Biosphere Technologies Inc. Release: Alberta Biorefining Process Granted U S and International Patents
PONOKA, AB, Oct. 5, 2012 /CNW/ - A new Canadian biorefining technology for processing organic waste has been granted a patent by the United States Patent Office for a term effective until 2030. This new thermal hydrolysis and fractionation process, invented by Dr. Erick Schmidt, of Ponoka, Alberta, transforms food waste and animal by-products including meat and bones from carcasses into safe nutrient products for organic fertilizer and biogas production. The innovative technology incorporates centrifugal separation of the hydrolyzed output, creating valuable fractions of fatty acids, amino acids and digestible minerals, and expands the commercial scope of an earlier patent granted in 1999. In addition to this new US patent (# 8,278,081), sister patents for this process have recently been issued by Japan, Australia and South Africa, with additional patents pending in the European Community, Asia and South America.
The technology, named the "BioRefinex process", has been adopted by the 178 member countries of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for the destruction of all infectious microbiological pathogens and TSE agents causing prion diseases such as BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in cattle and CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) in elk and deer. The process, which utilizes high pressure and high temperature steam reactors and integrated centrifuges, provides an environmentally superior alternative to incineration and landfilling of disease risk materials such as carcasses, and creates economic value from the nutrient output materials.
The North American patent rights have been assigned by Dr. Schmidt and Biosphere Technologies Inc. to BioRefinex Canada Inc. which is developing an international demonstration and research facility to be located at Lacombe, Alberta. The Lacombe Biorefinery is designed to manufacture organic nutrients for fertilizers and biogas produced by anaerobic digestors for co-generation of "green" electrical power. This biorefining facility will offset greenhouse gases, and has been awarded a $10 million grant from Alberta's Climate Change and Emission Management (CCEMC) Corporation as part of the total project financing. The commercialization of this BioRefinex plant will bring major health and economic benefits to Canadian livestock producers, who now pay a costly penalty for disposal of SRM's (specified risk materials) from cattle over 30 months. This process has been certified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for the processing of SRM's as s part of Canada's BSE eradication program.
SOURCE Biosphere Technologies Inc.