I have been following a patent application named "Methods for Enhanced Processing of Biomass Using Flash Desiccation and/or Mechanical Hydrodynamic Cavitation."
Last week it was in a status called Ex parte Quayle - This happens when "a patent application is in condition for allowance, prosecution on the merits is closed. The "Notice of Allowance Data Verication" just completed on Thursday - so I expect a Notice of Allowance at any time - and the patent to be issued within 60 days. This patent is different in that it is not a corn oil extraction patent. Let me try to SkunK it down to a sentence. Make Biomass really small, really wet - the yeast will feast: More Ethanol Baby!*
Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. The SkunK says Flash Desiccation is processing through GreenShift's patented Tornado Generator™ . Drys AND makes it small - in the micron size.
Hydrodynamic cavitation describes the process of vaporisation, bubble generation and bubble implosion which occurs in a flowing liquid as a result of a decrease and subsequent increase in pressure. Hydrodynamic cavitation can improve industrial processes. For instance, cavitated corn slurry show higher yields in ethanol production compared to uncavitated corn slurry in dry milling facilities.
From the application
Disclosed herein are processes for conditioning of cellulosic and other forms of biomass for more efficient production of biofuel, feed, and other value-added products. The technology is designed to dramatically improve the energy balance and yield from biomass such as corn (and any derivative thereof), cellulose and other forms of biomass including, without limitation, grains, seeds, grasses, wood, algae, agricultural wastes, food wastes, forestry products, and waste products such as paper, trash and/or sewage sludge. As such, the biomass can be in the form of whole grains, grain derivatives such as starch and fiber, and cellulosic products such as corn cobs, corn stover, corn bran, distiller's dried grain with solubles ("DDGS"), switch grass, agricultural crop residue, yard waste, food wastes, forestry products, waste products such as paper, trash and/or sewage sludge. The conditioning generally includes flash dessication ("FD") and/or mechanical hydrodynamic cavitation ("MHC") the biomass at one or more of the processing steps that commonly occur during use of the biomass, e.g., during the production of ethanol from the biomass.
[0016] In FD, the biomass is subjected to compressed gas and/or super heated steam in a series of one or more enclosed cyclonic systems with no internal moving parts. The extreme thermal and/or pressure gradients have been found to almost instantly desiccate, shear, and atomize the biomass into fine particles. This process has been shown in prior experimentation with grain based and cellulosic biomass to produce particle sizes in the low micron levels with negligible impact on nutrient quality. The FD process has been shown in some cases to have altered the molecular structures of targeted grains and biomass. The output is a prepared powder having a substantially smaller particle size as compared to conventionally milled products. Importantly, the FD process renders the starch, hemicellulosic and lignocellulosic constituents of corn, corn cobs and stover far more available than any known conventional commercially available process. An exemplary flash dessication apparatus suitable for use in the present invention is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,594 B1 to Polifka, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
SkunK
(*Elegance is simplicity, function and beauty wrapped together like a Nathan Hot Dog or a fine piece of jewelry.)
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