Manufacturing feedstock from fruit by-product processing
A system and method of manufacturing a feedstock for producing paper fiber from fruit of a plant may include providing a by-product source inclusive of fiber from the edible fruit after a process for removing a majority of the edible fruit is used to produce a food. One or more treatment processes to brighten the fruit by-product may be performed. The feedstock may be produced from the brightened fruit by-product.
1. A method of manufacturing a feedstock from edible fruit by-product, said method comprising:
generating an edible fruit food product and a fruit by-product including pulp with fiber and pectin by processing edible fruit;
processing the fruit by-product to brighten the pulp and to yield a feedstock of brightened fruit by-product with fiber and pectin;
supplying the feedstock of brightened fruit by-product to a reactor tank;
applying an agent to the feedstock in the reactor tank to cause the pectin in the feedstock to degrade so as to separate the fiber from the pectin;
isolating the fiber from the feedstock after the pectin has degraded and substantially removed from the fiber; and
supplying the isolated fiber to a process for generating an article including the isolated fiber.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the edible fruit product includes processing citrus to yield a citrus by-product.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the generating includes generating fruit by-product selected from the group consisting of albedo, pulp, and endocarp.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein generating the fruit by-product includes generating fruit by-product using a source selected from the group consisting of pellets for animal feed and fresh-never dried fruit by-product.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein using a source includes using pellets, wherein the pellets are selected from the group consisting of dried pellets and partially dried pellets.
6. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising removing binding material from the pellets.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the fruit by-product to brighten the pulp includes performing one or more treatments of washing or bleaching.
8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising washing the fruit by-product at a temperature between about 40° C. to about 70° C.
9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising dewatering the brightened fruit by-product.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein processing the fruit by-product includes partially drying the brightened fruit by-product.
11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein partially drying the brightened by-product includes compressing the brightened fruit without a binding agent.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein producing the feedstock includes processing the fruit by-product with a water content between approximately 40% and approximately 60% water weight.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article is a paper article.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article is a packaging material.