Chemical Engineering April 2023 - 14

Hexane Extraction Process
Process conditions
Temperatures up to 100ºC
Application of high pressures
Hexane as organic solvent
Press oil
Raw
oil
Extraction
meal
Rapeseed
Cleaning
Crushing & Conditioning
Pre-pressing
Hexane-Extraction
Desolventation
Extraction
oil
EthaNa Process
Process conditions
Temperatures below 70°C
Ambient pressures
Ethanol as organic solvent
Crushing & De-Hulling
Mechanical Disintigration
Solvent & Displacement Extraction
Desolventation
Rapeseed
concentrate
Hulls
those
tives,
Among
initiathe
company
made
geted
Oil
phase
Emulsion
Fraunhofer CBP
FIGURE 2. The EthaNa process was developed to pilot scale in a three-year project
funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Agency of
Renewable Resources. The project, coordinated by Fraunhofer CBP, with eleven
partners from industry and research institutes, was completed in February 2022
tomers who have a great idea on lab
scale. They turn to us to help them
bring their laboratory ideas or pilot
trials to an industrial level, " he said.
In 2021, Hosokawa Alpine
AG (Augsburg, Germany; www.
hosokawa-alpine.de) opened its Application
Center Food in Augsburg,
Germany, to enable users to test
processes using various air classifiers
and mills, which are used for dry
fractionation of grains. There are several
sources of protein that were previously
only used for the animal-feed
industry, the company says, such as
sunflower meal, pseudo cereals (such
as quinoa), food sidestreams from
brewery processes and edible-oil extraction
processes. Not only protein is
interesting for dry fractionation, but so
are other ingredients, such as fibers.
New business changes are also
being seen in the extruder business.
" Some years ago Coperion started
to see a huge increase in inquiries
about using extrusion technology to
texturize differing unique proteins, "
explains John Sheehy, global key
accounts manager - Alternative
Proteins at Coperion K-Tron Salina,
Inc., (Salina, Kan.; www.coperion.
com). " In the past, when we received
sales inquiries for texturized vegetable
proteins (TVP), it was for texturizing
soy proteins only. Then, we also
started to receive additional inquiries
for many other alternative proteins
- especially pea and differing pulse
proteins. We soon came to realize
the necessity to develop a specific
strategic initiative for the alternative
protein market within our Food,
Health and Nutrition Division. "
14
tarinvestments
in R&D
to
improve
to
speand
or
modify its
equipment
address
cific needs of
the alternativeprotein
plant-based
foods
market,
Sheehy
says.
For example, the ZSK Food Extruder
in Hybrid Version is an extruder in hybrid
design to process both TVP and
high-moisture meat analogs (HMMA)
in the same machine with only a minimum
amount of retrofitting.
The company has also made improvements
in cooling die technologies,
particularly for use in the production
of HMMA, continues Sheehy.
" Within this process system, the
moisture content of the end products
can exceed 50%, which is comparable
with the moisture content of lean
meat. This high-moisture extrusion
cooking process can be used for the
production of meat substitutes featuring
desirable sensory properties
from raw plant materials with high
protein content, such as wheat, soy,
pea- and lupine-flour protein concentrates
and isolates, he says.
Cooperation is key
Coperion also began collaborating
with customers, independent
research firms and academic institutions
to address the important
needs of the industry. For example,
" Coperion made significant investments
to improve our customertesting
capabilities on a global basis.
This included a notable joint venture
(JV) with Purdue University (West
Lafayette, Ind.; www.perdue.edu)
and Purdue's Food Entrepreneurship
and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI) to
install a GMP [good manufacturing
practice] facility dedicated to the development
of plant-protein extrusion
and processing, " says Sheehy.
Another example of a large collaborative
effort is the four-year,
€13.9-million project that started last
November. The Like-A-Pro project,
which is funded under the E.U.'s Horizon
program, brings together key
representatives along the entire alternative-protein
value chain (protein
producers, ingredient and product
developers, culinary centers, food
clusters), scientists and market and
communication experts in a transdisciplinary
consortium (42 entities
in 17 countries) coordinated by
the technological center CTIC CITA
(Alesón, Spain; ctic-cita.es).
Like-A-Pro aims to facilitate sustainable
and healthy diets by mainstreaming
alternative proteins and
products, making them more available,
accessible and acceptable.
This will be done via development of
16 new alternative protein products
with ingredients from seven novel
and optimized protein sources.
For example, one of the participants
is the Fraunhofer Center for
Chemical-Biotechnological Processes
(CBP; Leuna, Germany; www.cbp.
fraunhofer.de), whose task is to dehull
rapeseed from local producers
and then separate the rapeseed oil
from the rapeseed kernels. The new
EthaNa (ethanolic native extraction)
process (Figure 2) is used here, which,
with the help of ethanol, separates the
oil from the rapeseed and extracts bitter
substances from the kernel concentrate.
The EthaNa process uses
mild process conditions, avoiding protein
denaturation, which is currently
still a major problem in conventional
processes. At the same time, the
kernel concentrate is separated from
the rapeseed oil and other bitter substances,
so that no further processes
are required to purify the proteins. As
a result, a kernel concentrate is produced
at the CBP using the EthaNa
process, which has a high protein
content that can be used by the project
partners for food production.
Production plants and products
In January 2022, Royal DSM N.V.
(Delft, the Netherlands; www.dsm.
com) unveiled its new integrated Food
& Beverage operating structure, which
unified three areas of DSM's nutrition
business - Food Specialties, Hydrocolloids
and part of its Nutritional
Products group. The new business
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
APRIL 2023
http://www.ctic-cita.es http://www.hosokawa-alpine.de http://www.cbp.fraunhofer.de http://www.cbp.fraunhofer.de http://www.coperion.com http://www.coperion.com http://www.purdue.edu http://www.dsm.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering April 2023
