The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 29, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 02, 1995
Guo-Wei Xu, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Kenneth W Mitchell, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Daniel J Monticello, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Energy BioSystems Corporation, The Woodlands, TX (US);
Abstract
The invention relates to a method of removing metals from a fossil fuel comprising the steps of contacting the fossil fuel with an oxygenase which degrades porphyrin molecules under conditions suitable for the removal of the metals from the fossil fuel; and separating the metals from the fossil fuel. Preferred embodiments of the oxygenase include heme oxygenase and cytochrome C reductase, such as cytochrome C reductase from Bacillus megaterium, Catharanthus roseuse, Escherichia coli, animal cells, plant cells or yeast cells. The cytochrome C reductase can be contacted with the fossil fuel in an aqueous medium as a substantially cell-free preparation or cell preparation. In one embodiment of the invention, the metals are recovered from the resulting metal containing stream.