Method and system for processing a biomass for producing biofuels and other products

Abstract

The present invention provides methods of processing a biomass, e.g., for producing lipid and non-lipid materials, by inducing autolysis of a biomass. The biomass may be generated using any species of microorganism and any available biodegradable substrate, including waste materials. The lipid and non-lipid materials are present in two separate layers of the autolysate, and they can be used to generate valuable products such as biofuels and nutritional supplements. The present invention further provides a processing apparatus useful for practicing the methods of the present invention.

1 . A method of processing a microorganism biomass comprising:
 inducing autolysis of the microorganism biomass; and   allowing the microorganism biomass to undergo autolysis in the presence of an organic solvent and an aqueous solution, thereby producing an autolysate comprising a layer comprising the organic solvent and a layer comprising an aqueous solution, wherein said layer comprising the organic solvent comprises lipids released from the microorganism biomass during the autolysis, and wherein said layer comprising the aqueous solution comprises non-lipid materials released from the microorganism biomass during autolysis.   
     
     
         2 .- 3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising fermenting a fermentable sugar to produce an alcohol, wherein the fermentable sugar is present in the layer comprising the aqueous solution, and further comprising separately collecting at least a portion of one or both of the layer comprising the organic solvent and the layer comprising the aqueous solution, wherein the fermenting occurs prior to the collecting. 
     
     
         5 . A method of producing lipids and non-lipid materials comprising:
 culturing a microorganism on a biodegradable substrate to produce a microorganism biomass;   harvesting the microorganism biomass;   inducing autolysis of the microorganism biomass; and   allowing the microorganism biomass to undergo autolysis in the presence of an organic solvent and an aqueous solution, thereby producing an autolysate comprising a layer comprising the organic solvent and a layer comprising an aqueous solution, wherein said layer comprising the organic solvent comprises lipids released from the microorganism during the autolysis, and wherein said layer comprising the aqueous solution comprises non-lipid materials released from the microorganism biomass during autolysis; and   separately collecting at least a portion of one or both of the layer comprising the organic solvent and the layer comprising the aqueous solution.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the microorganism is a fungus, a bacterium, or a protist. 
     
     
         7 .- 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the biodegradable substrate is a solid substrate or a liquid substrate. 
     
     
         16 .- 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising the step of sterilizing the biodegradable substrate. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 31 , wherein said sterilizing comprises adding chlorine dioxide or adding hydrogen peroxide. 
     
     
         33 .- 34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising the step of optimizing the physiochemical conditions for culture of the microorganism. 
     
     
         36 .- 42 . (canceled) 
     
     
         43 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein said harvesting comprises mechanically collecting the microorganism or collecting a liquid solution comprising the microorganism. 
     
     
         44 .- 47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said inducing autolysis comprises a mechanical process, a chemical process, sonicating the microorganism, an enzymatic process, modulating a temperature, modulating an amount of light, or starving the microorganism biomass. 
     
     
         49 .- 50 . (canceled) 
     
     
         51 . The method according to  claim 48 , wherein the chemical process comprises adding a chemical compound comprising chlorine, adding chlorine dioxide, adding a chemical compound comprising an oxidizing agent, or adding hydrogen peroxide. 
     
     
         52 .- 72 . (canceled) 
     
     
         73 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the step of isolating at least a portion of the lipids from the organic solvent. 
     
     
         74 .- 76 . (canceled) 
     
     
         77 . The method according to  claim 73 , further comprising producing biofuel or biodiesel from the lipids. 
     
     
         78 - 84 . (canceled) 
     
     
         85 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the aqueous layer comprises glucose, a fermentable sugar, an amino acid, an organic acid, an inorganic acid, a polyhydric alcohol, a nitrogenous compound, an enzyme, or a vitamin. 
     
     
         86 .- 87 . (canceled) 
     
     
         88 . The method according to  claim 85 , further comprising producing hydrogen or carbon dioxide from the glucose. 
     
     
         89 .- 96 . (canceled) 
     
     
         97 . The method according to  claim 85 , further comprising fermenting the fermentable sugar to produce an alcohol. 
     
     
         98 .- 126 . (canceled) 
     
     
         127 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the step of isolating at least a portion of the non-lipid materials. 
     
     
         128 .- 135 . (canceled) 
     
     
         136 . A method of producing fresh water or pure water comprising:
 (a) culturing a microorganism on a biodegradable substrate to produce a microorganism biomass, the biodegradable substrate comprising salt water, or brackish water, or contaminated water wherein the contaminant is not microbial;   (b) harvesting the microorganism biomass;   (c) inducing autolysis of the microorganism biomass;   (d) allowing the microorganism biomass to undergo autolysis in the presence of an organic solvent and an aqueous solution;   (e) collecting the layer comprising the aqueous solution, wherein said layer comprises water having a reduced salt content as compared to the salt water or brackish water or having a reduced level of contaminants as compared to the contaminated water; and   (f) optionally repeating steps (a)-(e) using the layer collected in (e) as the salt water or brackish water or contaminated water of step (a) until the layer collected in (e) comprises fresh water or pure water.   
     
     
         137 .- 140 . (canceled) 
     
     
         141 . A processing system, comprising:
 a container having a chamber for holding biomass and autolysate, wherein said autolysate comprises an organic solvent layer and an aqueous layer;   a mixing apparatus including at least one fin positioned in the chamber and a motor, the at least one fin moves to mix biomass and autolysate when the motor is energized;   a feed apparatus including a biomass, lysate, and/or autolysate source coupled to the container and an organic solvent source coupled to the container;   a collection unit in fluid communication with the container, the collection unit configured to collect the aqueous layer of the autolysate and components therein; and   a controller communicatively coupled to the feed apparatus and the collection unit, the controller is configurable to command the collection unit to remove the aqueous layer from the chamber and, optionally, to separate or extract the components from the aqueous layer, and is configured to command the feed apparatus to adjust the composition of the autolysate.   
     
     
         142 .- 147 . (canceled) 
     
     
         148 . A method of processing biomass, comprising:
 delivering biomass, lysate and/or autolysate present in an aqueous solution to a processing system, wherein the aqueous solution forms a layer comprising an aqueous solution;   delivering an organic solvent out of a first port of said processing system, wherein said organic solvent forms a layer comprising the organic solvent above the layer comprising the aqueous solution, and wherein the first port is positioned above the layer comprising the aqueous solution;   allowing the aqueous solution of the layer comprising the aqueous solution to ferment; and   drawing organic solvent comprising lipids from the layer comprising the organic solvent into a second port positioned within the layer comprising the organic solvent while the aqueous solution ferments.   
     
     
         149 .- 151 . (canceled)