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Soybeans
can be consumed directly by humans and animals, or used as a source of oil
for such products as cooking oil, soap, cosmetics, resins, plastics, inks, solvents and
biodiesel. In the production of
oil-based products, the soybeans are mechanically
separated from their hulls. The hulls
may then be mixed with animal feed to increase the fiber content, protein
content and amino acid profile thereof.
Dartmouth inventors have recently developed a
method of using soybean hulls as a source of biomass for the production of
ethanol, with subsequent recovery of unfermented solids to be used as feed
additives. Generally, the production
of ethanol from biomass requires three steps.
The first step is a thermochemical pretreatment step involving the use
of acidic or basic reagents that initiate depolymerization of complex
carbohydrates at elevated temperatures.
These harsh pretreatment conditions tend to degrade proteins within
the biomass, thereby reducing the nutritional value and palatability of the
protein. The second step is enzymatic
hydrolysis of the pretreated carbohydrates to produce simple sugars. Finally, fermentation of the sugars by
microorganisms, such as yeast, produces ethanol.
The
Dartmouth
methods for producing ethanol from soybean hulls do not require an acidic or
basic pretreatment step. Elimination
of this pretreatment step amounts to a significant cost savings, as
pretreatment generally accounts for about 18% of the cost of producing
ethanol from biomass. Further, removal
of the pretreatment step prevents degradation of the proteins found in the
soybean hulls. The nutrient value (and
amino acid profile) of the unfermented solids is therefore preserved, and the
solids may be sold as food additives suitable for consumption by a wide
variety of animals, including humans.
Results
indicate that up to 85 gallons of ethanol can be produced per ton of soybean
hulls, and there are approximately 5 million tons of soybean hulls produced
per year in the United States (USDA: www.nass.usda.gov). Thus, the Dartmouth methods may be used to produce as
much as 450 million gallons of ethanol and 450,000 tons of high-protein food
additives domestically. Other
countries, including Brazil,
have soybean crops approaching the magnitude of the U.S. crop, as well as the ethanol
production technology and infrast infrastructure for use of ethanol as a
transportation fuel.
This
technology is claimed in a pending patent application. We are seeking an industrial partner
interested in its commercialization.
(Ref:
J350)
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