Algae Biofuels Operations Enabled With Self-Clearing Dredge Head From Circle Biodiesel

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation (circlebio.com) CEO Peter Schuh confirms today that the four-year-old biofuel company he operates, based in San Marcos, California, has been awarded a "Notice of Allowance" by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for his patent application for: Suction Dredge System and Method.

The most important step in making biofuels from algae a successful business is the recovery of the algae from its environment. Until now nobody had a safe, environmentally-friendly and economical way of recovering the algae. Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation has solved the issue of feedstock recovery by developing a dredge system that can recover algae in massive volumes in a continuous fashion without the need for human swimmers to handle or clear the dredge. The patented dredge head has an automatic obstacle-clearing feature. When an obstacle blocks the intake, it is automatically and immediately cleared by the dredge head itself, and then immediately the dredge head goes back to dredging again. That means there is no need to shut down and clear the dredge head. The process is nonstop.

"We have solved the issue of feedstock recovery by developing a dredge system that can recover the algae in massive volumes. The cost savings are from the lower labor headcount and continuous dredging of higher volumes of algae than were previously possible before our invention. The increased safety for operating personnel who can now stay completely onboard is also a consideration," said Schuh.

Circle has filed a separate utility patent application at the USPTO for an innovative, cheap and fast removal of the algae oil in as fast a speed as the algae is recovered from the water environment as well as a separate utility patent application for the third patent in the series, which recovers the biofuels; biodiesel, ethanol, and methane gas, from the algae feedstock in a single, portable and scalable production facility. Besides the biofuels, drinking water is recovered as a co-product of the ethanol recovery. "Our system can operate anywhere. It makes its own fuel to run its own equipment and it makes the drinking water for the needs of the operating and maintenance personnel at the production site. It is truly a revolution in biofuel production," said Schuh.


SOURCE Circle Biodiesel & Ethanol Corporation