NanoLogix Receives $1 Million to Accelerate Biohydrogen Research & Development

7 August 2006

NanoLogix, a nano-biotechnology company engaged in the development and commercialization of technologies for the creation of hydrogen bioreactors, has received $1 million in interim funding from a California financial group. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.

Net proceeds will be used to further the research and development of its proprietary hydrogen bioreactor technology, processes and applications. NanoLogix is currently focused on producing hydrogen from industrial and municipal wastewater streams, and is researching the potential of agricultural feedstock to create new sources of hydrogen.

In June, the company signed an agreement for the construction and operation of a prototype hydrogen bioreactor at the City of Erie wastewater treatment plant. (Earlier post.) nanologix is also operating a hydrogen bioractor at a Welch’s Food plant.

NanoLogix, originally founded in 1989 as InfecTech for the development of diagnostic kits for infectious diseases, uses its patented bacterial culturing methods with Clostridia bacteria for hydrogen production.

In a natural fermentative process, some of the hydrogen produced by Clostridia would be used (inter-species transfer) by methane-producing bacteria (methanogens) in the inoculum. Reducing or eliminating the methanogens is one approach to increasing the ultimate yield of hydrogen.

Researchers have found that heat treatment is one of the effective techniques for accomplishing that. A Clostridium bacterium will form a bacterial spore in the presence of heat, and survive. The methanogens are non-spore-forming; the heat kills them. The application of the heat process thus effectively selects for the Clostridia population and so for production of hydrogen while eliminating the competing process of methanogenesis.

NanoLogix’ process is based on combining the bacterial production of hydrogen with excess industrial heat.

In studies of a prototype, NanoLogix found that the bioreactor produced biogas consisting of 50% hydrogen by volume, without any trace of methane.