A solid/fluid separation module (300) and press comprises at least one filter unit (301) for a solid/fluid separating press having a barrel with a core opening (112) for at least one conveyor screw. The filter unit includes a pair of end plates (321,322) and a plurality of intermediate filter plates (314) placed one behind the other and sealingly compressed into a plate stack (310) between the end plates. Each intermediate plate (314) has at least one drainage perforation (362) separate from the core opening, the core opening and drainage perforation each extending from a front face to a back face of the intermediate filter plate. In the filter unit, all end plates and barrel plates are aligned such that the core openings form the core passage of the filter block and such that the drainage perforations form an internal fluid collection chamber (338) within the filter unit.
B01D 25/12 - Filter presses, i.e. of the plate or plate and frame type
B30B 9/16 - Presses specially adapted for particular purposes for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material, e.g. juice from fruits, oil from oil-containing material using pressing worms or screws co-operating with a permeable casing operating with two or more screws or worms
B01D 29/46 - Edge filtering elements, i.e. using contiguous impervious surfaces of flat, stacked bodies
B01D 29/44 - Edge filtering elements, i.e. using contiguous impervious surfaces
A solid/fluid separation module and press enables treatment of solids with enclosed fluids to generate a filtered mass having a solids content above 50%. A split filter module with first and second filter blocks clamped together for forming barrel sections or filtering sections is disclosed for use in a solid/fluid separating device including a barrel and a conveyor screw in the barrel. The split filter module permits replacement, maintenance, or repair of the filter blocks without disassembly or the separating device, or removal of the conveyor screws.
B30B 9/12 - Presses specially adapted for particular purposes for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material, e.g. juice from fruits, oil from oil-containing material using pressing worms or screws co-operating with a permeable casing
B30B 9/16 - Presses specially adapted for particular purposes for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material, e.g. juice from fruits, oil from oil-containing material using pressing worms or screws co-operating with a permeable casing operating with two or more screws or worms
B01D 25/12 - Filter presses, i.e. of the plate or plate and frame type
C12P 7/04 - Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group acyclic
C12P 7/64 - FatsFatty oilsEster-type waxesHigher fatty acids, i.e. having at least seven carbon atoms in an unbroken chain bound to a carboxyl groupOxidised oils or fats
C12F 3/02 - Recovery of by-products of carbon dioxide
C12P 3/00 - Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide
A process and system for producing a synthetic hydrocarbon having a desired H/C ratio is disclosed. Organic material is biochemically digested in a two stage biodigester for separately producing a hydrogen containing biogas substantially free of methane in a first stage and a methane containing biogas in a second stage. The methane containing biogas is reformed in a first reformer to generate hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide gas, which are then combined in a mixer with the hydrogen containing biogas into a syngas in amounts to achieve in the syngas an overall H/C ratio substantially equal to the desired H/C ratio. The syngas is reacted with a catalyst in a second reformer, a Fischer- Tropsch (FT) reactor, to produce the hydrocarbon. Using a two stage biodigester allows for the generation of separate hydrogen and methane streams, a more economical generation of the FT syngas and reduced fouling of the FT catalyst.
C10L 1/04 - Liquid carbonaceous fuels essentially based on blends of hydrocarbons
C01B 3/34 - Production of hydrogen or of gaseous mixtures containing hydrogen by reaction of gaseous or liquid organic compounds with gasifying agents, e.g. water, carbon dioxide, air by reaction of hydrocarbons with gasifying agents
C07C 1/04 - Preparation of hydrocarbons from one or more compounds, none of them being a hydrocarbon from oxides of carbon from carbon monoxide with hydrogen
C10G 1/00 - Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal
C10G 2/00 - Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures of undefined composition from oxides of carbon
C10G 50/00 - Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from lower carbon number hydrocarbons, e.g. by oligomerisation
C12M 1/00 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology
C12M 1/107 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology with means for collecting fermentation gases, e.g. methane
C12P 3/00 - Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide
The present invention provides a system that has been devised to overcome the two most important limitations for sustained biological hydrogen production, namely contamination of the microbial hydrogen-producing cultures with methane-producing cultures necessitating frequent re-start-up and/or other methanogenic bacteria inactivation techniques, and the low bacterial yield of hydrogen-producers culminating in microbial washout from the system and failure. The system includes a continuously stirred bioreactor (CSTR) for biological hydrogen production, followed by a gravity settler positioned downstream of the CSTR, which combination forms a biohydrogenator. The biomass concentration in the hydrogen reactor is kept at the desired range through biomass recirculation from the bottom of the gravity settler and/or biomass wastage from the gravity settler's underflow. The gravity setter effluent is loaded with volatile fatty acids, as a result of microbiological breakdown of the influent waste constituents by hydrogen-producing bacteria, and is an excellent substrate for methane-forming bacteria in the downstream biomethanator.
A solid/fluid separation module and apparatus enables treatment of solids with enclosed fluids to generate a filtered mass having a solids content above 50%. A split filter module with first and second filter blocks clamped together for forming barrel sections or filtering sections is disclosed for use in a solid/fluid separating device including a barrel and a conveyor screw in the barrel. The split filter module permits replacement, maintenance, or repair of the filter blocks without disassembly or the separating device, or removal of the conveyor screws.
A solid/fluid separation module and apparatus enables treatment of solid/fluid mixtures to generate a filtered mass having a solids content above 50%. A filter unit with stacked filter plates and filter passages recessed into a face of each filter plate is provided.
A food composition comprising pulverized corn germ and a fat source is described herein. The germ is derived from an isolated germ source that has not been derived from a wet milling process or extracted with organic solvent. The composition may have a paste form, which may be spreadable or flowable. The composition may include a vitamin and/or a mineral supplement, preferably from natural sources. Colorings and flavorings may be added. Cocoa may be added. The composition can be used in place of peanut butter or other spreads made with priority allergens, and thus can be used in institutional settings that have banned peanut and tree nut products. Methods of formulating the composition, as well as uses therefor, such as in confectionery, are described. The composition may be associated with health benefits.
A21D 13/08 - Pastry, e.g. cake, biscuit, puff-pastry (icing or frosting or mixes therefor A23G 3/00)
A21D 2/08 - Treatment of flour or dough by adding materials thereto before or during baking by adding organic substances
A23D 7/005 - Edible oil or fat compositions containing an aqueous phase, e.g. margarines characterised by ingredients other than fatty acid triglycerides
A23G 3/48 - Sweetmeats, confectionery or marzipanProcesses for the preparation thereof characterised by the composition containing plants or parts thereof, e.g. fruits, seeds, extracts
A device and method for controlling backpressure in a screw conveyor press including barrel and one or more conveyor screws in the housing is disclosed. The device includes a barrel block for forming an axial section of the barrel and having a pressure surface for facing the conveyor screw. At least a portion of the barrel block is deformable for adjusting a spacing between at least a portion of the pressure surface and the conveyor screw. An arrangement for deforming the deformable portion, for example a hydraulic or mechanical deforming arrangement, can be included. Substantially the whole barrel block can be made of deformable material, preferably elastically deformable material. The device can further include a casing for enclosing the barrel block and the arrangement for deforming can be positioned between the casing and the barrel block. The device provides for backpressure control independent of conveyor screw rpm.
B30B 9/00 - Presses specially adapted for particular purposes
B01D 33/25 - Filters with filtering elements which move during the filtering operation with rotary plane filtering surfaces with hollow frames axially mounted on a hollow rotary shaft
Disclosed is a solid/liquid separation apparatus including an extruder press combined with a solid/fluid separation module for separating fluid from a mass of solids compressed by the extruder at elevated pressures. The extruder includes one or more extruder screws with flighting intercalated at least along a part of the extruder barrel. The separation module forms a continuation of the barrel, receives the pressurized mass and at least a portion of the twin screws, and includes a filter pack consisting of at least one filter plate and a backer plate stacked against each filter plate, all filter and backer plates having the core opening and each filter plate having a flat plate body and a plurality of protrusions for maintaining the stacked backer plate in a spaced apart parallel orientation to the filter plate, to create an intermediate filter gap between the filter plate and the stacked backer plate, the filter gap extending from the core opening to the fluid collection chamber, the protrusions being localized deformations of the filter plate body.
A method for producing H2, VFAs and alcohols from organic material is disclosed, including the steps of introducing organic material and microorganisms into a completely mixed bioreactor for producing H2, CO2, VFAs, and alcohols; sequestering CO2 in the headspace of the reactor; recovering H2 from the headspace; and recovering a first liquid effluent including microorganisms, VFAs, and alcohols. Also disclosed is a system for producing H2, VFAs and alcohols from organic material, including a completely mixed bioreactor for dark fermentation; an input for supplying microorganisms and the organic material to be broken down; a CO2 trap in the headspace and including a solid hydroxide for sequestration of the CO2 gas from the headspace; and a gas output for removal of a gas effluent including H2 gas from the headspace. The system and method provide higher H2 production rates and a H2 stream is substantially free of CO2.
A method for producing H2, methane, VFAs and alcohols from organic material, including the steps of introducing organic material and microorganisms into a completely mixed bioreactor for producing H2, C02, VFAs, and alcohols; recovering H2 and C02; recovering a first liquid effluent including microorganisms, VFAs, and alcohols; introducing the first liquid effluent into a gravity settler for separating into a first biomass including microorganisms and a second liquid effluent including VFAs, alcohols and microorganisms; introducing the second liquid effluent into a separation module for separating into a second biomass including microorganisms and a third liquid effluent including VFAs and alcohols; recovering at least a portion of the third liquid effluent; and providing a recovered biomass by recovering at least a portion of the first biomass, the second biomass, or both, and introducing the recovered biomass into a biomethanator for production of CH4 and C02.
C12P 7/02 - Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group
C02F 11/04 - Anaerobic treatmentProduction of methane by such processes
C12M 1/107 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology with means for collecting fermentation gases, e.g. methane
C12M 1/36 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology including condition or time responsive control, e.g. automatically controlled fermentors
C12P 1/00 - Preparation of compounds or compositions, not provided for in groups , by using microorganisms or enzymesGeneral processes for the preparation of compounds or compositions by using microorganisms or enzymes
C12P 3/00 - Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide
13.
TWIN SCREW EXTRUDER PRESS FOR SOLID/FLUID SEPARATION
Disclosed is a solid/liquid separation apparatus including an extruder press combined with a solid/fluid separation module for separating fluid from a mass of solids compressed by the extruder at elevated pressures. The extruder includes two or more extruder screws with flighting intercalated at least along a part of the extruder barrel. The separation module forms a continuation of the barrel, receives the pressurized mass and at least a portion of the twin screws, and includes a filter pack consisting of a filter plate and a backer plate. The filter plate has a throughgoing filter slot extending away from a core opening and into the filter plate for directing fluid away from the core opening. The backer plate has a core opening shaped and sized equal to the barrel and defines a passage for guiding fluid collected in the filter slot to an exterior of the filter pack.
A method for producing hydrogen from organic material. Organic material and hydrogen-producing microorganisms are provided in a completely mixed bioreactor for breaking down the organic material into H2, CO2, fatty acids,and alcohols. H2, CO2, and a first liquid effluent are recovered from the completely mixed bioreactor. The first liquid effluent includes hydrogen-producing microorganisms, fatty acids, and alcohols. The first liquid effluent is provided into a gravity settler for separating the first liquid effluent into a concentrated biomass (including hydrogen-producing microorganisms) and a second liquid effluent (including at least a portion of the fatty acids and the alcohols). The concentrated biomass is provided into the completely mixed bioreactor. An input voltage is applied to at least one of the completely mixed bioreactor and the gravity settler for facilitating an electrohydrogenesis process therein.
C12P 3/00 - Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide
C12M 1/42 - Apparatus for the treatment of microorganisms or enzymes with electrical or wave energy, e.g. magnetism, sonic wave
C12N 13/00 - Treatment of microorganisms or enzymes with electrical or wave energy, e.g. magnetism, sonic waves
C12P 1/00 - Preparation of compounds or compositions, not provided for in groups , by using microorganisms or enzymesGeneral processes for the preparation of compounds or compositions by using microorganisms or enzymes
C12P 7/02 - Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group
C12P 7/64 - FatsFatty oilsEster-type waxesHigher fatty acids, i.e. having at least seven carbon atoms in an unbroken chain bound to a carboxyl groupOxidised oils or fats
C25B 1/00 - Electrolytic production of inorganic compounds or non-metals
15.
Method and system for electro-assisted hydrogen production from organic material
2, and a first liquid effluent are recovered from the completely mixed bioreactor. The first liquid effluent includes hydrogen-producing microorganisms, fatty acids, and alcohols. The first liquid effluent is provided into a gravity settler for separating the first liquid effluent into a concentrated biomass (including hydrogen-producing microorganisms) and a second liquid effluent (including at least a portion of the fatty acids and the alcohols). The concentrated biomass is provided into the completely mixed bioreactor. An input voltage is applied to at least one of the completely mixed bioreactor and the gravity settler for facilitating an electrohydrogenesis process therein.
C12M 1/42 - Apparatus for the treatment of microorganisms or enzymes with electrical or wave energy, e.g. magnetism, sonic wave
C25B 9/00 - Cells or assemblies of cellsConstructional parts of cellsAssemblies of constructional parts, e.g. electrode-diaphragm assembliesProcess-related cell features
A process for separation of solid and liquid components in a distillation whole stillage utilizing airless spray drying is disclosed, which is more efficient and economical than conventional processes. In the process, distillation whole stillage resulting from distillation of fermented biomass is first subjected to an evaporation step for separating the whole stillage into a condensate and a concentrate including water, dissolved solids and suspended solids. The concentrate is then subjected to airless steam spray drying for converting the concentrate into dried solids, steam and vapors. All steam and vapors resulting from the airless steam spray drying step are then redirected as energy source to a processing step upstream of the airless spray drying step. At least some of the steam generated in the airless spray drying step is airless steam.
Disclosed is a method of pretreating biomass in two pretreatment stages as part of a biofuel production process. The first stage pretreatment is carried out by heating the biomass to a first stage temperature of 140°C to 180°C for a first stage time of 30 minutes to 2 hours at a first stage pressure of 105 to 150 psig; and the second stage is carried out by heating the biomass to a second stage temperature of 190°C to 210°C for a second stage time of 2 to 10 minutes at a second stage pressure of 167 to 262 psig. The biomass may be initially conditioned prior to the first pretreatment stage by atmospheric steam heating and adjusting the moisture content of the biomass. Hemicellulose and inhibitors (inhibitory compounds) to downstream hydrolysis and fermentation are preferably removed between the first and second pretreating stages, more preferably after each pretreatment stage.
Disclosed is an improvement in a conventional process for C5 and C6 sugar recovery from lignocellulosic biomass for fermentation to ethanol, which process including the conventional steps of pretreatment of the biomass with steam at elevated temperature and pressure, collection of C5 sugars from hemicellulose breakdown, cellulose hydrolysis and collection of C6 sugars from cellulose breakdown. The improvement includes conditioning of the biomass prior to the pretreatment step by heating the biomass with steam for a time period between 5 minutes to 60 minutes to achieve a steam treated biomass having a temperature of about 80 to 100oC; and adjusting a moisture content of the steam treated biomass to about 45% to 80%. An increased recovery of C5 and C6 sugars is achieved compared to the conventional process
The present invention provides a system that has been devised to overcome the two most important limitations for sustained biological hydrogen production, namely contamination of the microbial hydrogen-producing cultures with methane-producing cultures necessitating frequent re-start-up and/or other methanogenic bacteria inactivation techniques, and the low bacterial yield of hydrogen-producers culminating in microbial washout from the system and failure. The system includes a continuously stirred bioreactor (CSTR) for biological hydrogen production, followed by a gravity settler positioned downstream of the CSTR, which combination forms a biohydrogenator. The biomass concentration in the hydrogen reactor is kept at the desired range through biomass recirculation from the bottom of the gravity settler and/or biomass wastage from the gravity settler's underflow. The gravity setter effluent is loaded with volatile fatty acids, as a result of microbiological breakdown of the influent waste constituents by hydrogen-producing bacteria, and is an excellent substrate for methane-forming bacteria in the downstream biomethanator.
C12M 1/113 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology with means for collecting fermentation gases, e.g. methane with transport of the substrate during the fermentation
C12M 1/107 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology with means for collecting fermentation gases, e.g. methane
C12M 1/36 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology including condition or time responsive control, e.g. automatically controlled fermentors
C12P 3/00 - Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide
The present invention provides a system that has been devised to overcome the two most important limitations for sustained biological hydrogen production, namely contamination of the microbial hydrogen-producing cultures with methane-pro-ducing cultures necessitating frequent re-start-up and/or other methanogenic bacteria inactivation techniques, and the low bacteri-al yield of hydrogen-producers culminating in microbial washout from the system and failure. The system includes a continuously stirred bioreactor (CSTR) for biological hydrogen production, followed by a gravity settler positioned downstream of the CSTR, which combination forms a biohydrogenator. The biomass concentration in the hydrogen reactor is kept at the desired range through biomass recirculation from the bottom of the gravity settler and/or biomass wastage from the gravity settler's underflow. The gravity setter effluent is loaded with volatile fatty acids, as a result of microbiological breakdown of the influent waste con-stituents by hydrogen-producing bacteria, and is an excellent substrate for methane- forming bacteria in the downstream biomethanator.
C02F 3/00 - Biological treatment of water, waste water, or sewage
C02F 11/04 - Anaerobic treatmentProduction of methane by such processes
C12M 1/00 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology
C12M 1/113 - Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology with means for collecting fermentation gases, e.g. methane with transport of the substrate during the fermentation
patents
