A method for contamination control when growing yeasts is provided. Bacterial contamination is controlled by using urea as the primary nitrogen source while simultaneously limiting the amount of nickel available to contaminating bacteria. Bacteria require nickel as a cofactor for urease enzymes in order to use urea for growth while yeasts do not require nickel as a cofactor for any enzymes. Nickel is limited by using titanium in plate heat exchangers instead of stainless steel. Ethyl carbamate is limited by using a carbon/nitrogen ratio that consumes all urea during fermentation and by separating co-products after fermentation and before distillation. Yeast recycling is performed by using either single-step or two-step centrifugation, without acid washing. This method enables yeast recycling with sugarcane ethanol and sugar beet ethanol production. This method also enables yeast recycling with corn ethanol and grain ethanol production with coproduct recovery after fermentation and before distillation.

A system for converting a biomass into a biofuel including a biomass processing station arranged to receive the biomass from a biomass harvester, output the biomass to a hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) converter, and receive a processed biomass from the HTL converter. The system includes a conduit arranged to transport the biomass from the biomass processing station to the HTL converter and transport the processed biomass from the HTL converter to the biomass processing station. The HTL converter includes a heat exchanger arranged to transfer thermal energy from a geothermal heat source to the biomass to convert the biomass into the processed biomass. The system also includes a controller arranged to monitor conditions of the biomass at locations along the conduit and adjust operations of components along the conduit to, thereby, adjust the conditions of the biomass at one or more locations along the conduit.

A method for contamination control when growing yeasts is provided. Bacterial contamination is controlled by using urea as the primary nitrogen source while simultaneously limiting the amount of nickel available to contaminating bacteria. Bacteria require nickel as a cofactor for urease enzymes in order to use urea for growth while yeasts do not require nickel as a cofactor for any enzymes. Nickel is limited by using metals in heat exchangers that do not leach nickel. Ethyl carbamate is limited by using a carbon/nitrogen ratio that consumes all urea during fermentation. After fermentation completes, yeast is recycled using centrifugation, enabling use of high concentrations of yeast to reduce fermentation time from 48 hours to 12 hours and to eliminate bacterial contamination from growth on free amino nitrogen.

Disclosed herein are systems and devices for wound therapy and related methods of use. The systems and devices for wound therapy and related methods of use disclosed herein may comprise one or more cartridges for preparation of a regenerative epidermal suspension. One or more cartridges for preparation of a regenerative epidermal suspension may comprise a cover with a raised processing opening, a cup that can be received within the raised processing opening and has a screen, and a well plate that is positioned under the cover, has a well, and rotates relative to the cover such that the well aligns with the raised processing opening. One or more cartridges for preparation of a regenerative epidermal suspension comprises a cover with an opening that can receive a tissue sample.

Provided is a reaction apparatus for comprehensively measuring biodegradability of a material, comprising a device frame, an electrical control cabinet and a reaction chamber monomer. The upper side of the reaction chamber monomer is a reaction chamber body, and the lower part is a material receiving trolley. The top of the reaction chamber body is sealed by a chamber cover. A side wall is pasted with an electric heating plate and a thermal insulation cotton. A stirring paddle is arranged inside. An air inlet and an air outlet are respectively provided on a front and a rear wall. A discharging mechanism is located below. The electrical control cabinet separately controls the reaction conditions of each reaction chamber monomer. The present invention further relates to a use method thereof, which can realize the biodegradability evaluation in such three aspects as material degradation rate, disintegration rate and ecological non-toxicity test.

The present invention relates to the field of degradation with hyperthermophilic organisms, and in particular to the use of hyperthermophilic degradation to produce heat and energy rich components including hydrogen and ethanol from a biomass. In some embodiments, a biomass is fermented in the presence of hyperthermophilic organisms to produce heat. The heat is used to heat a liquid which is used directly in a heat pump or radiant heat or to produce electricity or drive a steam turbine. In some embodiments, acetate is utilized as a substrate to produce energy by methanogenesis.

Systems and methods for producing ammonium nitrate are disclosed herein. Exemplary systems can comprise a bioreactor positioned to receive a feed including ammonia. The bioreactor can hold a liquid solution including (i) an ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and (ii) a nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The AOB can facilitate oxidation of the ammonia to produce a nitrite at a nitritation rate and the NOB can facilitate oxidation of the nitrite at a nitratation rate. Thus, the bioreactor can produce a mixed liquor comprising a nitrate biologically. The system can further comprise a filter positioned to receive the mixed liquor and produce a permeate and a sludge. A sensor can measure the concentration of the liquid solution of the bioreactor, and a controller coupled to the sensor can regulate the mass flow of nitrogen and/or phosphorus of the bioreactor feed based on the measured concentration of the liquid solution.

A plant, in particular a methanol plant, is provided, said plant comprising: a first biomass feed, a biomass digester, arranged to receive the first biomass feed and convert it to a biogas stream, a reformer section arranged to receive at least a portion of the biogas stream from the biomass digester and provide a first synthesis gas stream, a synthesis section, arranged to receive a synthesis gas stream from the reformer section and provide a raw product stream; and a first hydrocarbon-containing off-gas stream, and a distillation section arranged to receive at least a portion of the raw product stream and provide at least an upgraded product stream and a second hydrocarbon-containing off-gas stream. At least a portion of said first and/or at least a portion of said second off-gas stream is arranged to be recycled as additional feed to the biomass digester. A process using said plant is also described.

A method of artificial-intelligence-based robotic pipetting for spermatozoa preparation includes positioning a vessel containing a semen sample within a staging mechanism. The method includes using a robotic pipettor to make at least two droplets within a dish on the staging mechanism. The method includes using the robotic pipettor to connect the at least two droplets with a medium channel according to a programmable design commanded by an artificial intelligence/machine learning system (AI/ML system). The method includes using the robotic pipettor to deposit a quantity of sperm from the semen sample into one of the droplets. The method includes using the AI/ML system to optically scan the quantity of sperm to produce first and second image objects using an imaging system that includes a microscopy system, a camera system, and a lighting system. Creation of the image objects is separated by a specified time duration.

One or more methods for automated preparation of a regenerative epidermal suspension comprises a processor receiving an initiation signal that indicates that a cartridge that has a cover, a cup containing a tissue sample, and a well plate situated beneath the cover that has a first well containing an enzyme solution and a second well containing a buffer solution, has been placed on a sensor, executing a sequence that actuates a tissue disaggregator against the tissue sample in the cup positioned in the first well, raises the cup to an upper position, rotates the well plate to position the second well beneath the cup, lowers the cup to a position within the second well, and actuates the tissue disaggregator against the tissue sample in the second well.