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Title: The production of fuels and chemicals from food processing wastes using a novel fermenter separator

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5105671· OSTI ID:5105671

During 1991, considerable progress was made on the waste utilization project. Two small Wisconsin companies have expressed an interest in promoting and developing the ICRS technology. Pilot plant sites at (1) Hopkinton, IA, for a sweet whey plant, and Beaver Dam WI, for an acid whey site have been under development siting ICRS operations. The Hopkinton, IA site is owned and operated by Permeate Refining Inc., who have built a batch ethanol plant across the street from Swiss Valley Farms cheddar cheese operations. Permeate from Swiss Valley is piped across to PRI. PRI has signed a contract to site a 300--500,000 gallon/yr to ICRS pilot plant. They feel that the lower labor, lower energy, continuous process offered by the ICRS will substantially improve their profitability. Catalytics, Inc, is involved with converting whey from a Kraft cream cheese operation to ethanol and yeast. A complete project including whey concentration, sterilization, and yeast growth has been designed for this site. Process design improvements with the ICRS focussed on ethanol recovery techniques during this year's project. A solvent absorption/extractive distillation (SAED) process has been developed which offers the capability of obtaining an anhydrous ethanol product from vapors off 3 to 9% ethanol solutions using very little energy for distillation. Work on products from waste streams was also performed. a. Diacetyl as a high value flavor compound was very successfully produced in a Stirred Tank Reactor w/Separation. b. Yeast production from secondary carbohydrates in the whey, lactic acid, and glycerol was studied. c. Lactic acid production from cellulose and lactose studies continued. d. Production of anti-fungal reagents by immobilized plant cells; Gossypol has antifungal properties and is produced by G. arboretum.

Research Organization:
Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-85CE40772
OSTI ID:
5105671
Report Number(s):
DOE/CE/40772-T1; ON: DE92016653
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English