Method for constructing a diversity index and a viability index of microorganisms in process samples

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9295745-B2
Application number	US-201213550748-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2012
Priority date	Jan 24, 2012
Publication date	Mar 29, 2016
Grant date	Mar 29, 2016

Abstract

The invention is directed towards methods and compositions for identifying the specific microorganisms present in a particular portion of a papermaking processes. The method involves obtaining and comparing a diversity index of a sample from the process. Because no system is completely free from biological infestation, utilizing information taken from the changes in the populations provides information useful in protecting the system from unwanted effects. Not only does the diversity index allow for the distinguishing between biological and non-biological events, it even allows for the prediction of problems without previously knowing that a particular organism will cause a particular problem.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of addressing a microorganism infestation in an industrial process system, the method comprising the steps of:
taking at least one first measurement which identifies the relative concentration of two or more organisms present in at least one portion of the industrial process system,
taking at least one second measurement which identifies the relative concentration of two or more organisms present in the at least one portion of the industrial process system, the identifications at least partially defining a subsequent diversity index, the at least one second measurement taken later than the first measurement(s),
noting any relative change in concentration of the two organisms,
if the relative concentration of one of the measured organisms exceeds a pre-determined threshold amount, determining if the change is associated with an unwanted effect on the industrial process system, and
implementing a remedy to remediate the unwanted effect
wherein regardless of the identity of the at least one organisms, if their relative concentrations increase relative to the prior measurement by an amount more than the threshold even if the overall biological population remains the same, a biocide treatment is added to the system.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the first and second measurement are performed by at least one item selected from the list consisting of DNA analysis, PCR analysis, qPCR analysis, and any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the threshold amount is 10 4 cells per ml of fluid taken from the system or 10 4 cells per gram of an end product of the industrial process or of a solid sample from the industrial process.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of identifying if one of the organisms is a pioneer and if one is an adaptor, if one is a pioneer and its concentration increases by more than the threshold in the subsequent index, the remediation includes applying a biocide regimen targeting the pioneer, if no pioneer formers are detected the remediation includes identifying and eliminating a non-biological vector which facilitates the settlement of the microorganisms.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of identifying if one of the organisms is a pioneer and if one is an opportunist, if one is a pioneer and its concentration increases by more than the threshold in the subsequent index, the remediation includes applying a biocide regimen targeting the pioneer, if no pioneers are detected the remediation includes identifying and eliminating a non-biological vector which facilitates the settlement of the microorganisms.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of correlating the change in diversity index to another event that occurred in the industrial system, the other event selected from the list consisting of: changing the source of at least one feed material, changing the kind of at least one feed material, changing the rate of operating at least a portion of the system, and any combination thereof, and reversing the event.

7. The method of claim 1 in which the overall concentration of cells in the sample remains unchanged between the first and second measurements.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the measurements are taken in a portion of system that a deposit has formed on and the deposit does not contain any significant biological component.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the measurements are taken in over a plurality of locations throughout the system and the indices compare overall system populations.

10. The method of claim 1 in which at least one third diversity index measurement is taken subsequent to the second measurement and subsequent to the remediation and the efficacy of the remediation is evaluated by the change in the relative concentrations of the at least two organisms as measured in the third diversity index measurement.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the overall concentration of cells in the sample remains unchanged between the first and second measurements, the identity of the first and second organisms are not known to cause any unwanted effects on the process equipment or end product, and an effective biocide is added to the system to kill the first and second organisms when a threshold change is detected.

12. The method of claim 1 in which one of the organisms is capable of forming spores which are resistant to biocides and when the relative amount of that organism grows in excess of the threshold, treatment is targeted to the area of the process with vegetative cells to prevent sporulation.

13. A method of addressing a microorganism infestation in an industrial process system, the method comprising the steps of:
taking at least one first measurement which identifies the relative concentration of at least one organism present in at least one portion of the industrial process system,
determining if the concentration of the at least one organism exceeds a predetermined threshold for that organism,
if exceeding, determining if the threshold exceeding organism is an adaptor or is an pioneer,
if an adaptor implement a remedial strategy which takes into account the organism's resistance to biocides,
if a pioneer implement a remedial strategy which utilizes a lower dosage of biocide than if the organism were an adaptor.

14. The method of claim 13 in which a measurement is also taken determining the absolute population of all microorganisms infesting the industrial process system, and
determining if the concentration of the at least one organism exceeds a predetermined threshold for that organism relative to the overall population of microorganisms,
if exceeding, determining if the threshold exceeding organism is an adaptor or is an pioneer,
if an adaptor implement a remedial strategy which takes into account the organism's resistance to biocides,
if a pioneer implement a remedial strategy which utilizes a lower dosage of biocide than if the organism were an adaptor.

15. A method of addressing a microorganism infestation in an industrial process system, the method comprising the steps of:
taking at least one first measurement which identifies the relative concentration of two or more organisms present in at least one portion of the industrial process system,
taking at least one second measurement which identifies the relative concentration of two or more organisms present in the at least one portion of the industrial process system, the identifications at least partially defining a subsequent diversity index, the at least one second measurement taken later than the first measurement(s),
noting any relative change in concentration of the two organisms,
if the relative concentration of one of the measured organisms exceeds a pre-determined threshold amount, determining if the change is associated with an unwanted effect on the industrial process system, and
implementing a remedy to remediate the unwanted effect;
the method further comprising the step of correlating the change in diversity index to another event that occurred in the industrial system, the other event selected from the list consisting of: changing the source of at least one feed material, changing the kind of at least one feed material, changing the rate of operating at least a portion of the system, and any combination thereof, and reversing the event.

Assignees

• Rice Laura E
• Lund Liliya
• Nalco Co

Inventors

• Rice Laura E
• Lund Liliya

Classifications

• A61L2202/14

  Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs · CPC title

• A61L2/24 Primary

  Apparatus using programmed or automatic operation · CPC title

• C12Q1/689

  for bacteria · CPC title