Enhancer Fossil fuels

C.W. Kauffman, J.A. NichoUs, Gaseous detonative fracture of porous materials for enhanced fossil fuel utilization and recovery. UM-016693-F, 1981... 

US5985650 [47] desulfurization of fossil fuel with flavoprotein. biodesulfurization of a fossil fuel by adding an amount of a flavoprotein to the biocatalytic reaction mixture. The flavoprotein amount enhances the biodesulfurization rate by at least 25% in comparison to the rate employing the biocatalyst alone. Incubation and separation complete the process scheme. 

A BDS method consisting in the incubation of a mixture formed by a fossil fuel and an aqueous phase containing a biocatalyst and a rate-enhancing amount of a protein having NADH FMN oxidoreductase activity or enzymatically active mutant thereof. The oxidoreductase has the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID No. 2, described in the original document (see Ref. [57]). A separation stage is also claimed. 

The discovery that the rate of reaction of the desulfurization of fossil fuels is enhanced by the addition of a flavoprotein to the biocatalyst was then claimed in the other two family patents. So, the patents are related to the use of a flavoprotein, particularly FMN reductase, in addition to the biocatalytic material for increasing the rate of desulfurization. In the World patent, ten more claims were allowed, compared to the US issued patent. The excess claims include a set of dependant claims in which the microorganism containing the recombinant DNA molecule is considered. However, in the invention a two-step process is stated, it is just the contact between the fossil fuel with an aqueous phase containing a biocatalyst and a rate-enhancing amount of a flavoprotein. There is no indication whatsoever on how much that amount could be. 

There is further the Weyburn field in Canada, where C02 from the Dakota gasification plant is used for enhanced oil recovery. The Weyburn case stands for an example of the use of C02 from a fossil-fuel plant for enhanced oil recovery and for underground storage. Nevertheless this activity is also performed within the context of hydrocarbon recovery, where special regulations apply in many countries worldwide. 

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