Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100012596 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FILTERING A MATERIAL FROM A LIQUID MEDIUM - An apparatus for filtering a material from a medium includes a first housing having a wall with a plurality of openings formed therein, a conveyor disposed in the housing for moving the material therealong, and a conduit line communicating with the interior of the housing for supplying the medium to the apparatus. At least one of the first housing and the conveyor rotate relative to a central axis to direct the medium toward the wall so as to separate the material from the medium. A method for filtering a material from a medium includes supplying the medium to a first housing, spinning the medium within the housing, passing the medium through a wall of the housing to separate the material from the medium, moving the material along the housing, introducing a fluid into the material within the housing, and washing the material using the fluid. | 01-21-2010 |
20100307484 | Process for Steeping Corn and Steeping System Therefore - The present invention is directed to improvements in the steeping process of corn wet milling and a steeping system therefore. The process for steeping corn includes subjecting corn situated in a battery of no less than four steeping tanks to a countercurrent flow of steep water. The first steeping tank defines a new corn receiving tank and the last steeping tank defines a discharge tank. The countercurrent flow of steep water includes sulfur dioxide and flows in a direction from the discharge tank to the new corn receiving tank. The sulfur dioxide concentration in the steep water of the first steeping tank is greater than the sulfur dioxide concentrations in a plurality of the remainder of the steeping tanks, which maintain sulfur dioxide levels that are substantially equivalent. | 12-09-2010 |
20120064213 | METHODS FOR PRODUCING A HIGH PROTEIN CORN MEAL FROM A WHOLE STILLAGE BYPRODUCT AND SYSTEM THEREFORE - The present invention relates generally to corn dry-milling, and more specifically, to methods for producing a high protein corn meal from a whole stillage byproduct produced in a corn dry-milling process for making ethanol and a system therefore. In one embodiment, a method for producing a high protein corn meal from a whole stillage byproduct includes, in a corn dry-milling process for making ethanol, separating the whole stillage byproduct into an insoluble solids portion and a thin stillage portion. The thin stillage portion is separated into a protein portion and a water soluble solids portion. Next, the protein portion is dewatered then dried to define a high protein corn meal that includes at least 40 wt % protein on a dry basis. | 03-15-2012 |
20120244590 | DRY GRIND ETHANOL PRODUCTION PROCESS AND SYSTEM WITH FRONT END MILLING METHOD - A dry grind ethanol production process and system with front end milling method is provided for improving alcohol and/or by-product yields, such as oil and/or protein yields. In one example, the process includes grinding corn kernels into particles then mixing the corn particles with a liquid to produce a slurry including oil, protein, starch, fiber, germ, and grit. Thereafter, the slurry is subjected to a front end milling method, which includes separating the slurry into a solids portion, including fiber, grit, and germ, and a liquid portion, including oil, protein, and starch, then milling the separated solids portion to reduce the size of the germ and grit and release bound starch, oil, and protein from the solids portion. The starch is converted to sugar, and alcohol is produced therefrom then recovered. Also, the fiber can be separated and recovered. Oil and protein may be separated and recovered as well. | 09-27-2012 |
20130236936 | A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING HIGH VALUE BY-PRODUCTS FROM GRAINS USED FOR ALCOHOL PRODUCTION - Systems and methods are provided for separating high value by-products, such as oil and/or germ, from grains used for alcohol production. In one embodiment, a method for separating by-products from grains used for alcohol production includes, subjecting milled grains to liquefaction to provide a liquefied starch solution including fiber, protein, and germ. The germ is separated from the liquefied starch solution. The separated germ is ground, e.g., to a particle size less than 50 microns, to release oil to provide a germ/oil mixture. Then, prior to fermentation, the oil is separated from the germ/oil mixture to yield an oil by-product. The pH of the germ/oil mixture can be adjusted to about 8 to about 10.5 and/or cell wall breaking enzymes or chemicals may be added to help release oil from the germ. In one example, the oil yield is greater than 1.0 lb/Bu. | 09-12-2013 |
20130288376 | SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF SEPARATING GERM FROM GRAINS USED FOR ALCOHOL PRODUCTION - Methods of and device for separating germs from grains used for alcohol production are provided. The principle of density difference is able to be used to separate germs from a slurry. By adjusting the density and/or viscosity of the slurry, higher germ recovering rate is attended. The method of adjusting the density and/or viscosity includes recycling a cook-water to reduce the viscosity of the slurry before fermentation and pre-concentrating a whole stillage at an evaporator and adding a syrup to the whole stillage after fermentation. An air flotation unit is able to be used to increase oil and germ recovery rate. | 10-31-2013 |
20140053829 | METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING OIL AND VALUABLE BYPRODUCTS FROM GRAINS IN DRY MILLING SYSTEMS WITH A BACK-END DEWATER MILLING UNIT - A method of and system for producing oil and valuable byproducts from grains, such as corn, in dry mills are disclosed. The method and system include dewater milling process after fermenting. Further, the method and system are able to produce oil without evaporating. Moreover, the method and system include one or more of the germ processing units, emulsion processing units, fiber processing units, high value protein producing units, and glycerol and inorganic salt producing units, such that high value byproducts are able to be generated. | 02-27-2014 |
20140110512 | GRIND MILL FOR DRY MILL INDUSTRY - A disc mill includes an inlet configured to provide solid material for grinding to the grind plates in a smooth and constant manner. A solid ring is added around an outer circumference of the grind plates to control the grinded solid discharge rate. In some embodiments, the grind plates are configured with constant solid path way open area from row to row. The grind surface and solid pass way open area are maximized by increasing the relative tooth height compared to the tooth width. The teeth can be positioned according to a block channel configurations so as to force the solid material to pass along the grind surface of each row. A grind plate design program is used to enable conjunction of the design parameters with application variation, thereby enabling the optimum grind plate design to meeting various applications needed. | 04-24-2014 |
20140147897 | TWO STAGE HIGH SPEED CENTRIFUGES IN SERIES USED TO RECOVER OIL AND PROTEIN FROM A WHOLE STILLAGE IN A DRY MILL PROCESS - Methods of and devices for recovering oil and protein and increasing production yields using two centrifuges in series or a centrifuge with dual oil and protein separating functions in a dry mill are provided. | 05-29-2014 |