A readily erectable installation for recycling organic waste into biogas and liquid fertilizer, on an industrial scale, implementing essentially anaerobic digestion processes, is described; the readily erectable installation includes: a cylindrically shaped assemblable enclosure and a pliant collapsible anaerobic digester, suspendable from the enclosure; a compact kit-of-parts for erecting the installation and respective method using the readily erectable installation for recycling organic waste into biogas and liquid fertilizer are described.

A method of treating a heavy metal contaminated soil including contacting the contaminated soil with a bioremediation mixture for a predetermined time such that the contaminated soil is anaerobically digested, wherein the contaminated soil contains one or more heavy metals, and wherein the anaerobically digested soil contains a lesser amount of the one or more heavy metals than the contaminated soil.

The invention includes methods, apparatus, and systems for the conversion of hydrogen together with carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide to methane using a population of microbes and a defined liquid medium. The microbial population maintains the amount of nutrients in the liquid medium within a relative range without requiring replenishment of the nutrients. Methods and apparatus for enriching the microbial population are also described.

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 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.

Disclosed is a method for producing biogas from a waste liquid/residue after diosgenin extraction by aluminum chloride. Specifically, in a fermentation vessel, an anaerobic sludge and a waste residue from diosgenin extraction by aluminum chloride are added at a volatile solids ratio of (1-3):(1-2), or a seeding sludge and a diosgenin waste liquid are added with an organic loading having a VS:COD ratio of (1-2):(1-2); and then the above components are fermented at 35-37° C. for 5-25 d such that biogas is produced. According to the method of the present invention, the maximum cumulative biogas production rates are 255.4 mL/g VS for waste residue and 326.9 mL/g COD for waste liquid, and throughout the fermentation period, ammoniacal nitrogen values are below 1500 mg/L and pH variation is within the normal range, and the COD removal rate for the fermentation broth is 91.11%.

A waste treatment system includes: at least one reformer for hydrolyzing waste; and a microbial reactor for microbially degrading a reformed material containing at least a solid among the waste hydrolyzed in the at least one reformer.

Some embodiments are directed to a process for forming products from animal waste (e.g., poultry litter). The products may include a controlled release fertilizer and renewable natural gas. The process may include providing a feedstock comprising greater than about 80 percent poultry waste and a moisture content of about 25 percent. The feedstock may be diluted to form a slurry having a moisture content of about 90%. The slurry may be mechanically refined to reduce the particle size distribution and the average particle size of the slurry. The slurry may be anaerobically digested to produce biogas and a digestate. The biogas may be converted to renewable natural gas, and the digestate may be converted to a controlled release fertilizer. Additionally, some embodiments are directed to methods of reducing nitrogen emission from soil amendments. Some embodiments are directed to reducing nitrogen emissions sufficient to produce emissions offset credits.

The invention is directed to a culture medium for Haematococcus that contains combustion gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen or sulfur and which fixes the carbon, nitrogen or sulfur in these combustion gases into biomass and to methods providing superior biomass yields using this culture medium to culture select species of Haematococcus such as Haematococcus sp. KAU-01.

Anaerobic digestion is enhanced based on the coupling of electron transfer with microbial electrolytic cell. A traditional anaerobic digestion reactor is used as the main body, a microbial electrolytic cell applied with a micro voltage is constructed, and the electron transfer in the system is optimized by an immobilized conductor material, to establish an efficient electron output-transfer-consumption anaerobic digestion pathway to produce methane.

The invention is directed to a culture medium for Haematococcus that contains combustion gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen or sulfur and which fixes the carbon, nitrogen or sulfur in these combustion gases into biomass and to methods providing superior biomass yields using this culture medium to culture select species of Haematococcus such as Haematococcus sp. KAU-01.