Steam-Jacketed Tube Rendering for Fat-Protein Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rendering systems for animal products are energy intensive, expensive, and produce less than desirable end products due to inefficiencies in separating fat from protein and removing impurities.
Innovation Solution
A multi-step process involving grinding and pre-breaking of animal products, followed by heating in steam-jacketed tubes to create a slurry, draining, washing, and flame-drying to produce high-quality pet food, utilizing a progressive cavity pump for pressure and centrifugation to separate oil and water, and further processing to eliminate impurities and fat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If batch cooking systems or continuous cooker systems are used for rendering, then animal products can be processed to separate fat from protein, but the process becomes energy intensive and expensive to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the processing system by using steam-jacketed tubes instead of traditional batch or continuous cookers. This allows for more efficient heat transfer and energy utilization during the rendering process, maintaining effective fat-protein separation while reducing overall energy consumption and operating costs
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes impurities and excess fat from the protein material through multiple processing steps including washing, centrifugation, and flame-drying. This extraction process ensures high-quality pet food production while optimizing energy use by targeting only the necessary separation operations
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional rendering systems are used, then fat can be separated from protein, but the end product quality is less than desirable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the rendering process into distinct stages: initial cooking in steam-jacketed tubes, draining, washing to remove impurities, centrifugation to separate oil and water, and flame-drying to eliminate remaining moisture and contaminants. This segmentation allows each stage to optimize for its specific function, resulting in superior end product quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary washing and impurity removal steps before the final drying and processing stages. By removing impurities and excess fat early in the process through washing and centrifugation, the subsequent flame-drying step can focus on moisture removal and sterilization, ensuring higher reliability and quality of the final pet food product
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
The method results in energy savings, lower capital and operating costs, and the production of high-quality pet food by effectively separating and purifying protein and fat, reducing impurities and fat content, and enhancing the quality of the final product.
Implementation Method 1
A pressure of approximately 4-5 ATM may be applied to the ground materials in the first heating step
Implementation Method 2
The method may include processing the protein through a centrifuge and spinning off the hot water
Implementation Method 3
flame-dried to burn off additional impurities
Implementation Method 4
expose the protein to a high intensity flame for a short period of time to burn off foreign matter and microbes
Implementation Method 5
transporting and heating the ground materials in a first heating step to create a slurry as the ground materials liquefy
Implementation Method 6
cooking the protein in a second heating step with hot water which may eliminate impurities and fat in the protein
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for producing pet food from animals may utilize a multi-step process including a first processing system that may include at least a heating step through use of a steam jacketed tube system and a draining step to squeeze out the oils. Grinding and pre-breaking may first be used to break the fat/whole animal into pieces. The protein may be cooked in the first processing system, and a second processing system may cook the protein with hot water in the second heating step. The second processing system may wash impurities out of the protein and subject the protein to a high intensity flame that may burn off foreign matter, and/or microbes. The protein may be dried and may produce pet food for consumption by pets.