REMOVAL OF NITROGEN FROM A CHLOROPHYLL OR PHEOPHYTIN CONTAINING BIOMASS
The present disclosure relates to refining a product from a biomass containing chlorophyll and/or pheophytins. In particular, a method of refining a product (such as a biofuel) from a photosynthetic organism is disclosed. The photosynthetic organism can be a naturally occurring organism or a genetically modified or altered organism. The method of refining comprises removing nitrogen to obtain the desired product. In some aspects, nitrogen is removed from a chlorophyll and/or pheophytin containing product by enzymatic degradation of chlorophyll and/or pheophytins and subsequent removal of the nitrogen
1 - 227 . (canceled)
228 . A method for producing a nitrogen-depleted product from an non-vascular photosynthetic organism comprising obtaining a biomass composition from the non-vascular photosynthetic organism, wherein the biomass composition comprises one or more chlorophylls and/or one or more pheophytins and an oil; degrading at least a subset of the chlorophyll or pheophytin in the biomass composition by heating the biomass to 60° C. to 250° C. in the presence of a base and one or more solvents; removing a cleaved portion of the degraded chlorophyll or pheophytin by removing the one or more solvents, wherein the cleaved portion comprises nitrogen; and refining the biomass composition to produce a nitrogen-depleted product.
229 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the biomass is heated to 80° C. to 200° C.
230 . The method of claim 229 , wherein the biomass is heated to 120° C.
231 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the solvent is at least one of water, acetone, glycerol, alcohol, hexane, heptane, methylpentane, toluene and methylisobutylketone.
232 . The method of claim 231 , wherein the alcohol is at least one of methanol, propanol, ethanol and isopropanol.
233 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the solvent is an oil immiscible solvent.
234 . The method of claim 233 , wherein the solvent is water.
235 . The method of claim 228 wherein the base is bleach, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonia, sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, or a solid base catalyst
236 . The method of claim 235 , wherein the sold base catalyst is calcium methoxide, calcium oxide, potassium hydroxide/aluminum oxide, or magnesium oxide.
237 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the degrading occurs at a pH between 6.5 and 12.
238 . The method of claim 237 , wherein the pH is 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10, 10.5 or 11.5
239 . The method of claim 238 , wherein the pH is 10.
240 . The method of claim 228 , wherein said method does not involve addition of an adsorbent material.
241 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the non-vascular photosynthetic organism is a eukaryote.
242 . The method of claim 241 , wherein the eukaryote is an alga.
243 . The method of claim 242 , wherein the alga is a green alga.
244 . The method of claim 243 , wherein the green alga is a Chlorophycean.
245 . The method of claim 244 , wherein the green the Chlorophycean is a Chlamydomonas, Scenedesmus, Chlorella or Nannochloropsis.
246 . The method of claim 228 , wherein the non-vascular photosynthetic organism is a prokaryote.
247 . The method of claim 246 , wherein the prokaryote is a cyanobacterium.