (BCU) measures the quality and quantity of biogas stored in the BSU and calculates available electric power (AEP) from this information. Depending on auxiliary electrical power requirements, a utility control unit (UCU) initiates an on-demand request for electric power (REP) to the BCU using a producer communication device (PCD)/utility communication device (UCD) data link. The BCU processes the REP from the UCU and negotiates electrical power (NEP) quantity. The BCU may electrically connect the SEGU to an electric transmission grid (ETG) to allow instantaneous/scheduled NEP delivery to the ETG.

The present invention provides a system for processing VOC passing through a pipe structure. The pipe structure includes one or more stackable sections for heating decomposition of VOC molecules in the exhaust that passes through the sections and a self-powered cap assembly coupled to the outlet end of the pipe structure. The cap assembly includes a wind turbine mechanically coupled to a generator that supplies electricity to an electronic assembly and to the electrothermal converter in each of the heat decomposition sections. The heat decomposition section includes a paraboloidal heating dish which is coaxially fixed in a cylindric structure with its opening end facing the cap assembly. The electrothermal converter is placed in the focus of the paraboloidal dish. The exhaust gas that passes through the heating decomposition section rotates the turbine that further drives the generator through a shaft. The electricity from the generator activates the electrothermal converter that converts electrical energy into heat energy. The paraboloidal dish reflects the heat from the converter forward into the internal space of cylindric structure. The VOC molecules are decomposed under the high temperature within the cylinder. The system also includes an electronic detecting device and a wireless interface that transmits the VOC data collected by the detecting device to a computer.

Compositions and methods for a hybrid biological and chemical process that captures and converts carbon dioxide and/or other forms of inorganic carbon and/or CI carbon sources including but not limited to carbon monoxide, methane, methanol, formate, or formic acid, and/or mixtures containing CI chemicals including but not limited to various syngas compositions, into organic chemicals including biofuels or other valuable biomass, chemical, industrial, or pharmaceutical products are provided. The present invention, in certain embodiments, fixes inorganic carbon or CI carbon sources into longer carbon chain organic chemicals by utilizing microorganisms capable of performing the oxyhydrogen reaction and the autotrophic fixation of CO.sub.2 in one or more steps of the process.

System (100) and method for processing biomass. The system comprises a combined heat and power plant (102), an interface (114) for feeding biogas to a traffic fuel production unit, interfaces (114) to a district heating system (106a) and an electrical grid (106b), and a hydrolysis device (108), a digestion device (110), a dryer (116) and a heat recovery unit (112), which are operatively coupled for transferring heat, intermediate products and final products of the process, wherein raw biomass is received into the hydrolysis device (108), biomass processed by the hydrolysis device (108) is fed to the digestion device (110), biogas obtained in the digestion device (110) is fed to the traffic fuel production unit (104), heat is recovered from the hydrolysis device (108), biomass processed by the digestion device (110) is dried by the heat recovered from the hydrolysis device (108), heat is recovered from the dryer (116), heat recovered from the dryer (116) is fed to the hydrolysis device (108) to be used in pre-heating of the received raw biomass, heat recovered from the dryer (116) is fed to the district heating (106a), and production of electricity is fueled by the dried biomass from the dryer (116).

A method of using electricity to produce methane includes maintaining a culture comprising living methanogenic microorganisms at a temperature above 50 C. in a reactor having a first chamber and a second chamber separated by a proton permeable barrier, the first chamber comprising a passage between an inlet and an outlet containing at least a porous electrically conductive cathode, the culture, and water, and the second chamber comprising at least an anode. The method also includes coupling electricity to the anode and the cathode, supplying carbon dioxide to the culture in the first chamber, and collecting methane from the culture at the outlet of the first chamber.

The invention described herein presents compositions and methods for a multistep biological and chemical process for the capture and conversion of carbon dioxide and/or other forms of inorganic carbon into organic chemicals including biofuels or other useful industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical, or biomass products. One or more process steps utilizes chemoautotrophic microorganisms to fix inorganic carbon into organic compounds through chemosynthesis. An additional feature described are process steps whereby electron donors used for the chemosynthetic fixation of carbon are generated by chemical or electrochemical means, or are produced from inorganic or waste sources. An additional feature described are process steps for the recovery of useful chemicals produced by the carbon dioxide capture and conversion process, both from chemosynthetic reaction steps, as well as from non-biological reaction steps.

A mobile emissions control system is provided for diesel engines operated on ocean-going ships at-berth. The emissions control system comprises two essential elements: an emissions capturing system and an emissions control system. The emissions control system may be mounted on a towable chassis or mounted on a barge, allowing it to be placed alongside ocean-going ships at-berth. The emission capturing system captures exhaust from a ship's diesel engine and conducts it into the emissions control system, which cleans the exhaust and then passes clean air into the atmosphere through an exhaust outlet.

The technology described herein is directed to systems and methods for producing a bioproduct from microorganisms such as bacteria. The system can comprise a growth phase and a production phase, that can occur in the same or different bioreactor chambers; the growth phase can use using gas fermentation or mixotrophic fermentation, and the production phase can use gas fermentation, mixotrophic fermentation, or organic carbon fermentation. In one example, the system can comprise at least one primary reactor chamber using gas fermentation or mixotrophic fermentation and at least one secondary reactor chamber using gas fermentation, mixotrophic fermentation, or organic carbon fermentation. Such systems can use bacteria that are capable of both autotrophy and heterotrophy and capable of switching between autotrophy and heterotrophy.