METHOD FOR PRODUCING BIOPRODUCTS FRONT STREAMS OF ORGANIC MATERIAL

Abstract

Method for producing bioproducts from streams of organic material, comprising the following steps: (i) the physical-biological pre-treating of the organic stream with water and one or more mechanical steps; (ii) setting the pH value of the mixture between pH 5 and pH 9; iii) adding an inoculum of a natural anaerobic culture that releases organic compounds; iv) a first separation step which splits the mixture into a solid and a liquid fraction, after which an anaerobic fermentation processes the solid fraction, with formation of biogas and digestate; v) an aerobic treatment of the separated liquid fraction with biological conversion of the organic compounds to a protein-rich bioproduct; vi) a second separation step with separation of the formed protein-rich bioproduct; vii) recirculating the liquid phase; viii) drying the formed protein-rich bioproduct, such that in the end a dry, protein-rich bioproduct is obtained as well as the bioproducts biogas and digestate.

Claims

1. A method for producing bioproducts from streams of organic material, comprising the following steps: (i) a physical-biological pre-treatment of the organic stream whereby a substrate is mixed with water into a diluted stream with a dry matter content lower than 15% and one or more mechanical steps are applied; (ii) an alkaline treatment by adding an alkaline solution until a pH value of the mixture between pH 5 and pH 9 is reached; iii) adding an inoculum comprising of a natural anaerobic culture which stimulates the release of the organic compounds; iv) a first separation step which splits the mixture into a solid fraction and a liquid fraction, whereby the solid fraction is further processed via an anaerobic fermentation technology, with the formation of biogas and digestate as end products; v) a continuous aerobic treatment of the separated liquid fraction whereby the organic compounds are biologically converted into a protein-rich bioproduct, after addition of nutrients; vi) a second separation step whereby the formed protein-rich bioproduct is separated from the liquid phase; vii) recirculating the liquid phase partly as process water to the mixing step (ii) and partly discharged and treated in a waste water purification plant; and viii) drying the formed protein-rich bioproduct to remove remaining water after which a dry, protein-rich bioproduct is obtained and the bioproducts biogas and digestate are also obtained.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is executed in a continuous process, in which a continuous process for anaerobic fermentation is integrated.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein that when mixing the organic stream with water contact time is maintained, and wherein a temperature imposed during the contact time is between 10 and 80° C.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein when mixing the organic stream with water at least one of the alkaline solution or the inoculum is added.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is five minutes to two weeks.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is between five minutes and one hour.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is between one and six hours.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is between six hours and one day.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is between one day and one week.

10. The method according to claim 3, wherein the contact time is between one week and two weeks.

11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the temperature imposed during the contact time is between 10 and 25° C.

12. The method according to claim 3, wherein the temperature imposed during the contact time is between 25 and 40° C.

13. The method according to claim 3, wherein the temperature imposed during the contact time is between 40 and 60° C.

14. The method according to claim 3, wherein the temperature imposed during the contact time is between 60 and 80° C.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical steps is at least one of continuous grinding, blixing, and continuous extruding.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inoculum consists of the natural anaerobic culture.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first separation step is performed by centrifuging, compressing or filtering.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the present disclosure, an application of the method for the production of bioproducts from streams of organic material according to the present disclosure is described hereinafter, by way of an example without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0035] FIG. 1 schematically shows a flow diagram of the method for the integrated production of bioproducts according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] FIG. 1 schematically shows the process of the method according to the present disclosure for the integrated production of bioproducts from streams of organic material from organic waste or from energy crops, in a flow diagram 1. After mechanical steps, the stream of organic material 2 is diluted and mixed with water in a further step (i) until a dry matter content lower than 15% is reached, after which the mixture 3 can undergo an alkaline treatment in a next step (ii) by adding a base 4 until a pH between 5 and 9 is reached. In a next step (iii) an inoculum 6 can be added to the neutral mixture 5, and this practically directly, consisting of a natural anaerobic culture which stimulates the release of the organic compounds, after which in step (iv) in a first separation step 8 the inoculated mixture 7 is split after a sufficiently long contact time into a solid fraction 9 and a liquid fraction 10. The solid fraction 9 is transported to an anaerobic digestion plant 11 where said fraction is reduced to biogas 12 and digestate 13. The separated liquid fraction 10 from step (iv) undergoes an aerobic treatment 14 in step (v) after addition of nutrients 15, whereby the dissolved organic compounds are biologically converted into a protein-rich bioproduct 16. Subsequently, a second separation step 17 follows in step (vi), this time on the remaining effluent, whereby the formed protein-rich bioproduct 16 is separated from the liquid phase and in step (vii) the remaining process water 18 is partly reutilised as process water 18′ in step (i) and partly discharged as 18″ to a waste water treatment plant 19. The protein-rich bioproduct 16 from step (vi) further undergoes a drying step 20 in step (viii) to remove the remaining water, after which a dry, protein-rich bioproduct 21 is obtained, with a protein content of 50-80%, in addition to the bioproducts biogas 12 and digestate 13 in one run of the processing plant 1.

[0037] The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment described as an example and shown in the drawings, but such a method for producing bioproducts from streams of organic material can be realised according to different variants without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as is defined in the following claims.