GENERATION OF MATERIALS WITH ENHANCED HYDROGEN CONTENT FROM ANAEROBIC MICROBIAL CONSORTIA
A microbial consortia for biogenically increasing the hydrogen content of a carbonaceous source material, where the consortia includes a first microbial consortium to metabolize the carbonaceous source material into one or more first intermediate hydrocarbons, a second microbial consortium, which includes one or more species of Pseudomonas microorganisms, to convert the first intermediate hydrocarbons into one or more second intermediate hydrocarbons and oxidized carbon. and a third microbial consortium to convert the second intermediate hydrocarbons into one or more smaller hydrocarbons and water, where the smaller hydrocarbons have a greater mol. % hydrogen than the carbonaceous source material.
1 .- 26 . (canceled)
27 . A method of increasing biogenic production of fuel gas from carbonaceous materials in geologic formations, the method comprising the steps of:
isolating an anaerobic microbial consortium from the geologic formation;
identifying one or more species of Pseudomonas in the anaerobic consortium;
culturing the anaerobic microbial consortium; and
introducing the anaerobic microbial consortium back into the geologic formation.
28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the carbonaceous materials comprise coal, oil, keogen, peat, lignite, oil shale, tar sands, bitumen, or tar.
29 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising the step of changing an environmental conditions in the formation to enhance the growth rate of the Pseudomonas in the geological formation.
30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein the environmental characteristic is selected from the group consisting of temperature, pH, oxidation potential (Eh), microorganism nutrient concentrations, salinity, metal ion concentration, or dissolved organic carbon.
31 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the species of Pseudomonas microorganism comprises Pseudomonas stutzeri.
32 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the anaerobic consortium further comprises organisms selected from the group consisting of Bacillus, Geobacillus, Clostridia, Thermotoga, Gelria, Moorella , and Methanobacter.
33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the organism is a species of Thermotoga and is selected from the group consisting of Thermotoga hypogea, Thermotoga lettingae, Thermotoga subterranean, Thermotoga elfii, Thermotoga maritima, Thermotoga neapolitana, Thermotoga thermarum , and Thermotoga petrophila.
34 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the organism is a species of Methanobacter and is selected from the group consisting of Methanobacter thermoautotorophicus , and Methanobacter wolfei.
35 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the anaerobic microbial consortium is introduced into a second geologic formation.
36 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the fuel gas is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen or methane.
37 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the fuel gas is hydrogen and methane.
38 . A method of increasing biogenic production of fuel gas from carbonaceous materials in geologic formations, the method comprising the steps of:
isolating an anaerobic microbial consortium from a first geologic formation;
identifying one or more species of Pseudomonas in the anaerobic consortium;
culturing the anaerobic microbial consortium; and
introducing the anaerobic microbial consortium into a second geologic formation.