Patent ID: 8222026
Filing Date: 2012-07-17
Classification: C12M,C12P,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A modular membrane bioreactor for anaerobic conversion of gas into liquid products comprising: a plurality of axially stacked membrane modules having a plurality of hollow fibers packed across a transverse cross sectional area of the membrane module in a direction transverse to a longitudinal axis of the membrane module in a fiber bundle, each of the plurality of hollow fibers having a gas permeable hollow fiber wall defining a hollow fiber lumen and an outer surface, the fibers being potted at least one end in a potting material and the space between fibers within the fiber bundle defining an intra-fiber bundle volume; a membrane vessel having an interior sealed from ambient atmosphere for retaining the membrane modules stacked in the membrane vessel in the same axial direction as the hollow fibers extend and surrounded by a process gas in communication about the outer surface of the hollow fiber wall for formation of a biolayer by interaction of microorganisms with the process gas and for production of a liquid product, the membrane vessel having a vessel cross sectional area perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the membrane vessel of no more than 1.5 times the transverse cross sectional area of the membrane module and an inner diameter greater than the exterior diameter of the membrane modules to space the membrane vessel apart from the membrane modules; a liquid supply conduit for communicating a process liquid with the hollow fiber lumens of the hollow fibers for permeation of water and nutrients to the biolayer and permeation of liquid product from the biolayer into admixture with the process liquid; a liquid recovery conduit operably connected to the hollow fiber lumens for recovering the process liquid containing the liquid product that permeates from the biolayer across at least a portion of the hollow fiber wall; a gas supply conduit for supplying the process gas to the interior of the membrane vessel; and, a plurality of side tubes extending through the potting material of at least one potted end of the membrane module and adapted to communicate process gas through the potted end of the membrane module with the area between the potted end and the membrane vessel and the intra-fiber bundle volume.