US Patent No. 9,085,785 to Kiverdi

The abstract


Compositions and methods for a hybrid biological and chemical process that captures and converts carbon dioxide and/or other forms of inorganic carbon and/or C1 carbon sources including but not limited to carbon monoxide, methane, methanol, formate, or formic acid, and/or mixtures containing C1 chemicals including but not limited to various syngas compositions, into organic chemicals including biofuels or other valuable biomass, chemical, industrial, or pharmaceutical products are provided. The present invention, in certain embodiments, fixes inorganic carbon or C1 carbon sources into longer carbon chain organic chemicals by utilizing microorganisms capable of performing the oxyhydrogen reaction and the autotrophic fixation of CO.sub.2 in one or more steps of the process.



The first claim


A biological and chemical method for the capture and conversion of an inorganic carbon compound and/or an organic compound containing only one carbon atom into an organic chemical product, comprising:

introducing an inorganic carbon compound and/or an organic compound containing only one carbon atom into a bioreactor comprising an environment suitable for maintaining oxyhydrogen microorganisms and/or capable of maintaining extracts of oxyhydrogen microorganisms; and converting the inorganic carbon compound and/or the organic compound containing only one carbon atom into the organic chemical product and/or a precursor thereof within the environment via at least one chemosynthetic carbon-fixing reaction utilizing the oxyhydrogen microorganisms and/or cell extracts containing enzymes from the oxyhydrogen microorganism; wherein the oxyhydrogen microorganisms used are Rhodococcus sp.; wherein the organic chemical product produced includes compounds with carbon chain lengths between C5 and about C30; and wherein the chemosynthetic fixing reaction is at least partially driven by chemical and/or electrochemical energy provided by electron donors and electron acceptors that have been generated chemically and/or electrochemically and/or are introduced into the environment from at least one source external to the bioreactor.