A review of the patent publications from early 2013 indicates that research is coalescing around several types of biofuel materials and precursors. In fact, many of the patent publications reviewed herein focus on increasing efficiency of the production process, getting more out of starter materials, and producing better versions of starter materials.
Patent applications filed prior to the beginning of 2009 had a significant focus on new biofuel starter materials, along with new and streamlined processes. As mentioned above, the publications from early 2013 appear to be coalescing around working with known biofuel materials and either improving the material and/or improving/optimizing the process. There are also groups of publications focused on fuel optimization through the addition of other components and/or better engine design. At the outset, please note that this article is not advocating or determining the patentability of any of these technologies. The content of this article is directed to an objective summary of some of the biofuel-related patent art.
This article will touch on several different categories of biofuel and biofuel-related patents and publications from early 2013. Specifically, the following topics are discussed: increasing the efficiency of the biofuel production process, new or modified biofuel starter materials, and fermenters used in the production of biofuels.
Process Efficiency
This category regularly makes up the largest class of patents, patent publications, and journal articles, primarily because it's often easier to optimize the production of existing and known biofuels, as opposed to developing and testing potential new biofuels.
US Patent Publication 2013/0060071,
Process for the conversion of lignin to liquid hydrocarbons
(inventors: Daniele Delledonne, et al.; March 7, 2013) discloses a process that targets the lignin portion of biomasses. Specifically, the inventors cite as the advantage of this invention: “Although various processes are known for the transformation into bioethanol of both the cellulose fraction and hemicellulose fraction of lignocellulosic biomasses (these fractions together generally represent about 60% by weight–70% by weight of the whole lignocellulosic biomass), lignin, which generally represents about 15%–30% by weight of the whole lignocellulosic biomass, remains excluded.” The inventors also point out some of the attempts to transform lignin to fuels, but note that many of these processes, including pyrolysis, result in the higher formation of carbonaceous residues or may result in a product that is unstable or has a poor quality that makes it unsuitable for refining The inventors attempt to address these disadvantages by “subjecting the lignin to hydrogenolysis in the presence of at least one hydrogenolysis catalyst, at a temperature ranging from 250°C to 350°C and preferably ranging from 290°C to 320°C.” The depolymerized lignin is then hydrotreated.
Authors Note: In general, when patents and patent applications are reviewed, it is instructive to keep a few points in mind. There are two types of published patent applications—those that have issued and those that have published but are still pending and under examination. This article will primarily focus on patent publications, since those documents are indicative of more recent research and development of biofuels. In fact, the patent applications that were published in 2012 were first filed between mid-2010 and mid-2011, since new patent applications don't publish until 18 months after they are first filed.
An issued patent has a fixed set of claims at the end of that patent that define the invention regardless of what is included in the detailed description section. Anyone reviewing issued patents for an indication of the actual invention should turn to the claims section first. The detailed description section should primarily be used to provide context of the claims and/or definitions of some of the terms/phrases in the claims. Issued patents are in force 20 years from the filing date, and they give the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, and/or selling the claimed invention in the country where the patent issued. Published patent applications are useful to provide notice to the general public and/or competitors as to potential future patents and their scope. Between the filing date or priority date of the application and the publication date, the patent application is not published, and therefore, not readily available to the public for review.
Inventors use pending patent publications to put likely competitors on notice that they may have enforceable patent rights at some point in the future. Competitors use patent publications to scope out the technology landscape. It is important to note, however, that the existence of a patent publication does not necessarily mean that a patent will issue from that application or that the final issued set of claims will be the same or resemble the claims in the publication. These publications should primarily be used for notice and information purposes.
The content of this article is not intended as legal or financial advice. Views expressed are those of the author and should not be construed as necessarily representative of those of Buchalter Nemer, Industrial Biotechnology journal, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, or their affiliates. No endorsement of any entity or technology is implied.
US Patent Publication 2013/0060070,
Method for producing fluid hydrocarbons
(inventors: George W. Huber, et al.; March 7, 2013) discloses the use of catalytic pyrolysis to produce fluid hydrocarbon product. The inventors state in the Summary section that, “Catalytic pyrolysis, which may include catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP), is a process by which solid hydrocarbonaceous materials, such as biomass, may be converted into useful hydrocarbon products. This process may comprise a single-step process that uses relatively inexpensive zeolite catalysts. The reactor may be operated at atmospheric pressure. The process may be used to produce a variety of hydrocarbon products including benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylene and propylene. However, a problem with catalytic pyrolysis relates to the need for increasing product yields and providing for more controlled product formation in order to be commercially viable.” The inventors, however, suggest a possible solution to these problems through a combination of reaction conditions and system components “For example, conditions such as the hydrogen to carbon effective ratio in the feed stream(s), the mass normalized space velocity(ies) (eg, of the solid hydrocarbonaceous material, the non-solid second reactant, and/or the fluidization fluid), the temperature of the reactor and/or solids separator, the reactor pressure, the heating rate of the feed stream(s), the catalyst to solid hydrocarbonaceous material mass ratio, the residence time of the hydrocarbonaceous material in the reactor, the residence time of the reaction products in the solids separator, and/or the catalyst type (as well as silica to alumina molar ratio for zeolite catalysts) may be controlled to achieve beneficial results.” Claim 1, the only independent claim of the publication, recites: “A method for producing one or more fluid hydrocarbon products from a solid hydrocarbonaceous material comprising: feeding a first reactant comprising the solid hydrocarbonaceous material, and a non-solid second reactant comprising hydrogen or a source of hydrogen, to a reactor; pyrolyzing within the reactor at least a portion of the first reactant under reaction conditions sufficient to produce one or more pyrolysis products; and catalytically reacting at least a portion of the one or more pyrolysis products and at least a portion of the second reactant under reaction conditions sufficient to produce the one or more fluid hydrocarbon products.”
US Patent Publication 2013/0056683,
Compositions and methods for promoting fatty acid production in plants
(inventors: Martha Karen Newell, et al.; March 7, 2013) teaches a method and related products that manipulate metabolic function in plants and fungus in order to produce more fatty acids and in turn produce biofuels. The patent application claims focus on disrupting the fatty acid metabolism pathway using an inhibitor of that metabolism to promote accumulation or storage of fatty acids. The inventors contemplate utilizing oxirane carboxylic acid compounds, nucleic acids, gluconeogenesis inhibitors and other related compounds as these inhibitors.
Algae
US Patent Publication 2013/0059368,
System for culturing and recovering micro algae
(inventor: Kwang Mo Seong; assignee: Hyundai Motor Company; March 7, 2013) discloses a recovery method and system utilizing micro algae that comprises a photo-bioreactor, floatation separator, centrifugal separator, and a micro bubble separator. The inventors contend that this system cultures and recovers micro algae in a simpler and more cost-effective manner. Specifically, the inventors state that their system is an improvement over conventional systems that suffer from poor utilization efficiency of carbon dioxide, diffuser clogging from precipitated micro algae, the high costs of separation membranes, process complexity, and large space requirements for systems operations.
US Patent Publication 2013/0059356,
Ethanol production from mannitol using yeast
(inventors: Kousaku Murata, et al.; assignee: Maruha Nichiro Holdings, Inc.; March 7, 2013) teaches that ethanol may be successfully produced from large marine algae and other marine biomass as long as the biomass and/or algae contains some degree of mannitol. The inventors utilize yeast strains capable of mannitol assimilation to produce ethanol from mannitol because yeast strains are more tolerant to ethanol and fermentation inhibitors than bacterial strains.
New and/or Improved Enzymes/Fermenters
The number of patent publications from 2013 indicates that research on starter material fermentation, enzymes, and fermenters is increasing. Previous articles in this series have focused on 2011 patent publications related to fermenters, but there were also several publications in 2012. It is clear from the scope and number of publications that patent protection efforts in this area are not going to decrease soon.
US Patent Publication 2013/0061354,
Polypeptide having cellobiohydrolase activity and uses thereof
(inventors: Cornelis Maria Jacobus Sagt, et al.; March 7, 2013) discloses and claims a polypeptide that has increased cellobiohydrolase activity and that can, according to the inventors, be tolerant against inhibitors, have increased thermostability, and be highly efficient. The polypeptide itself, along with a method of preparing the polypeptide, is disclosed. According to the publication, “a non-starch carbohydrate suitable for modification by a polypeptide of the invention is lignocellulose. The major polysaccharides comprising different lignocellulosic residues, which may be considered as a potential renewable feedstock, are cellulose (glucans), hemicelluloses (xylans, heteroxylans and xyloglucans). In addition, some hemicellulose may be present as glucomannans, for example in wood-derived feedstocks. The enzymatic hydrolysis of these polysaccharides to soluble sugars, for example glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, fructose, mannose, rhamnose, ribose, D-galacturonic acid and other hexoses and pentoses occurs under the action of different enzymes acting in concert.” The inventors also mention that enzyme combinations and/or physical treatments, as applied to the feedstock or substrate, can be used.
US Patent Publication 2013/0029382,
Compositions and methods relating to dual activity enzymes having xylanase and cellulase activity
(inventor: John C. Steffens, et al.; January 31, 2013) teaches the use of a dual-activity enzyme having both xylanase and cellulose activity, wherein the enzyme is stable and active at both increased temperatures and pH. The activity of these contemplated enzymes allow for increased hydrolyzation of the lignocellulosic materials.
Over the last three years, it is clear that a majority of the biofuel-related patent applications being filed are directed to new production processes or making the current conventional processes more efficient and/or productive. The other group of applications that are increasing are related to fermenters. There is no apparent decrease in the number of biofuels-related patent applications, and it is highly likely that this trend with continue well into 2013.
