A patent application which covers the “Method and Fluid Process Flow System for the Cultivation of Algae, Integrated within a Transportable Modular Photo Bioreactor,” has been filed by Californian company Origin Oil, it was announced today (2nd June).  This is the third patent application filed by the company in this area.

According to the application the system will allow both horizontal and vertical stacking of many Helix BioReactors™ (OriginOil’s recently patented system to enhance and optimize algae growth) into an integrated network of fully automated, portable, and remotely monitored growth units.

“OriginOil’s system addresses two key areas: growth of the algae and extraction of the oil,” said Nicholas Eckelberry, OriginOil’s director of development and an inventor of the Transportable Modular Photo Bioreactor. “By using a modular design, we can connect a large number of Helix BioReactors to a small number of extraction units to achieve economies of scale and higher production of algae oil.”

“This is an important patent filing as it helps to enable the industrialization of algae production,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil’s president and CEO. “As we envision it, the system is modular, stackable, truckable, self-sufficient, adaptable, fully remote-manageable, and, most of all, scalable.”