Miscella Cleanup via Thermal Flocculation and Centrifugation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solvent extraction processes face inefficiencies in removing impurities and particulates from miscella streams, which affects the quality and efficiency of the overall extraction process, particularly in industries like oil production from renewable organic sources and petroleum-based waste material recovery.
Innovation Solution
The miscella stream is thermally and mechanically processed to flocculate and remove impurities, followed by mechanical separation, and then combined with solvent-wet solids streams for further desolventization, utilizing a system comprising extractors, desolventizers, heat exchangers, and mechanical separation devices to enhance purification and solvent recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the miscella stream is directly processed without thermal and mechanical treatment, then the processing time is reduced, but the impurity removal efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The miscella stream undergoes preliminary thermal treatment (heating to 50-80°C) and mechanical treatment (adjusting pH to 4.5-5.5, adding coagulants) before separation. This preliminary preparation causes impurities to flocculate and aggregate, making them easier to remove in the subsequent decantation or centrifugation step, thereby achieving both efficient impurity removal and reasonable processing speed
2Manufacturing precision
If thermal processing is applied to the miscella stream, then the impurity flocculation is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The process optimizes the thermal processing parameters by controlling the temperature within 50-80°C and adjusting the residence time. This moderate thermal treatment is sufficient to induce impurity flocculation without excessive energy input. The temperature parameter is carefully selected to balance flocculation effectiveness with energy efficiency
3Manufacturing precision
If mechanical separation is used to remove solid impurities, then the product purity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Chemical coagulants and pH adjusters are introduced as intermediaries to facilitate impurity removal. By adjusting the pH to 4.5-5.5 and adding coagulants, impurities are transformed into flocculated aggregates that can be easily separated. This chemical mediation simplifies the mechanical separation process, allowing the use of simpler equipment like decantation tanks or basic centrifuges while still achieving high product purity
4Manufacturing precision
If the miscella stream is thoroughly processed to remove all impurities, then the product quality is improved, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The process uses preliminary chemical treatment (pH adjustment and coagulant addition) to pre-aggregate impurities before separation. This preliminary action ensures that the majority of impurities are removed in a single decantation or centrifugation step, achieving high product quality without requiring multiple sequential processing steps, thus minimizing total processing time
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach improves the quality and efficiency of the extraction process by effectively removing impurities and recovering solvents, leading to higher-quality products such as soy protein concentrate with reduced residual solvent content.
Implementation Method 1
The miscella stream is thermally cooled to cause solids dissolved or suspended within the liquid stream to come out of solution, agglomerate, or otherwise solidify for removal
Implementation Method 2
The resulting cooled stream may be mechanically separated, for example through centrifugation, to remove the solid material from the stream
Implementation Method 3
The solvent-wet solids discharge is typically thermally processed, for example using a desolventiser-toaster, to recover solvent from the solvent-wet solids discharge
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A soy protein concentrate production process may involve performing multiple liquid extraction steps on a soy feedstock. The soy may be subject to a hexane extraction step to produce a first miscella stream and a solvent-wet soy meal stream. The solvent-wet soy meal stream may be desolventized and then subject to a second hydrous ethanol extraction step to produce a second miscella stream and a solvent-wet soy protein concentrate steam. To purify and recover the second miscella stream, the stream may be chilled to flocculate solid impurities and then passed through a mechanical separation device, such as a centrifuge. In some configurations, the resulting solid impurities from the mechanical separation process are recycled to a desolventization press that desolventizes the solvent-wet soy meal stream from the ethanol extraction step before subsequent thermal desolventization.