Leading the Third Wave in Biotech
The anaerobic digestor can be used to convert nutrients in an organic waste
stream into biogas, which is a combination of methane, carbon dioxide and other
trace gasses. The organic waste streams can include carbohydrates, proteins, lipids,
and other organic compounds that include some chemical waste. The biogas can then be
scrubbed and burned to generate electricity on site, or compressed and fed into a
compressed natural gas pipeline. If the biogas is burned on site, a portion of waste
heat recovered as steam and used in the process to maintain digestor temperature.
Digestor microbiology is like global politics. There is a consortium of microbes, each with conflicting nutrient and environmental needs. These conflicting needs have led to the development of many different digestor types, such as:
The next generation of digestor technology is focused on fine tuning the digestors. The digestor systems are designed and operated like biopharmaceutical process, using advanced monitoring and controls to influence the complex metabolic reactions inside microbial cells by controlling the environment outside of the cells.
The design starts with mass, energy and component balances and the known metabolic pathways for given microbes and substrates. Process monitoring data is used to infer the metabolism of the microbes, and multivariate statistical process control techniques are employed to guide the process along the desired metabolic pathways and at the same time avoid feedback inhibition and intoxication.
We keep the microbes fat, dumb and happy.
Answers to some common questions about our unique biogas process.
This is an overview description of the biogas process.