Aenert news. Invention analysis
Previously we published several articles in the field of energy production from biomass, concerning such aspects as biomass gasification (pre-treatment of feedstock on 04.03.2023 and fluidized bed reactors on 31.01.2023) and cellulosic ethanol on 19.04.2023.

In this article we will analyze patent documents disclosing inventions related to biofuel production from algae-based feedstock.

The pool of documents collected for this purpose includes patents published over the past 20 years and recent patent applications. The documents were published in 56 patent offices around the world by 2299 applicants from 51 countries.

Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Cumulative number of patents and applications*, relationship of number of applications to total number of documents by year


*Areas representing patents and applications are overlapping

In the pool of documents collected for this review, the peak values in the number of published patent applications can be seen in 2011-2015, which led to a growth in the number of granted patents in 2014-2018. The peak in the number of applications was followed by a steady decline, so we can expect this trend to continue also for patents. The share of start documents that didn’t belong to any previously formed patent family was low lately – about 11% on average.

The number of newly appearing applicants in the collection of documents was on the rise in 2010-2012 with a noticeable decline in recent years. In newly appearing IPC indices, the decline was less intensive with a substantial peak in 2016. While the appearance of new patent offices during the 20-year period is irregular, in average, past years’ values are low too. This may indicate a general slowdown in the intellectual property activities in the field in terms of both geographical and technological coverage.

The largest number of patents were granted during the twenty-year period in the USPTO (US) patent office – more than 41% of the entire pool of patents. It was followed by IP Australia (AU) and EPO with around 10% each. USPTO (US) (around 27%), INPI (BR) (11%), and CNIPA (CN) (almost 11%) were leading by the number of recent patent applications registered in the 5-year period. CNIPA (CN) and JPO (JP) should also be mentioned as the patent offices that granted more than 5% of patents each on the subject of interest in the collection under revision.

Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Breakdown of inventions by patent offices. Patents, 20 years (left); Applications, 5 years (right)



Residents of the United States were leading in both the case of patents granted during the 20-year period (almost 60% of cases) and in the case of recent patent applications (51% of cases). In the collection of patents, the United States was followed by residents of Japan, China, and South Korea. While in patent applications – by residents of the Canada, Japan, and France.

Following is a list representing top 10 applicants with the highest Market involvement ratio for patents published in the 20-year period (Market involvement ratio = volume ratio multiplied by ownership ratio, where Volume ratio - share of applicant documents in total number of documents, Ownership ratio - applicant's participation share in total number of documents):

Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Top applicants by Market involvement ratio. Patents
 

In the pool of patents describing the technologies of biofuel production from algae feedstock, Xyleco Inc. (US) has a strong lead by the number of documents among all applicants – 143 patents. It is followed by Solazyme, Inc. (US) - 80, Heliae Development LLC (US) - 67, Neste Oyj (FI) - 42, and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (US) - 38 documents. In terms of recently published patent applications, the leaders were Xyleco Inc. (US) - 234, Mara Renewables Corporation (CA) - 70, and Neste Oyj (FI) - 52.

Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Top applicants by Market involvement ratio. Applications

The most commonly-encountered problems in the collection of patents and patent applications related to biofuel production from algae-based feedstock were Low efficiency of main processes, High costs in general, and Environmental and social impact. The majority of technical solutions provided in the inventions under revision were represented in the form of methods. Devices and compositions were encountered less often in the documents, although in a large number of cases as well. The most popular IPC subgroups assigned to the patent documents were: C12P7/64 (Fats; Fatty oils; Ester-type waxes; Higher fatty acids, i.e. having at least seven carbon atoms in an unbroken chain bound to a carboxyl group; Oxidised oils or fats); C12N1/12 (Unicellular algae; Culture media therefor); C12M1/00 (Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology); C10L1/02 (essentially based on components consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen only); and C11B1/10 (by extracting).

In the collection of documents under consideration, the largest patent families comprise 164, 112, and 87 patent documents and are represented by core documents US20120282662A1, US20190139660A1, and US9353389B2, respectively (Core document is a base document for which a complete description of the invention is available in generally-accessible patent databases):

Methods of and systems for producing diesel blend stocks / A: US20120282662A1 / IPC: A23D9/00, C07C1/00, C12P7/64 / Kale Aniket / Heliae Development LLC, Kale Aniket / Appl. date: 18.07.2012; Publ. date: 08.11.2012 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US20120282662A1 / Technology categories: AL / Technology elements: COS, PP, SE / Problems: LEMP / Technical solution types: C, M / Claims: 8 / Rating: 13

Processing biomass / A: US20190139660A1 / IPC: G21F3/00, A61L2/08, B01J19/08, B01J19/12, B01J19/22, B65G27/04, C08H8/00, C10B19/00, C10B53/02, C10G1/02, C10G32/04, C10L5/40, C10L5/44, C10L5/46, C13K1/02, C13K13/00, D21B1/02, G21K5/04, G21K5/10, H01J5/18, H01J33/04, H01J37/20, H01J37/317 / Medoff Marshall, Masterman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 01.11.2018; Publ. date: 09.05.2019 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US20190139660A1 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: M / Claims: 15 / Rating: 18

Nucleic acids useful in the manufacture of oil / P: US9353389B2 / IPC: A01H13/00, C07C1/207, C10L1/02, C12N15/79, C12N9/00, C12N9/16, C12N9/24, C12P7/20, C12P7/64 / Franklin Scott, Somanchi Aravind, Espina Karen, Rudenko George, Chua Penelope / Solazyme Inc / Appl. date: 22.05.2014; Publ. date: 31.05.2016 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US9353389B2 / Technology categories: AL / Technology elements: PTF / Problems: HCG, LEVF / Technical solution types: C / Claims: 6 / Rating: 17

The following abbreviations are used in the documents hereinbefore and hereinafter: D - Device; M - Method; C - Composition; AL - Algae; CE - Cellulosic ethanol; HCG - High costs in general; LEMP - Low efficiency of main processes; LEVF - Low efficiency / Variety of feedstock; COS - Chemistry and other substances; PP - Primary processing; PTF - Pre-treatment of feedstock; SE - Secondary equipment.

Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Breakdown of documents by family size. Patents and applications



Following are several examples of patent documents having the highest rating calculated using Advanced Energy Technologies methodology, from the pool of documents related to biofuel production from algae-based feedstock:
Bioenergy. Biofuel from algae. Prominent patent documents by rating:

Treating Biomass / P: US10510510B2 / IPC: H01J37/317, B01J19/08, C10L1/02, C12P19/02, C12P19/14, G21K5/04, G21K5/10, H01J5/18, H01J7/26, H01J33/04 / Medoff Marshall, Peters Anthony, Masterman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert, Ip Kenny Kin-chui / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 13.04.2017; Publ. date: 17.12.2019 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 45 / Rating: 25

Treating biomass / P: US9659748B2 / IPC: H01J37/317, B01J19/08, C10L1/02, C12P19/02, C12P19/14, G21K5/04, G21K5/10, H01J5/18, H01J7/26, H01J33/04 / Marshall Medoff, Anthony Peters, Thomas Craig Masterman, Robert Paradis, Kenny Kin-Chui IP / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 10.10.2013; Publ. date: 23.05.2017 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 63 / Rating: 25

Treating biomass / P: AU2013329153B2 / IPC: B01J19/08, C12P19/00, G21K5/10 / Marshall Medoff, Anthony Peters, Thomas Craig Masterman, Robert Paradis, Kenny Kin-Chui IP / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 10.10.2013; Publ. date: 14.09.2017 / IP Australia / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 43 / Rating: 25

Treating biomass / P: AU2017276162B2 / IPC: B01J19/08, C12P19/00, G21K5/10 / Peters Anthony, Medoff Marshall, Masterman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert, IP Kenny Kin-Chui / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 11.12.2017; Publ. date: 24.10.2019 / IP Australia / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 24 / Rating: 25

Processing materials / P: US9789461B2 / IPC: A61L11/00, B01D39/18, B01J19/08, B65G27/04, D21B1/02, G21K5/10, H01J37/20 / Medoff Marshall, Masterman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 29.03.2017; Publ. date: 17.10.2017 / United States Patent and Trademark Office / Core document: US20190139660A1 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: M / Claims: 20 / Rating: 24

Treating biomass / P: PH12015500410B1 / IPC: B01J19/08, C10L1/02, C12P19/02, C12P19/14, G21K5/04, G21K5/10, H01J5/18, H01J7/26, H01J33/04, H01J37/317 / Peters Anthony, Medoff Marshall, Masterman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert, IP Kenny Kin-Chui / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 25.02.2015; Publ. date: 20.04.2015 / Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 0 / Rating: 24

電子ビーム加速器の窓箔を冷却するためのシステムおよび方法 (en: System and method for cooling a window foil of an electron beam accelerator) / P: JP6638010B2 / IPC: G21K5/00, B09B5/00, G21K1/04, G21K5/04 / Peters Anthony, Medoff Marshall, Mastenrman Thomas Craig, Paradis Robert, Ip Kenny Kin-chui / Xyleco Inc / Appl. date: 01.03.2018; Publ. date: 29.01.2020 / Industrial Property Office / Core document: US9659748B2 / Technology categories: AL, CE / Technology elements: PTF, SE / Problems: HCG, LEMP / Technical solution types: C, D, M / Claims: 53 / Rating: 24

In the pool of documents under consideration, the majority of inventions propose technical solutions related to Primary processing, Chemistry and other substances used in the primary process, and Pre-treatment of algae-based feedstock. Below we analyze several examples of inventions that concern these groups of technical solutions.

- US10407635B2 - a method for producing free-flowing powdered fuel without liquid carrier includes steps of drying and comminuting in specific conditions, and ensures less expensive and energy intensive extraction of lipids from algae;

- US20180371395A9 - cultivation of microalgae with a photoreceptor sensitive to a particular region of spectrum, which includes incubating it under a heterotrophic growth condition with a carbon source media and artificial light irradiance of the respective region of spectrum and at the intensity sufficient to transduce the microalgae photoreceptor;

- US10844411B2 - a method of accumulating triacylglycerols in microalgae by inhibiting sterol metabolism is aimed at improving economic viability of the process;

- US20190203219A1 - an engineered microalgae with an enhanced expression level of a protein for carbon assimilation or reduced expression level of a protein for nitrogen assimilation to enhance microalgae as a source for biofuels precursors;

- US20210355512A1 – method of extracting alkenones from algae comprising combining algae derived products with a polar solvent or a partially polar solvent for improved cost-efficiency of the process.


Primary processing

Patent US10407635B2 by Fulton Iii Robert describes a method for producing a free-flowing powdered algae-based fuel without the need for a liquid carrier. According to the method, a slurry of water and algae, is dried at a temperature greater than 70°F and below the initial carmelization temperature. A powdered fuel with at least 80% by volume of the particles having a size between 1 micron to 150 microns is produced by comminuting. In the resulting fuel, the majority of the particles are multicellular, spheroidal whole algal cells that are comprised of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. The two processes produce a fluidizable powdered fuel. The claims of the invention also provide preferred parameters of the patented process such as temperature ranges, moisture contents, particle sizes, and device types used in the processes.

The authors claim that the algae-based fuels of the invention "…avoid expensive and energy intensive processes needed to extract the lipids".

The patent is a part of a family consisting of 8 patent documents published in 2010-2019 in US, WO, EP, and CN.



Image from: US10407635B2

200 - dryer system; 202 - drying chamber; 204 - cyclone separator; 206 - bagging cyclone; 208 - slurry feed; 210 - atomizer; 212 - hot air.

Patent application US20180371395A9 published by Phycoil Biotechnology International, Inc discloses a method for cultivation of microalgae with a photoreceptor sensitive to a particular region of spectrum. The method includes incubating the microalgae under a heterotrophic growth condition with a carbon source media and artificial light irradiance of the respective region of spectrum and at the intensity sufficient to transduce the microalgae photoreceptor. The claims of the invention specify applicable microalgae strains (for instance, UTEX 2629 strain, UTEX 2441 strain, or others), carbon sources (e.g. glucose, fructose, or others), intensity of irradiance (0.01-1 μmol photons m−2s−1, or others), and other conditions. The microalgae cultivation method is intended for further production of goods, such as different types of fuel.

The authors of the invention mention the ability to adjust the process to reduce production cost.

The application is a part of a family comprising 20 patent documents published between 2011 and 2019 in the WO, CA, AU, IL, US, KR, EP, CN, JP, IN, and BR patent offices.



Image from: US20180371395A9


Chemistry and other substances

Patent US10844411B2 by Commissariat Energie Atomique (FR) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR) discloses "…a method for triggering triacylglycerols accumulation in microalgae by inhibiting the sterol metabolism". The method comprises incubating microalgae with an inhibitor of sterol metabolism having a formula shown in the figure below. Details on individual components of the compound are provided in the claims of the invention, but as an example the authors propose Ethinylestradiol and Estrone. According to the claims, the concentration of the inhibitor ranges from 1 μM to 1M, while the microalgae is chosen from Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Nannochloropsis gaditana. The incubation is performed in a nitrogen medium. The method comprises several steps, including triggering triacylglycerols accumulation and extraction steps, and trans-esterification.

The inventors mention that the prior-art solutions show reduced economic viability.

The patent belongs to a patent family comprising 9 documents published between 2015 and 2022 in the EP, CA, WO, US, and CN patent offices.



Image from: US10844411B2


Pre-treatment of feedstock

Patent application US20190203219A1 by J. Craig Venter Institute (US) proposes an engineered microalgae as a source of lipids for biodiesel fuel production. The engineered microalgae have an enhanced expression level of a protein for carbon assimilation or reduced expression level of a protein for nitrogen assimilation. The proposed microalgae are, for example, Phaeodactylum tricornutum or Thalassiosira pseudonana, containing a nucleic acid to encode "…a protein that facilitates carbon assimilation operably linked to an exogenous transcription control element". As an example, the authors propose pyr-decarboxylase as such protein, while for the transcription control element the authors propose the fucoxanthin binding protein promoter. The authors further propose an engineered microalgae containing a nucleic acid to encode "…an RNAi molecule that is an inhibitor of the expression of the protein that facilitates nitrogen assimilation". Protein for this purpose can be selected from nitrate reductase, nitrate transporter, NADPH nitrate reductase, etc., while the fucoxanthin binding protein promoter is proposed as the transcription control element. In the microalgae of the invention, "…a gene encoding a nitrogen assimilation protein contains a mutation that reduces the expression or activity of the protein".

The authors point out the need in microalgae capable of maintaining a lipid-rich phenotype in cell division conditions to enhance microalgae as a source for biofuels precursors.

The application belongs to a patent family comprising 6 documents published between 2012 and 2021 in WO and US.



Image from: US20190203219A1

Patent application US20210355512A1 filed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US), Western Washington University (US), and Marine Biological Laboratory (US) and published on 29.07.2021 discloses a method of preparing marine algae for further fuel production. The method comprises growing an algal mariculture (Isochrysis, Emiliania, or Gephyrocapsa families) containing at least 5% alkenones, employing a non-polar liquid solvent with no fatty acids or their derivatives to produce an extraction mixture that is further separated into fractions. A mixture of alkenones, lipids, and FAMEs is separated from the first fraction by combining it with a polar solvent or a partially polar solvent, such as chloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, formic acid, or others. Further, the isolated alkenones are recrystallized in a second solvent. The algal mariculture is then dehydrated by such methods as lyophilization, vacuum drying, etc. The invention also discloses extraction of coproducts from the other fractions produced in the method.

In the description of the invention the authors repeatedly refer to the problem of costs associated with fuel production from algae feedstock.

The patent application belongs to a family comprising 7 documents, all published in the USPTO patent office during 2015-2021.



Image from: US20210355512A1

In the analysis of inventions from the pool of documents under consideration, it was found out that, although algae biofuels are a very specific area of technology, the authors of patent documents strive to extend their inventions to a wide variety of industries. Thus, individual technological processes related to feedstock preparation or fuel production can be implemented using a variety of feedstocks, including algae, agricultural or forest industry waste. Thus, a separate cluster of documents has been formed that simultaneously relates to both biofuel from algae and cellulosic ethanol technologies. Separately, it is worth paying attention to an unusually large number of patent documents related to the type of technical solution "composition". This is related to the fact that in this case a lot of inventions offer combinations or specialized adaptations of microalgae for further fuel production.

More detailed information about inventions in the field of bio energy, and patent research methodology can be found on aenert.com, in BIOENERGY. Biomass Gasification. Extended patent report. September 2021, and BIOGAS. Feedstock, Production, Treatment. Patent Database. July 2021.

By the Editorial Board