BioFuels Journal

Algae Cultivation System Patent Filed by DaoChi Energy of Arizona

DaoChi Energy of Arizona, Inc. (div. Williamson Information Technologies Corp.), the developer of a breakthrough combinations of existing technology to transform waste streams into liquid fuels, announced on June 30 the filing of its first patent application.

The patent application, “Apparatus for Cultivation of Phytoplankton and Other Aquatic Species” details DaoChi Energy of Arizona's invention of a method to cultivate algae with a high concentration of volume efficiency, without requiring expensive or elaborate artificial lighting systems, and without expensive cast acrylic tubing or delicate polythene bag systems.

The process of designing a concentrated cultivation system was just an exercise in applied geometry in the opinion of company president Stafford “Doc” Williamson.

“I know that every tenth grader moans, ‘What am I ever going to use this for?’ when they first are forced to face basic geometry lessons,” says “Doc” Williamson including an imitation of a whining teen, “But here we are, doing nothing but increasing the exposed surface of a regular solid so that light can penetrate a few inches, and it just might change the world.”

Nutrients and the carbon dioxide necessary for the phenomenal growth rates of algae (many species can double in weight and volume in less than 24 hours, some as often as 4 times a day under ideal conditions) bubble through the liquid in this apparatus much as air does in a home aquarium.

Indeed the device looks quite similar to a giant home aquarium in its basic rectangular form, though the mirrors and baffles and harvesting hoist hint at Dr. Frankenstein’s lab equipment.

Each growth tank is entirely separate; isolating each batch from every other batch. There are no circulating elements, and thus the isolation reduces the risk of total colony collapse.

The patent application does describe possibly using “concentrating mirrors” to bring sunlight from outside.

Transparent tank designs are intended for indoor use, outdoor placements are possible in suitable climates with potentially opaque or translucent side panels.

Nothing here is custom made.

Everything is off-the-shelf, from the transparent plexi panels, to the manual pulley hoist overhead, everything can be bought in your local hardware store the DaoChi Energy executive claims.

“We have no idea how cheaply you could build these if you were creating several acres worth,” “Doc” Williamson said referring to the contrasting complexity of valves and miles of tubing required for most of the polythene bag algae cultivation systems.

“With our concentration factor, we know we can achieve the same production capacity as an acre of raceways or shallow ponds in one fifth to one tenth the space.”

DaoChi Energy’s President, Stafford “Doc” Williamson, says that they are hopeful that using high frequency sound waves to burst the algae cell walls and again in the separation and settling process will spur immediate developments in the field, using “the most promising source of renewable oil, algae, which can be a real challenger to the petroleum monopoly on fuels.”

DaoChi Energy of Arizona’s latest invention expands on the company’s plans for waste to fuel production facilities using various technologies to convert civilizations’ huge and problematic quantities of municipal and sewage wastes into valued resource streams, the development of which will be the fulfillment of many people’s dreams of a fully re-cycling society across the entire globe.

The DaoChi Energy algae cultivation system can be stand-alone, or built adjacent to a “smokestack” facility (smelter, power plant, etc.) for the effect of carbon sequestration of flue gases where such “rich” sources of carbon dioxide can promote the kind of geometric progression pattern of extremely rapid growth. “It seems like a miracle, but it is just a fact.

If you have a colony of 100 tons of algae, feed it with plenty of carbon dioxide, literally overnight you can have 200 to 400 tons of algae, meaning you can remove 100 to 300 tons daily from this operation and starting again from the remaining 100 tons the next day the same thing happens,” gushes Stafford “Doc” Williamson with unbridled enthusiasm.

For more information, call 623-566-5917.