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US 10,654,945 B2Granted
Process for extracting latex, resin and rubber from guayule plants
AssigneeVersalis S.P.A.
InventorsCecilia Querci, Alessandro Del Seppia, Mirko Oliosi, Tommaso Prando
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the industrial sector of extracting and processing natural rubber, and other components, from plant material. In particular, the invention relates to a process for extracting latex, resin and rubber from guayule and/or guayule-type plants, which comprises harvest, preservation, mechanical and chemical treatment of the plant parts, which is applicable both in the laboratory and on an industrial scale and is characterised by significantly high yields and high quality of the extracted products.
Claims29
Process for extracting latex, resin and rubber from guayule plants, comprising:
- a. harvesting the guayule plants;
- b. defoliating said plants;
- c. preserving the defoliated plants in an environment under controlled temperature and relative humidity, for a time of between 7 and 21 days, such that the residual moisture present in the plant is maintained in the range of 30-45%;
- d. immersing the defoliated plants in a basic aqueous solution which comprises a stabilising system;
- e. grinding said defoliated plants immersed in said basic aqueous solution to obtain an aqueous suspension of plant material comprising plant fragments;
- f. subjecting the aqueous suspension obtained in step “e” to filtration/pressing to separate a first miscella comprising said latex from a first bagasse;
- g. recovering the concentrated latex from said first miscella;
- h. dispersing said first bagasse in a polar solvent system, comprising at least one polar organic solvent and a stabilising system, to obtain a suspension;
- i. subjecting the suspension obtained in step “h” to filtration/pressing to separate a second miscella comprising said resin from a second bagasse;
- j. removing the at least one polar organic solvent from said second miscella to obtain the concentrated resin;
- k. removing the at least one polar organic solvent from the second bagasse obtained in step “i”;
- l. dispersing said desolventised second bagasse obtained in step “k” in a nonpolar solvent system, comprising at least one nonpolar organic solvent and a stabilising system, to obtain a suspension;
- m. subjecting the suspension obtained in step “l” to filtration/pressing to separate a third miscella comprising said rubber from a third bagasse;
- n. removing the at least one nonpolar organic solvent from the third miscella to obtain the rubber in the solid state;
- o. removing the at least one nonpolar organic solvent from the third bagasse obtained in step “m”.
12 more elements
Process for extracting latex, resin and rubber from guayule plants, comprising:
- a. harvesting the guayule plants;
- b. defoliating said plants;
- c. preserving the defoliated plants in an environment under controlled temperature and relative humidity, for a time of between 7 and 21 days, such that the residual moisture present in the plant is maintained in the range of 30-45%;
- d. grinding said defoliated plants;
- e. immersing said ground defoliated plants in a basic aqueous solution which comprises a stabilising system to obtain an aqueous suspension of plant material comprising plant fragments;
- f. subjecting the aqueous suspension obtained in step “e” to filtration/pressing to separate a first miscella comprising said latex from a first bagasse;
- g. recovering the concentrated latex from said first miscella;
- h. dispersing said first bagasse in a polar solvent system, comprising at least one polar organic solvent and a stabilising system, to obtain a suspension;
- i. subjecting the suspension obtained in step “h” to filtration/pressing to separate a second miscella comprising said resin from a second bagasse;
- j. removing the at least one polar organic solvent from said second miscella to obtain the concentrated resin;
- k. removing the at least one polar organic solvent from the second bagasse obtained in step “i”;
- l. dispersing said desolventised second bagasse obtained in step “k” in a nonpolar solvent system, comprising at least one nonpolar organic solvent and a stabilising system, to obtain a suspension;
- m. subjecting the suspension obtained in step “l” to filtration/pressing to separate a third miscella comprising said rubber from a third bagasse;
- n. removing the at least one nonpolar organic solvent from the third miscella to obtain the rubber in the solid state;
- o. removing the at least one nonpolar organic solvent from the third bagasse obtained in step “m”.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.