Archive
BIOENERGY. Latest published applications 2015-2017. Biogas
Summary
Biogas production is an eco-friendly strategy for energy production from biomass as even its residue can be used as a soil conditioner. Biogas is usually produced by the anaerobic biological breakdown of organic matter. It primarily consists of methane and carbon dioxide. Flammable methane is the main component of biomass (around 80%) and the main energy source. It can be used in boilers for heat as well as energy generation. A typical biogas production process uses a fair amount of equipment and space. It usually comprises, for example, a preliminary pit, a chopper, a primary digester, a mixer, heating units, pipes (gas and liquid), a secondary digester, a gas holder, gas generator, a separator, a water reservoir, heat exchangers, a heating system and electricity supply. In recent years scientists who are concerned with developing technologies and equipment for biogas production have primarily focused on problems pertaining to primary processing, pre-treatment of feedstock, finishing treatment and methods of control and diagnostics. The applications discussed in the current bulletin are aimed at solving these shortcomings.
A selection of patent applications related to biogas and published by patent offices around the globe in 2015-2017 is provided for review in the present bulletin. General research methodology can be found at the Advanced Energy Technologies website. The present bulletin includes 2513 patent applications, prepared by applicants from 48 countries and registered in 44 patent offices. The patent documents mention 1131 applicants and 1093 IPC subgroups.
Key Highlights
The bulletin contains statistical data on the distribution of patent documents by years, by patent offices and by applicant countries, applicant-related data (residents and non-residents), data on the most frequently mentioned International Patent Classification divisions (sections, classes, subclasses, groups, and subgroups). The top three patent offices that registered the largest number of patent applications were CNIPA (CN), WIPO and USPTO (US).
Based on the analysis of each of the patent applications, internal characteristics of unified indicators (technical problems, types of inventive solutions, belonging to one or other technological segment) were found, which allowed specific features for each of the indicators for the entire array of documents to be defined, for instance, to define the leading problems or technical solution types that were disclosed by the inventors the most. Document lists are provided for the ten most popular groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators, including their ID numbers and applicant names.
The following information can be found for the top 10 applicants: breakdown of applications by problems, IPC sections, patent offices, technological indicators, as well as the estimation of their share in the established intellectual property market. The 10 leading applicants by the number of patent documents were: DSM IP Assets B.V. (NL), BASF, SE (DE), Evonik Fibres Gmbh (AT), Fang Huachun (CN), Biogas Science Research Institute (CN), Pan Lei (CN), Osaka Gas Corporation (JP), Li Jun 6,7 (CN), Air Liquide (FR), Lu Yongzhu (CN).
The top prominent documents section includes three lists of the top 10 patent applications having the highest bibliographical rating, the largest number of IPC sections, and those not being a part of patent family.
The conclusive part of the bulletin represents the lists of all of the documents reviewed, arranged by the top 10 groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators and by patent offices with the indication of the ID numbers of the registered patent applications.
Who needs this bulletin?
The proposed patent statistics bulletin allows the existing trends in the intellectual property market of the specified industrial sector to be timely traced, as well as the possibility of acquiring a carefully selected list of patent documents fully corresponding to the specified subject. The bulletin can be useful for inventors, engineers, scientific workers, and business representatives, who are focused on the development of biogas production technologies.
