Demineralisation of organic tissue
AssigneeMarine Bioenergy AS
InventorsArnstein Haugen, Torstein Frantzen, Eirik Elje, Andrew Charles Dustan, Bjørn Liaset, Kjartan Sandnes
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Abstract
A method of processing an organic feedstock comprising mineralised tissues comprise: carrying out enzymatic hydrolysis of the organic feedstock to produce hydrolysis fractions and mineralised tissue remnants, wherein the mineralised tissue remnants comprise a proteinaceous portion; separating the mineralised tissue remnants from the hydrolysis fractions; and demineralising the mineralised tissue remnants to produce solubilised minerals and demineralised tissue remnants.
Claims46
A method of processing an organic feedstock comprising mineralised tissues, the method comprising:
- carrying out enzymatic hydrolysis of the organic feedstock to produce hydrolysis fractions and mineralised tissue remnants;
- separating the mineralised tissue remnants from the hydrolysis fractions;
- demineralising the mineralised tissue remnants to produce solubilised minerals and demineralised tissue remnants.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein demineralising the mineralised tissue remnants comprises treating them with an acid solution in order to solubilise the minerals.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein demineralisation of the mineralised tissue remnants is carried out for between 30 to 180 minutes.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the demineralisation of the mineralised tissue remnants is carried out at a temperature between 30 and 70 degrees centigrade.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising separating the solubilised minerals from the demineralised tissue remnants.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising separating the hydrolysis fractions into:
- an aqueous fraction comprising water with dissolved protein, polypeptides and amino acids;
- a sediment fraction comprising insoluble proteins;
- and an oil fraction.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising carrying out a second enzymatic hydrolysis process on a portion of the demineralised tissue remnants, wherein the second enzymatic hydrolysis process optionally comprises use of a protease.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising recycling a portion of the demineralised tissue remnants back into the organic feedstock for enzymatic hydrolysis.
The method of any preceding claim, comprising drying a portion of the demineralised tissue remnants, and/or drying a portion of the mineralised tissue remnants.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the enzymatic hydrolysis of the organic feedstock and/or demineralising the mineralised tissue remnants takes place in a rotating drum reactor, wherein the rotating drum reactor comprises:
- a drum which is rotatable about a central longitudinal axis of the drum, optionally wherein the central longitudinal axis is substantially horizontal;
- an inlet at a first point on the drum;
- a screw within the drum, wherein the screw includes a helical blade extending along the length of the drum with the outer edge of the helical blade being fixed to the inner surface of the drum such that material can be conveyed and mixed by the helical blade as the drum rotates;
- an outlet at a second point along the drum.
The method of any preceding claim, further comprising:
- grinding the organic feedstock prior to carrying out the enzymatic hydrolysis.
A processing plant for processing an organic feedstock comprising mineralised tissue, the processing plant comprising:
- a first reaction vessel configured to perform enzymatic hydrolysis of the organic feedstock;
- a first separator configured to receive the output from the first reaction vessel, for separating mineralised tissue remnants output from the first reaction vessel from hydrolysis fractions output from the first reaction vessel;
- and
- a second reaction vessel configured to perform demineralisation of the mineralised tissue remnants to produce demineralised tissue remnants and solubilised minerals.
A method of demineralising mineralised tissues, the method comprising;
- mixing the mineralised tissues with an acid solution in order to solubilise the minerals in the mineralised tissues, wherein
- mixing the mineralised tissues with the acid solution takes place in a rotating drum reactor, the rotating drum reactor comprising:
- a drum which is rotatable about a central longitudinal axis of the drum;
- an inlet at a first point on the drum;
- a screw within the drum, wherein the screw comprises a helical blade extending along the length of the drum with the outer edge of the helical blade being fixed to the inner surface of the drum such that material can be conveyed and mixed by the helical blade as the drum rotates;
- and
- an outlet at a second point along the drum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.