Granted Patent B2

US 12,655,049 · App. 18/324,328 · Granted Jun 16, 2026

Inventors: Chul Park (Amherst, MA); Joseph G. Gikonyo (Belchertown, MA); Ahmed S. Abouhend (Amherst, MA)

Assignee: University of Massachusetts

C02F3/322C02F3/1284C02F2003/001C02F2203/004C02F2305/06

Abstract

Claims (38)

1 . A method comprising the steps of:

flowing a mixture comprising a water-based reaction medium and at least one microalgae into a reaction vessel at a continuous or substantially continuous flow rate, wherein the water-based reaction medium comprises a nutrient material that is consumable by a live microalgae, by a live bacterium, or by a live protozoa present in the water-based reaction medium;

incubating the mixture in the reaction vessel, wherein the incubating comprises agitating the mixture under specified agitation conditions while exposing the mixture to at least intermittent illumination with a specified luminous flux during periods of illumination such that the microalgae forms a supporting matrix that incorporates the live microalgae, the live bacterium, or the live protozoa into a biologically-active bioaggregate granule, wherein the incubating produces an incubation mixture comprising a plurality of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules, wherein the incubating of the mixture does not include artificial aeration of the mixture; and

selecting out a first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules from the incubation mixture that are smaller than a first specified size or below a first specified weight and removing the first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules in an effluent stream or selecting out a second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules from the incubation mixture that are larger than a second specified size that is larger than the first specified size or over a second specified weight that is larger than the first specified weight and removing the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules in the effluent stream.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising settling the effluent stream comprising the first specified portion and/or the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules for a specified settling time.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting out of the first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules or the selecting out of the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules is performed by hydraulic selective pressure.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting out of the first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules or the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules is performed by a photogranule selection pressure selector.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the specified luminous flux is defined as a photosynthetic photon flux density onto the mixture in the reaction vessel from about 30 μmol m −2 s −1 to about 1200 μmol m −2 s −1 .

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the intermittent illumination comprises sunlight, further comprising modulating the sunlight so that a photosynthetic photon flux density onto the mixture in the reaction vessel is 1200 μmol m −2 s −1 or less and to reduce ultraviolet light from the sunlight that is incident onto the mixture.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding at least one of: carbon dioxide, oxygen, air, and iron (Fe) to the mixture.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising recycling biomass back to the reaction vessel in a recycle line and adding at least one of carbon dioxide and oxygen to the recycle line.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding organic matter to the mixture.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the organic matter comprises at least one of: one or more sugars, an acetate, a glycerol, methanol, or beverage or brewery wastewater.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the specified agitation conditions comprise applying a shear force to the mixture of from about 0.005 Newtons per square meter to about 0.15 Newtons per square meter.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the water-based reaction medium comprises at least one of wastewater and activated sludge.

13 . A method of wastewater remediation, comprising the steps of:

adding a first portion of the plurality of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules made according to claim 1 into a wastewater treatment system;

receiving wastewater having a first amount of biologically-active waste per unit volume into the wastewater treatment system; and

operating said wastewater treatment system under operating conditions that allow the first portion of the plurality of biologically-active bioaggregate granules to consume a portion of the biologically-active waste to provide a processed wastewater having a second amount of biologically-active waste per unit volume, the second amount being lower than the first amount.

14 . A method of generating biomass, the method comprising the steps of:

adding a first portion of the plurality of biologically-active bioaggregate granules made according to the method of claim 1 into a wastewater treatment system;

operating the wastewater treatment system under operating conditions that allow the first portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate particles to generate an additional quantity of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules that is more than the first portion; and

recovering from the wastewater treatment system at least some of the additional quantity of the biologically active bioaggregate granules, leaving in the wastewater treatment system a sufficient amount of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules to continue operation of the wastewater treatment system.

15 . A system comprising:

a reaction vessel for receiving a mixture at a continuous or substantially continuous flow rate, wherein the mixture comprises a water-based reaction medium including a nutrient material that is consumable by a live microalgae, by a live bacterium, or by a live protozoa, and at least one microalgae;

an illumination source configured to illuminate the mixture at least intermittently with a specified luminous flux during periods of illumination for a specified time period;

an agitator configured to agitate the mixture during the specified time period,

wherein the illumination and the agitation of the mixture during the specified time period incubates the mixture such that the microalgae forms a supporting matrix that incorporates the live microalgae, the live bacterium, or the live protozoa to provide a plurality of biologically-active bioaggregate granules, wherein the mixture is not artificially aerated during the illumination and agitation of the mixture of the specified time period to form the plurality of biologically-active bioaggregate granules;

a photogranule selector that is configured to:

remove a first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules that are smaller than a first specified size or below a first specified weight; or

remove a second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules that are larger than a second specified size that is larger than the first specified size or above a second specified weight that is larger than the first specified weight; and

an effluent stream to remove the first specified portion and/or the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules from the reaction vessel.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the agitator is configured to apply a shear force to the mixture of from about 0.005 Newtons per square meter to about 0.15 Newtons per square meter during the specified time period.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the photogranule selector removes the first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules and/or the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules by hydraulic selective pressure.

18 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a clarifying unit configured to settle the first specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules and/or the second specified portion of the biologically-active bioaggregate granules for a specified settling time.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the specified luminous flux is defined as a photosynthetic photon flux density onto the mixture in the reaction vessel from about 30 μmol m −2 s −1 to about 1200 μmol m −2 s −1 .

20 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the intermittent illumination comprises sunlight, the system further comprising a filter for modulating the sunlight so that a photosynthetic photon flux density onto the mixture in the reaction vessel is 1200 μmol m −2 s −1 or less and to reduce ultraviolet light from the sunlight that is incident onto the mixture.

21 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising a gas diffuser to add at least one of: carbon dioxide, oxygen, and air to the mixture.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (19)