OriginOil Files International Patent for Single-Step Extraction System
Company Seeks Worldwide Protection for its Technology to Improve Efficiency of Algae Oil Extraction
Los Angeles, CA April 22, 2010 – OriginOil, Inc. (OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, recently deposited an international PCT patent application pursuant to last year’s filing of United States patent application 61/170,698 with the United States Patent Office. The international application relates to the Single-Step Extraction™ system, OriginOil’s fifth patent pending.
The application, titled “Systems, Apparatus and Methods for Obtaining Intracellular Products and Cellular Mass and Debris from Algae and Derivative Produces and Process of Use Thereof”, discloses OriginOil’s proprietary system and industrial process for dewatering algae slurry, extracting algae lipids, separating biomass, and recovering process water in an algae production system.
OriginOil’s Single Step Extraction system is classified as wet or aqueous extraction, which can bypass multiple stages in the algae harvesting process, with substantial potential energy and equipment reductions. A chart developed by oil extraction market leader Desmet Ballestra, an OriginOil partner, illustrates the relationship of aqueous extraction to conventional processes.
“International markets will be critical to the development and commercialization of algae production technologies. Our Single-Step Extraction System represents a major advance in the all-important process of harvesting algae,” said Riggs Eckelberry, CEO. “In the past year, we have improved the efficiency of our process in recovering valuable oil and biomass, eliminating many of the capital costs and energy requirements associated with conventional systems. This further protection of our intellectual property will allow us to pursue international opportunities, thereby facilitating the growth of the global algae industry.”
