- Advanced Algae Growth System Makes Large-Scale Production of OriginOil’s Algae-to-Oil Technology Viable -
Los Angeles, CA – December 16, 2008 – OriginOil, Inc. (OTCBB: OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, announced the successful automation of its Helix BioReactor™ system. This breakthrough technology optimizes algae growth, making large-scale commercial algae production scalable.
The design of the Helix BioReactor™ utilizes low-energy lights arranged in a helix pattern and a rotating vertical shaft design, which allows algae culture to replicate exponentially within a smaller installation footprint. Automation of this system is a key step towards continuous algae production, allowing greater control of the growth environment and efficient, low-cost industrial algae production.
“Algae is such a fantastic biofuel source because it grows quickly, is inexpensive to harvest and provides abundant amounts of oil relative to its size. The successful automation of our Helix BioReactor™ is an enormous leap for us, as it brings us one step closer to ending the world’s reliance on petroleum,” said OriginOil founder and chief executive officer, Riggs Eckelberry.
The automation will provide real-time control over all stages of monitoring, nutrient injection and CO2 delivery at the micron or Quantum Fracturing™ level. Nutrient and CO2 delivery are timed precisely to a proprietary algorithm to provide an optimum micron-mixed fluid in the bioreactor. Through programming of certain key metrics, such as pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and temperature, the system is capable of not only monitoring but also controlling flow and timing of events in the algae growth cycle, which is crucial to controlling batch health in continuous algae production.
Nicholas Eckelberry, co-founder of OriginOil, concluded: “By understanding the underlying code issues in the software design, we can utilize this information in our upcoming larger bioreactor versions, which is imperative to establishing algae as a true solution within the energy sector.”
About OriginOil, Inc.
OriginOil helps algae growers extract oil from algae for use as a feedstock for the commercial production of transportation fuels, chemicals and foods. In a single step, our breakthrough technology efficiently dewaters and breaks down algae for its useful products, overcoming one of the greatest challenges in making algae a viable replacement for petroleum. As a pioneer and the emerging leader in the global algae oil services field, OriginOil supports its core algae extraction technology with an array of process innovations for some of the world’s most successful algae growers and refiners, just as pioneers like Schlumberger and Halliburton have done in the oilfield services industry. To learn more about OriginOil®, please visit our website at www.originoil.com.
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