A California algae biofuel company today announced it has been awarded a “Notice of Allowance” (a written notification allowing registration) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a patent application for its Suction Dredge System and Method.
Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation is hoping to solve the most important issue related to big-scale algae biofuel production, that is, feedstock recovery in a safe, economical and environmentally-friendly way. It says its dredge system can recover algae in massive volumes in a continuous fashion without the need for human swimmers to handle or clear the dredge. The patented dredge head has an automatic obstacle-clearing feature. When an obstacle blocks the intake, it is automatically and immediately cleared by the dredge head itself, and then immediately the dredge head goes back to dredging again. That means there is no need to shut down and clear the dredge head. The process is nonstop.
“We have solved the issue of feedstock recovery by developing a dredge system that can recover the algae in massive volumes. The cost savings are from the lower labor headcount and continuous dredging of higher volumes of algae than were previously possible before our invention. The increased safety for operating personnel who can now stay completely onboard is also a consideration,” says CEO Peter Schuh.
In order to cover other aspects of algae oil production, Circle has filed two separate utility patent applications at the USPTO: one for a cheap and fast removal of the algae oil in as fast a speed as the algae is recovered from the water environment and another which recovers biodiesel, ethanol and methane gas from the algae feedstock in a single, portable and scalable production facility. Besides the biofuels, drinking water is recovered as a co-product of the ethanol recovery.
“Our system can operate anywhere. It makes its own fuel to run its own equipment and it makes the drinking water for the needs of the operating and maintenance personnel at the production site. It is truly a revolution in biofuel production,” said Schuh.
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