IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,435,347
Granted Patent B2
US 12,435,347 · App. 17/180,378 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Energy production with hyperthermophilic organisms

Inventors: Jan Remmereit (Volda, NO); Michael Thomm (Regensburg, DE)
Assignee: HYPERTHERMICS AS
C12P7/54C02F3/34C12M21/02C12M21/04C12M23/58C12M41/18C12P3/00C12P5/023C12P7/10C02F11/04C02F2301/106Y02E50/10Y02E50/30Y02P20/129Y02W10/33Y02W10/37
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,435,347
App. No.
17/180,378
Granted
Oct 7, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of degradation with hyperthermophilic organisms, and in particular to the use of hyperthermophilic degradation to produce heat and energy rich components including hydrogen and ethanol from a biomass. In some embodiments, a biomass is fermented in the presence of hyperthermophilic organisms to produce heat. The heat is used to heat a liquid which is used directly in a heat pump or radiant heat or to produce electricity or drive a steam turbine. In some embodiments, acetate is utilized as a substrate to produce energy by methanogenesis.

Claims (9)

1. A process comprising:

anaerobically degrading a biomass selected from the group consisting of sewage, agricultural waste products, brewery grain by-products, food waste, forestry waste, crops, grass, seaweed, plankton, algae, fish, fish waste, corn, potato waste, sugar cane waste, sugar beet waste, straw, paper waste, chicken manure, cow manure, hog manure, switchgrass and combinations thereof by fermentation in an enclosed bioreactor in the presence of a marine Thermotoga species at a NaCl concentration of less than 0.2%, a redox potential of from −125 to −850 mV, and a cell density of at least 1×10 9 cells/ml, then

introducing a nondeoxygenated biomass into the degraded biomass in the enclosed bioreactor and fermenting the nondeoxygenated biomass to produce hydrogen and a slurry comprising biomass residue and acetate,

pumping said slurry into a methane bioreactor to produce biogas in a second fermentation process, and

removing the biogas from the methane bioreactor.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said enclosed bioreactor is anaerobic and said Thermotoga reaches and maintains a stationary phase.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein said biomass contains a human pathogen; said Thermotoga is cultured under anaerobic conditions on said biomass at a temperature of 80° C. or higher; said bioreactor is maintained at a temperature of 80° C. or higher so that said pathogens are destroyed to provide a decontaminated biomass residue; and said decontaminated biomass residue is processed.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein said NaCl concentration ranges from 0.05% to 0.2%.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein said NaCl concentration ranges from 0.1% to 0.2%.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 4, 2022
From: HYPERTHERMICS HOLDING AS
To: HYPERTHERMICS AS
Reel/Frame 058887/0698 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 26, 2022
From: REMMEREIT, JAN; THOMM, MICHAEL
To: HYPERTHERMICS HOLDING AS
Reel/Frame 058769/0933 →
Continuity (8)
Continuation 13630577 · Sep 28, 2012
Continuation 12566282 · Sep 24, 2009
Continuation In Part 11879710 · Jul 18, 2007
Provisional Application 61233644 · Aug 13, 2009
Provisional Application 61122573 · Dec 15, 2008
Provisional Application 61099750 · Sep 24, 2008
Provisional Application 60831635 · Jul 18, 2006
Related Publication 20210171990A1 · Jun 10, 2021
References Cited (89)
US 3676363A · Mosier · 1972 [cited by applicant]
US 4530956A · Ugelstad · 1985 [cited by applicant]
US 4540666A · Nukina · 1985 [cited by examiner]
US 4787455A · Snavely, Jr. · 1988 [cited by applicant]
US 4986353A · Clark · 1991 [cited by applicant]
US 4986354A · Cantu · 1991 [cited by applicant]
US 5000000A · Ingram et al. · 1991 [cited by applicant]
US 5268280A · Starnes · 1993 [cited by examiner]
US 5354878A · Connemann · 1994 [cited by applicant]
US 5486068A · Wilson · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5525229A · Shih · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5624841A · Raven · 1997 [cited by examiner]
US 5661017A · Dunahay · 1997 [cited by applicant]
US 5910254A · Guelcher · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6000551A · Kanel · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6299774B1 · Ainsworth · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6524486B2 · Borodyanski · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 6555350B2 · Ahring · 2003 [cited by examiner]
US 7001519B2 · Linden · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 8278087B2 · Remmereit · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 8501463B2 · Cox et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 9708208B2 · Remmereit · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20030211594A1 · Rosebrook · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20040035785A1 · Rebholz · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040121447A1 · Fournier · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050026262A1 · Yoshitani · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050061737A1 · Linden · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 20050064577A1 · Berzin · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050115893A1 · Brune · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20060223159A1 · Pfeiffer · 2006 [cited by examiner]
US 20060281144A1 · Felder · 2006 [cited by examiner]
EP 0193369 · 1986 [cited by applicant]
EP 0656459 · 1995 [cited by applicant]
EP 0527959 · 1999 [cited by examiner]
HU 0402444 · 2005 [cited by examiner]
JP 08308587 · 1996 [cited by examiner]
JP H08308587 · 1996 [cited by examiner]
JP 2003116589 · 2003 [cited by applicant]
JP 2003326237 · 2003 [cited by applicant]
JP 2004290876 · 2004 [cited by examiner]
WO 9627070 · 1996 [cited by applicant]
WO 9745625 · 1997 [cited by applicant]
WO 9919375 · 1999 [cited by applicant]
WO 9936667 · 1999 [cited by applicant]
WO 9954592 · 1999 [cited by applicant]
WO WO0053791 · 2000 [cited by applicant]
WO 0206503 · 2002 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2006056819 · 2006 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2006056819A1 · 2006 [cited by examiner]
WO 08053353 · 2008 [cited by applicant]
English language machine translation of JPH08308587 (Nov. 26, 1996),pp. 1-12 (Year: 1996) (Year: 1996). [cited by examiner]
Huber “Towards the ecology of hyperthermophiles: biotopes, new isolation strategies and novel metabolic properties.” FEMS Microbiology Reviews 24 (2000), 615-623 (Year: 2000). [cited by examiner]
Treiman et al. “Extremities: Geology and Life in Yellowstone and Implications for Other Worlds” Octopus Spring (Year: 2002). [cited by examiner]
Takahata et al. [cited by examiner]
Santangelo, Thomas J., et al., “Shuttle Vector Expression in Thermococcus kodakaraensis: Contributions of cis Elements to Protein Synthesis in a Hyperthermophilic Archaeon,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2… [cited by applicant]
Waege, Ingrid, “Shuttle vector-based transformation system for Pyrococcus furiosus,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2010, vol. 76, No. 10, pp. 3808-3313. [cited by applicant]
Lucas, Soizick, et al., “Construction of a shuttle vector for, and spheroplast transformation of, the hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Nov. 2002, vol. 68, No. 11, pp… [cited by applicant]
Hethke, Carina, et al., “A cell-free transcription system for the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus,” Nucleic Acids Research, Jun. 15, 1996, vol. 24, No. 12, Jun. 15, 1996, pp. 2369-2376. [cited by applicant]
Large, Andrew, “Characterization of a tightly controlled promoter of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii and its use in the analysis of the essential cct1 gene,” Molecular Microbiology, Dec. 2007, vol. 66, No. 5,… [cited by applicant]
Vazhappilly, et al., “Heterotrophic Production Potential of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids by Microalgae and Algae-like Microorganisms,” Botanica Marina, vol. 41 (1998), pp. 553-558. [cited by applicant]
CN Office Action mailed Nov. 22, 2012 for CN Patent Application No. 200780030825.6. [cited by applicant]
Smith, W., et al., “Methane from biomass and waste—a program review”. TERI Information Digest on Energy 2(1): 1-20 (1992). [cited by applicant]
EP Search Report mailed Oct. 15, 2013 from EP Patent Application No. 13168386.4. [cited by applicant]
Hao, Ruixia, et al., “Effect on crude oil by thermophilic bacterium,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 43 (2004) 247-258. [cited by applicant]
Ahring, Birgitte, et al., “Methanogenesis from acetate: physiology of a thermophilic, acetate-utilizing methanogenic bacterium,” FEMS Microbiology Letters 28 (1985) 15-19. [cited by applicant]
Blumer-Schuette, Sara E., et al., “Extremely thermophilic microorganism for biomass conversion: status and prospects,” Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2008), 19: 210-217. [cited by applicant]
CN Office Action mailed Aug. 14, 2014, CN Patent Application No. 201310433718.5. [cited by applicant]
Bergquist et al. “Molecular diversity of thermophilic cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic bacteria”, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 28, No. 2, Feb. 1999, pp. 99-110. [cited by applicant]
Mussatto et al. “Brewers' spent grain: generation, characteristics and potential applications”, Journal of Cereal Science, Academic Press Ltd, vol. 43, No. 1, 2006, pp. 1-14. [cited by applicant]
Pienkos, P. and Zhang, M. “Role of pretreatment and conditioning processes on toxicity of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates” Cellulose (2009) 16:743-762. [cited by applicant]
Schroder et al. Glucose fermentation to acetate, CO2 . . . , Arch Microbiol 1994, 161: 460-470. [cited by applicant]
English language machine translation of JPH08308587 (Nov. 26, 1996), pp. 1-12 (year: 1996). [cited by applicant]
Bringer-Meyer et al., (1986), “Pyruvate decarboxylase from Zymomonas mobilis. Isolation and partial characterization” Arch. Microbiol. 146:105-110. [cited by applicant]
Brau et al., (1986), “Cloning and expression of the structural gene for pyruvate decarboxylase of Zymomonas mobilis In [cited by applicant]
Chinese Office Action dated Aug. 30, 2010 from CN Patent Application No. 200780030825.6. [cited by applicant]
Chou, et al., “Hydrogenesis in hyperthermophilic microorganisms: Implications for Biofuels,” Metabolic Engineering, vol. 10, Jun. 28, 2008, pp. 394-404. [cited by applicant]
Conway et al., (1987), “Cloning and sequencing of the alcohol dehydrogenase II gene from Zymomonas mobilis.” J. Bacteriol. 169:2591-2597. [cited by applicant]
Conway et al., (1987), “Promoter and nucleotide sequences of the Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase.” J. Bacteriol. 169:949-954. [cited by applicant]
Eichler, Jerry; “Biotechnological uses of archaeal extremozymes”; Biotechnology Advances (2001); vol. 19, pp. 261-278. [cited by applicant]
Eriksen, et al., “Hydrogen production in anaerobic and microaerobic thermotoga neapolitana,” Biotechnology Letters, vol. 30, Sep. 12, 2007, pp. 103-109. [cited by applicant]
Examiner's First Report on AU Patent Application No. 2007315860 dated Feb. 23, 2010. [cited by applicant]
Ingram et al., (1987), “Genetic engineering of ethanol production in [cited by applicant]
Ingram et al., (1988), “Expression of Different Levels of Ethanologenic Enzymes from Zymomonas mobilis in Recombinant Strains of [cited by applicant]
International Search Report dated Jan. 15, 2009, International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2007/003772. [cited by applicant]
Kanai, T., et al., “Continuous Hydrogen Production by the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon,” Thermococcus Kodakaraensis KOD1, Journal of Biotechnology, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, NL, vol. 116, No. 3, Mar. 30, 200… [cited by applicant]
Kengen, et al., “Growth and energy conservation in batch cultures of pyrococus furiosus,” FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 117, 1994, pp. 305-310. [cited by applicant]
Neale et al., (1987), “Nucleotide sequence of the pyruvate decarboxylase gene from Zymomonas mobilis.” Nucleic Acid. Res. 15:1753-1761. [cited by applicant]
Van Groenestijn, J.W., et al.; “Energy aspects of biological hydrogen production in high rate bioreactors operated in the thermophilic temperature range”; International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2002); vol. 27, pp. 11… [cited by applicant]
Woodward, et al., “Efficient hydrogen production using enzyes of the pentose phosphate pathway,” Proceedings of the 2002 U.S. DOE hydrogen program review (2002), pp. 1-12. [cited by applicant]