Stillage clarification
OwnerAshley Whittington, Scott Kohlinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stillage clarification process and related system include using hydrocyclones and high recovery disc centrifuges for fractionation of stillage from a grain ethanol plant and splitting the stillage into fractions with mass and compositional assays per bushel of grain processed. The fractions include a first fraction comprising 45% to 70% protein and 3% to 8% fat, a second fraction comprising distillers corn oil, a third fraction comprising a fiber having made up of approximately 22% to 28% protein and less than 8% fat, and a fourth fraction comprising at least 30% soluble protein and less than 3% fat.
Claims9
A stillage clarification process comprising the step of:
- splitting whole stillage into a plurality of fractions, said fractions comprising:
- a) a first fraction enriched with insoluble protein, said first fraction having a yield of 0.8-3.5 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, and comprising 45% to 70% protein, and 3% to 8% fat, each on a dry matter basis;
- b) a second fraction comprising distillers corn oil with a yield of at least 1.0 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis;
- c) a third fraction enriched with fiber, said third fraction having a yield of 7-10 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, and comprising 13% to 17% fiber, 22% to 28% protein, and less than 8% fat, each on a dry matter basis;
- and
- d) a fourth fraction enriched with soluble protein, said fourth fraction having a yield of 4.4-4.8 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, comprising at least 30% soluble protein and not more than 3% fat, each on a dry matter basis;
- wherein said step of splitting said whole stillage comprises (i) first separating at least one of said whole stillage and a portion of said whole stillage by at least one of a static density separation process and a static settling velocity separation process, and (ii) then separating a portion of said whole stillage by a mechanical separation process.
A stillage clarification system comprising:
- a hydrocyclone;
- a disk centrifuge;
- and
- a decanter centrifuge;
- wherein said hydrocyclone is configured to receive whole stillage, said whole stillage is a by-product from the production of grain ethanol,
- wherein said disk centrifuge is configured to receive an overflow from said hydrocyclone,
- wherein said decanter centrifuge is configured to receive an underflow from said hydrocyclone, and
- wherein said stillage clarification system is configured to split said whole stillage into a plurality of fractions, said fractions comprising:
- a) a first fraction enriched with insoluble protein, said first fraction having a yield of 0.8-3.5 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, and comprising 45% to 70% protein and 3% to 8% fat, each on a dry matter basis;
- b) a second fraction comprising distillers corn oil with a yield of at least 1.0 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis;
- c) a third fraction enriched with fiber, said third fraction having a yield of 7-10 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, and comprising 22% to 28% protein and less than 8% fat, each on a dry matter basis;
- and
- d) a fourth fraction enriched with soluble protein, said fourth fraction having a yield of 4.4-4.8 pounds per bushel on a dry matter basis, and comprising at least 30% soluble protein and not more than 3% fat, each on a dry matter basis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.