296 results about "Commercial scale" patented technology

A composite membrane and method for making the same, comprising a porous support and a polyamide surface. The subject membrane provides improved flux and / or rejection rates. The subject membrane is further capable of operating at lower operating pressures. The subject method includes reacting a polyfunctional amine with a polyfunctional acyl halide to form a polyamide. The method includes the step of contacting a complexing agent with the polyfunctional acyl halide prior substantial reaction between the polyfunctional acyl halide and a polyfunctional amine. The subject process is easily adapted to commercial scale manufacturing processes and is particularly suited for making nanofiltration and reverse osmosis composite membranes.

A thin film barrier structure and process is disclosed, which is seen as particularly useful for use in devices that require protection from such common environmental species as oxygen and water. The disclosed barrier structure is of particular utility for such devices as implemented on flexible substrates, such as may be desirable for OLED-based or LCD-based devices. The disclosed barrier structure provides superior barrier properties, flexibility, as well as commercial-scale reproducibility, through the use of a novel organic / inorganic nanocomposite structure formed by infiltration of a porous inorganic layer by an organic material. The composite structure is produced by vacuum deposition techniques in the first preferred embodiment.

Commercial size of spending wallet (“SoSW”) is the total business spend of a business including cash but excluding bartered items. Commercial share of wallet (“SoW”) is the portion of the spending wallet that is captured by a particular financial company. Commercial SoW is a modeling approach that utilizes various data sources to provide outputs that describe a company's spend capacity. These outputs can be appended to data profiles of customers and prospects and can be utilized to support decisions involving prospecting, new account evaluation, and customer management across the lifecycle. Company financial statements are utilized to identify and calculate total business spend of a company that could be transacted using a commercial credit card. A spend-like regression model may then be developed to estimate annual commercial SoSW value for customers and prospects within a credit network.

Commercial size of spending wallet (“SoSW”) is the total business spend of a business including cash but excluding bartered items. Commercial share of wallet (“SoW”) is the portion of the spending wallet that is captured by a particular financial company. Commercial SoW is a modeling approach that utilizes various data sources to provide outputs that describe a company's spend capacity. These outputs can be appended to data profiles of customers and prospects and can be utilized to support decisions involving prospecting, new account evaluation, and customer management across the lifecycle. Company financial statements are utilized to identify and calculate total business spend of a company that could be transacted using a commercial credit card. A spend-like regression model may then be developed to estimate annual commercial SoSW value for customers and prospects within a credit network.

A method to produce on a commercial scale, high aspect ratio cellulose nanofilaments (CNF) from natural lignocellulosic fibers comprises a multi-pass high consistency refining (HCR) of chemical or mechanical fibers using combinations of refining intensity and specific energy. The CNF produced represents a mixture of fine filaments with widths in the submicron and lengths from tens of micrometers to few millimeters. The product has a population of free filaments and filaments bound to the fiber core from which they were produced. The proportion of free and bound filaments is governed in large part by total specific energy applied to the pulp in the refiner, and differs from other cellulose fibrillar materials by their higher aspect ratio and the preserved degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose, and are excellent additives for the reinforcement of paper, tissue, paperboard and the like. They display exceptional strengthening power for never-dried paper webs.

The invention relates to methods of improving protein production, e.g., large-scale commercial protein production, e.g., antibody production, utilizing a modified fed-batch cell culture method comprising a cell growth phase and a polypeptide production phase. The modified fed-batch cell culture method combines both cell culture perfusion and fed-batch methods to achieve higher titers of polypeptide products. Because the modified fed-batch cell culture method of the invention produces higher polypeptide product titers than fed-batch culture alone, it will substantially improve commercial-scale protein production. The invention also relates to a perfusion bioreactor apparatus comprising a fresh medium reservoir connected to a bioreactor by a feed pump, a recirculation loop connected to the bioreactor, wherein the recirculation loop comprises a filtration device, e.g., ultrafiltration or microfiltration, and a permeate pump connecting the filtration device to a permeate collection container.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for the extraction of high molecular weight biopolymers from plants. Specifically, invention described herein relates to the commercial processing of plant material, including that from desert plants native to the southwestern United States and Mexico, such as the guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum), for the extraction of biopolymers, including natural rubbers. More specifically, the invention relates to laboratory to commercial scale extraction of high molecular weight biopolymers from plant materials including the chemical and mechanical processing of the plants and purification of the extracted biopolymer.

An automated fluid filtration system is disclosed, the system providing flexibility and accuracy for the investigative development of liquid separation processes. The system can be used for optimizing the protocol parameters of laboratory scale separation processes towards larger, commercial scale processes. The system-operable to an unprecedented minimum reliable recirculation volume of approximately 20 milliliters-comprises: (a) a reservoir; (b) a fluid filtration module; (c) a plurality of conduits defining, together with said reservoir and said fluid filtration module, a fluid process stream through which a liquid sample is conducted; (d) a plurality of pumps positioned along said fluid process stream for driving the flow of said liquid sample therethrough; (e) a plurality of valves positioned along the fluid process stream for regulating the flow of said liquid sample therethrough; (f) a plurality of sensors positioned along said fluid process stream for acquiring data about the liquid sample as it flows therethrough; and (g) an electronic data processing network capable of (i) receiving, processing, and recording data from said pumps, valves, and sensors and from an external source (e.g., user input), and (ii) transmitting signals to the pumps, valves, and sensors to effect the operation thereof.

Methods for commercial production of transdermal formulations comprising a hormone compound are provided. In particular, methods for commercial scale production under an inert atmosphere of a transdermal formulation comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a hormone, preferably a testosterone compound, useful for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in postmenopausal women are provided.

The present invention provides modular and distributed methods and systems to convert biomass feedstocks into synthesis gas (syngas). The syngas can then be turned into liquid chemicals and fuels such as ethanol. The modular units of the invention bring the conversion process to the biomass source, thereby minimizing feedstock transportation costs. The modules are capable of being connected to, and / or disconnected from, each other to easily adjust the overall feedstock capacity. The present invention also provides methods and systems to determine an optimal number and distribution of modular conversion units spatially located within a region of land. The disclosed methods and systems are flexible, efficient, scalable, and are capable of being cost-effective at any commercial scale of operation.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for the extraction of high molecular weight biopolymers from plants. Specifically, invention described herein relates to the commercial processing of plant material, including that from desert plants native to the southwestern United States and Mexico, such as the guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum), for the extraction of biopolymers, including natural rubbers. More specifically, the invention relates to laboratory to commercial scale extraction of high molecular weight biopolymers from plant materials including the chemical and mechanical processing of the plants and purification of the extracted biopolymer.

Self-healing of a mechanical part in a mechanical system is provided, such as a self-healing part in a cutting apparatus. Differential hardness of respective parts in contact with each other is used. Undesirable damage from a foreign object in a mechanical system is managed by directing damage away from a part that is not wanted to be damaged and towards a part that may receive damage and be replaced. True zero-clearance cutting on a commercial scale is provided via a cutting area including a sacrifice material that is relatively softer than the cutter. One example is a cutting system which is capable of cutting a material such as, for example, tape or paper, into a fiber or powder. Destruction of the material is further enhanced by advantageous strategic patterning of cutting edges on a rotary cutter, and further by secondary shredding features. For example, on the same axis as the rotary cutter, may be disposed, one on each end, rotating secondary shredders that receive material that has been cut by the rotary cutter as well as material that has escaped cutting by the rotary cutter. A variety of materials, of different thicknesses and types, may be reduced to a dust or powder-size. A single destruction machine advantageously may receive (with minimal operator intervention) a mixed input load, such as a mixture of a combination of paper (including paper that is folded, ripped, stapled, or otherwise irregular), CDs, DVDs, polyester, plastic cards, SMART cards, wood, Verichips, flash drives, biometric chips, and / or other generally-planar materials.

Multivesicular liposomes are prepared at commercial scales by combining a first w / o emulsion with a second aqueous solution to form a w / o / w emulsion using a static mixer. Solvent is removed from the resulting emulsion to form multivesicular liposome-containing compositions. Further optional process steps include primary filtration and secondary cross-flow filtration. The products produced according to the processes of the invention can be produced through a series of aseptic steps.

A method for treating municipal solid waste and other waste is provided which comprises: introducing said waste into a rotary autoclave which is downwardly inclined towards its discharge end and has a door at the discharge end; and injecting steam through said door into said autoclave to treat the load. A method is also provided for treating waste, comprising steam autoclaving the waste, anaerobically digesting an organic-rich fraction of the autoclaved waste, recovering methane-containing gas from anaerobic digestion, internally combusting the methane-containing gas to generate power and exhaust gas, and generating steam for autoclaving using the waste heat. A plant for treating the waste may comprise at least one autoclave for steam treating the waste, at least one anaerobic digestion tank for digesting an organic-rich fraction of the autoclaved waste, a recovery system for recovering methane-containing gas from the or each digestion tank, at least one internal combustion engine for combusting the methane-containing gas and generating power, and a steam generator fed with combustion gas from the internal combustion engine for generating and accumulating steam for supply to said at least one autoclave. Also provided is a method of treating waste material in a rotary autoclave, which comprises: loading the waste material into a top opening of the autoclave whilst rotating the autoclave in a first direction in which screw flights within the autoclave convey the waste forwardly along a downwardly inclined body of the autoclave towards a base of the autoclave; rotating the autoclave in a second direction opposite to the first direction so as to establish a circulation of the loaded material between the upper and lower ends of the autoclave to facilitate vacuum and / or steam treatment thereof; and monitoring the load imparted by the autoclave adjacent upper and lower ends thereof during the reverse rotation, increase of the load adjacent the upper end of the autoclave providing an indication of effective load circulation. A door structure for a commercial-scale autoclave based on a castellated door and a locking ring with lock blocks of inwardly facing U-structure is also provided.