Granted Patent B2

US 12,486,481 · App. 18/410,960 · Granted Dec 2, 2025

Inventor: Jason Alan Bootsma (Sioux Falls, SD)

Assignee: POET Research, Inc.

C12F3/10A23K10/38A23K20/163A23K50/10C10L1/026C11B1/00C12M41/26C12M43/00C12M47/10C12M47/14Y02P60/87

Abstract

Claims (27)

1 . A method for processing whole stillage in an ethanol plant, comprising:

separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage;

separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid; and

sending at least a portion of the clarified liquid stillage output to an evaporation system to concentrate the clarified liquid stillage output into a concentrated, clarified liquid stillage product having at least 60% solids, wherein the concentrated, clarified liquid stillage product is used as an animal feed supplement, wherein the concentrated, clarified liquid stillage product comprises:

from 30% to 40% moisture; and

greater than 10% protein.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating the thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage produces a fiber cake.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising drying the fiber cake to provide a high fiber animal feed product.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising combining at least a portion of the protein paste and at least a portion of the fiber cake to form an animal feed product.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising drying protein paste to provide an animal feed product.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the animal feed product has at least 45% protein.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising recycling a portion of the clarified liquid stillage output upstream for utilization as fermentation backset.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage comprises separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage via filtration, centrifugation, pressing, and combinations thereof.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage comprises separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage via one or more membranes, one or more screw presses, one or more decanters, one or more centrifuges, one or more filters, and combinations thereof.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage comprises separating thin stillage liquid from the whole stillage via one or more filtration centrifuges.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the thin stillage liquid is not subjected to an evaporator prior to separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid comprises separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid via filtration, centrifugation, and combinations thereof.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid comprises separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid via a separation system comprising one or more separators, wherein the one or more separators are chosen from chosen from a three phase separator, a disk nozzle type centrifuge, a decanter centrifuge, and combinations thereof.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid comprises separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid via one or more disk nozzle type centrifuges.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentrated, clarified liquid stillage further comprises:

less than 1% fiber;

from 6% to 10% fat; and

from 5% to 7% ash.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein separating protein paste and clarified liquid stillage output from the thin stillage liquid comprises separating the thin stillage liquid into the clarified liquid stillage output, the protein paste, and an oil emulsion.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising separating oil from the oil emulsion.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein separating oil from the oil emulsion forms a residual aqueous layer, wherein the residual aqueous layer comprises protein; and further comprising forming an animal feed product with at least a portion of the residual aqueous layer.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentrated, clarified liquid stillage has a yield of at least 2 pounds per bushel of corn.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (212)