Apparatus for efficiently dewatering corn stillage solids and other materials
Filing Information
- Patent Number: US5958233
- Application Number: US8825132
- Filing date: 03/19/1997
- Issue date: 09/28/1999
- Predicted expiration date: 08/29/2015
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analyzing 100 million+ documents to uncover your network...- U.S. Classifications: 210/259 · 210/294 ·
- International Classifications: B01D 2126 ·
- International Classifications: 210781;787;806;294;297;298;304;512.1;360.1;380.1;257.1;259 ·
- Related U.S. Application Data:
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/520,409, filed Aug. 29, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,810. - View document at: (opens new window):
USPTO · PAIR · esp@cenet · Patent Family* Related patent documents may or may not exist on these sites
Abstract
A new process and apparatus efficiently dewater aqueous solids residual after fermentation and distillation, such as corn stillage. The feed stream of aqueous solids slurry is fractionated into two or more substreams in such a way that one of the substreams contains predominately heavy particulate solids and has substantially improved free-draining characteristics. A second substream contains lighter particles, entrained fines of the heavy particles, and a major portion of the liquid from the feed stream. The free-draining substream is dewatered using a device such as a screen centrifuge or a screw press, both of which produce a cake of relatively high solids content. The remaining liquid from the feed stream is concentrated in an evaporator, before being mixed with the dewatered solids which may be dried to produce an animal feed.References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
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| US4081366 | Orgonics, Inc. | O'Donnell | Mar 1978 |
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Other Publications
| Low, "The Efficient Production of High Quality Distiller's Dark Grains Using Stord Dehydration Process Technology", 1988 Fuel Ethanol Workshop, St. Louis, MO, Jun. 15-17. |
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Referenced By
| Document Number | Assignee | Inventors | Issue/Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US7601858 | GS Cleantech Corporation | David Fred Cantrell et al. | Oct 2009 |
| US6635297 | NutraCycle LLC | William H. Moss et al. | Oct 2003 |
| US7608729 | GS Cleantech Corporation | David J. Winsness et al. | Oct 2009 |
| US7497955 | Nalco Company | David W. Scheimann et al. | Mar 2009 |
| US7566469 | Nalco Company | David W. Scheimann | Jul 2009 |
Patent Family
| Document Number | Assignee | Inventors | Issue/Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US5662810 | Ralph H. Willgohs | Sep 1997 | |
| US5958233 | Ralph H. Willgohs | Sep 1999 |
View Drawings
Independent Claims | See all claims (19)
- 1. An apparatus for dewatering a feed stream of aqueous solids residual from fermentation and distillation, said apparatus comprising:(a) a separation device, of one or more stages, for classifying by size the feed stream of aqueous solids into at least a first sub-stream and a second sub-stream, whereby solids in the first sub-stream are predominately particles larger than a predetermined size between about 15 microns and about 500 microns and solids in the second sub-stream are predominately particles smaller than the predetermined size;(b) a dewatering device selected from the group consisting of a centrifuge and a screw press for dewatering said first sub-stream, coupled to receive the first sub-stream from the separation device and to discharge at least a cake solids sub-stream and a predominately liquid sub-stream;(c) a solids recovery device for recovering suspended fine solids from the second sub-stream, coupled to receive at least a portion of the second sub-stream from the separation device, and coupled to discharge the recovered fine solids, without substantial return of the fine solids to the dewatering device.
- 13. An apparatus for dewatering a feed stream of aqueous solids residual from fermentation and distillation, said apparatus comprising:(a) a dewatering device selected from the group consisting of a centrifuge and a screw press for dewatering said feed stream, and discharging at least a cake solids sub-stream and a predominately liquid effluent sub-stream;(b) a separation device, of one or more stages, for classifying by size the predominately liquid effluent sub-stream from the dewatering device into at least a first sub-stream and a second substream, whereby solids in the first sub-stream are predominately particles larger than a predetermined size which is less than about 200 microns, and solids in the second sub-stream are predominately particles smaller than the predetermined size, coupled to receive the predominately liquid effluent sub-stream from the dewatering device;(c) a solids recovery device for recovering suspended fine solids from the second sub-stream, coupled to receive at least a portion of the second sub-stream from the separation device, and coupled to discharge the recovered fine solids, without substantial return of the fine solids to the dewatering device.
- 14. An apparatus for dewatering a feed stream of aqueous solids, said apparatus comprising:(a) a separation device, of one or more stages, for classifying by size the feed stream of aqueous solids into at least a first sub-stream and a second substream, whereby solids in the first sub-stream are predominately particles larger than a predetermined size which is less than about 200 microns, and solids in the second sub-stream are predominately particles smaller than the predetermined size;(b) a dewatering device selected from the group consisting of a centrifuge and a screw press for dewatering said first sub-stream, coupled to receive the first sub-stream from the separation device and to discharge at least a cake solids sub-stream and a predominately liquid sub-stream;(c) a solids recovery device for recovering suspended fine solids from the second sub-stream, coupled to receive at least a portion of the second sub-stream from the separation device, and coupled to discharge the recovered fine solids, without substantial return of the fine solids to the dewatering device.
