Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
181 words
A process for treating a heavy metal contaminated preconcentrated biomass for separating heavy metal contaminants therefrom, which comprises: removing water from preconcentrated biomass material to form a concentrate; disintegrating the concentrate to disrupt the cell structure of the organic material contained therein, thereby laying bare both valuable and recoverable organic substances contained within the cell structure and heavy metal contaminants; centrifuging the disintegrated concentrate to recover a sediment portion and a liquid portion, said sediment portion containing a preponderant part of the heavy metal contaminants contained originally in the disintegrated concentrate; adjusting the PH of the liquid portion recovered in the centrifugation step to a level suitable for additional heavy metal contaminant separation; microfiltering the PH-adjusted liquid portion to separate therefrom an additional portion of the heavy metal contaminants; treating the liquid effluent from the microfiltration step to facilitate a still further separation of heavy metal contaminants; and separating the treated liquid effluent into a concentrate containing substantially all of the remaining heavy metal contaminants and an aqueous solution consisting essentially of amino acids, non-noxious mineral salts and soluble organic matter.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
181 words
A process for treating a heavy metal contaminated preconcentrated biomass for separating heavy metal contaminants therefrom, which comprises: removing water from preconcentrated biomass material to form a concentrate; disintegrating the concentrate to disrupt the cell structure of the organic material contained therein, thereby laying bare both valuable and recoverable organic substances contained within the cell structure and heavy metal contaminants; centrifuging the disintegrated concentrate to recover a sediment portion and a liquid portion, said sediment portion containing a preponderant part of the heavy metal contaminants contained originally in the disintegrated concentrate; adjusting the PH of the liquid portion recovered in the centrifugation step to a level suitable for additional heavy metal contaminant separation; microfiltering the PH-adjusted liquid portion to separate therefrom an additional portion of the heavy metal contaminants; treating the liquid effluent from the microfiltration step to facilitate a still further separation of heavy metal contaminants; and separating the treated liquid effluent into a concentrate containing substantially all of the remaining heavy metal contaminants and an aqueous solution consisting essentially of amino acids, non-noxious mineral salts and soluble organic matter.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A process according to claim 9, wherein the disintegration of the cells is effectuated by a physical, physicochemical or thermic process or by a combination of said processes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
A process according to claim 1, wherein the disintegration of the cells is effectuated by an enzymatic process.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A process according to claim 1, wherein the liquid portion recovered in the centrifugation step is adjusted to a PH-value of 6.5 to 9.0.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A process according to claim 1, wherein the microfiltration step is effecuated after the disintegration of the cell structure of the biomass material, utilizing a pore width of 0.2 to 1.0 micron.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
22 words
A process according to claim 5, wherein the microfiltration is followed by a separation of the noxious matter by ion exchanger means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of: aerobically pretreating the biomass material prior to the concentration and disintegration steps.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of ultrafiltering the aqueous solution consisting essentially of amino acids, non-noxious mineral salts and soluble organic matter to recover a protein-rich fraction therefrom.