The present application provides a composition comprising 8-30 mass % of C.sub.4-12 linear alkanes, 5-50 mass % of C.sub.4-12 branched alkanes, 25-60 mass % of C.sub.5-12 cycloalkanes, 1-25 mass of C.sub.6-12 aromatic hydrocarbons, no more than 1 mass% of alkenes, and no more than 0.5 mass % in total of oxygen-containing compounds; wherein the total amount of C.sub.4-12 alkanes is 40-80 mass %, and the total amount of C.sub.4-12 alkanes, C.sub.5-12 cycloalkanes and C.sub.6-12 aromatic hydrocarbons is at least 95 mass %; and wherein the amounts are based on the mass of the composition. Also described is a method for producing the composition comprising the step of hydroprocessing a biological feedstock using a catalyst and the step of fractionating the product of the hydroprocessing step.

A method is provided for the use of a process additive system to improve the recovery of oil from a process stream generated in a bioproduct production process.

The present invention relates to processes for extracting lipid from vegetative plant parts such as leaves, stems, roots and tubers, and for producing industrial products such as hydrocarbon products from the lipids. Preferred industrial products include alkyl esters which may be blended with petroleum based fuels.

A method for refining vegetable oil is used to reduce formation of soaps. An acid-treated vegetable oil mixture is passed through a low shear mixing device prior to being fed to an static hydrodynamic reactor. The static hydrodynamic reactor induces a neutralization reaction that forms soaps in a pressurized vegetable oil mixture. The reacted mixture is discharged from the reactor to a downstream system for separating the formed soaps from the reacted mixture to form a refined vegetable oil having reduced soaps content.

The present invention relates to a method of reducing the phospholipid content in an oil or fat composition and polypeptides having PI-specific phospholipase C activity as well as polypeptides having PC, PE-specific phospholipase C activity and combinations thereof capable of catalyzing this reduction. The invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides.

Disclosed are apparatus, systems, and methods for processing a plant-based extract to remove harmful chemicals or metals. In one embodiment, a method can include exposing the plant-based extract to an acid and basic solution, centrifuging a mixture comprising the plant-based extract and the treatment solution to yield a mixture supernatant, dissolving the mixture supernatant in a solvent to yield a solvent-extract mixture, passing the solvent-extract mixture in liquid or vapor form through a packed column to yield a solvent-extract effluent, and centrifuging at greater than a RCF of 6000 the liquid effluent to yield a processed plant-based extract.

An improved dry grind system and method for producing a sugar stream from grains or similar carbohydrate sources and/or residues, such as for biofuel production, using membrane filtration. In particular, a sugar/carbohydrate stream, which includes a desired Dextrose Equivalent (DE) where DE describes the degree of conversion of starch to dextrose (aka glucose) and/or has had removed therefrom an undesirable amount of unfermentable components, can be produced after saccharification and prior to fermentation (or other sugar conversion process) using membrane filtration, with such sugar stream being available for biofuel production, e.g., alcohol production, or other processes. In addition, the systems and methods also can involve the removal of certain grain components, e.g., corn kernel components, including protein, oil and/or fiber, prior to fermentation or other conversion systems. In other words, sugar stream production and/or grain component separation occurs on the front end of the system and method.

An improved dry grind system and method for producing a sugar stream from grains or similar carbohydrate sources and/or residues, such as for biofuel production, using membrane filtration. In particular, a sugar/carbohydrate stream, which includes a desired Dextrose Equivalent (DE) where DE describes the degree of conversion of starch to dextrose (aka glucose) and/or has had removed therefrom an undesirable amount of unfermentable components, can be produced after saccharification and prior to fermentation (or other sugar conversion process) using membrane filtration, with such sugar stream being available for biofuel production, e.g., alcohol production, or other processes. In addition, the systems and methods also can involve the removal of certain grain components, e.g., corn kernel components, including protein, oil and/or fiber, prior to fermentation or other conversion systems. In other words, sugar stream production and/or grain component separation occurs on the front end of the system and method.

Methods and systems for filtering a plant-derived extract to remove contaminants, including a filter column containing a filter medium and a vacuum pump. The plant-derived extract is mixed with a solvent, and drawn through the filter column across the filter medium. In various embodiments, the solvent and filter medium may be selected to target specific contaminants or classes of contaminants, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and/or other synthetic agrichemicals.

Methods for reducing the color of phospholipid compositions comprising lecithin are disclosed. The phospholipid composition is exposed to ultraviolet light to reduce the color of the composition. The phospholipid composition may be diluted and/or heated prior to exposure to ultraviolet light to improve the flow properties of the composition. The phospholipid composition may be cooled and/or concentrated after color reduction.