Alcohol production using sonication
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- one or more high-powered transducers; and
an alcohol production facility having a grain-based liquid medium processing stream wherein the one or more high-powered transducers can apply sonication to the liquid medium processing stream in one or more locations at a frequency effective to increase ethanol yield and reduce residual starch levels when applied prior to distillation, further wherein the alcohol production facility is a starch-to-alcohol production facility adapted for use with the one or more high-powered transducers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system comprising one or more transducers and an alcohol production facility having a liquid medium processing stream, the alcohol production facility adapted for use with the one or more transducers is provided. In one embodiment, the one or more transducers apply sonication to the liquid medium processing stream in one or more locations. In one embodiment, the alcohol production facility is an ethanol production facility. In one embodiment, the ethanol production facility utilizes a dry grind process, modified dry grind process or wet mill process. The systems of the present invention utilize sonication at the frequencies and intensities required on an industrial scale to reduce the production cost of alcohol, such as ethanol, by improving alcohol yield per bushel, reducing processing times for higher throughput, reducing operating costs, and increasing the marketability of co-products, among other benefits.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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one or more high-powered transducers; and
an alcohol production facility having a grain-based liquid medium processing stream wherein the one or more high-powered transducers can apply sonication to the liquid medium processing stream in one or more locations at a frequency effective to increase ethanol yield and reduce residual starch levels when applied prior to distillation, further wherein the alcohol production facility is a starch-to-alcohol production facility adapted for use with the one or more high-powered transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A system comprising:
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one or more high-powered transducers; and
an ethanol production facility having a corn-based liquid medium processing stream, the ethanol production facility adapted for use with the one or more high-powered transducers wherein sonication can be applied to the corn-based liquid medium processing stream in one or more locations, wherein the one or more high-powred transducers operate at a frequency effective to increase ethanol yield and reduce residual starch levels when applied prior to distillation. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. A system comprising:
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one or more transducers; and
an alcohol production facility having a grain-based liquid medium processing stream wherein the one or more transducers can apply sonication to the liquid medium processing stream in one or more locations at a frequency effective to increase ethanol yield and reduce residual starch levels when applied prior to distillation, further wherein the alcohol production facility is a dry grind starch-to-alcohol production facility or a modified dry grind starch-to-alcohol production facility adapted for use with the one or more transducers, wherein grain in the grain-based liquid medium processing stream contains protein and most or all of the protein is retained therein throughout the dry grind starch-to-alcohol production facility or the modified dry grind starch-to-alcohol production facility until alcohol is produced, wherein a separate processing stream containing substantially all or most of the predetermined level of protein is also produced. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. The system of 71 wherein the dry grind process further produces a thin stillage and a wet cake, further wherein the sonication increases insoluble solids content in the wet cake and decreases insoluble solids content in the thin stillage.
Specification