Patent ID: 9452993
Filing Date: 2016-09-27
CPC Classification: C02F,C05D,C07C,C07D,C07H,C08B,C10L,Y02E,Y02P,Y02W

Claim Text:
1. An integrated process for the production of fuel intermediates, agri-nutrients and potable water from Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed comprising the steps of: i. of mechanically shearing ii. mixing the first solid residual with seawater and incubating at 105° C.-120° C. at a pressure of 25 to 35 kPa for 50 to 70 minutes, then centrifuging to obtain an a second solid insoluble residue and a second aqueous phase, mixing the second aqueous phase with isopropyl alcohol and centrifuging to obtain κ-carrageenan as a solid; iii. suspending the κ-carrageenan solid at 5-10% (w/v) in an aqueous solution containing an acid catalyst and incubating at 100-110° C. for 1-3 hours at 25-30 kPa to obtain a third aqueous phase comprising 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), galactose and potassium bisulphate; iv. mixing the third aqueous phase with an organic solvent to obtain an organic phase containing HMF and a fourth aqueous phase, separating said organic phase from the fourth aqueous phase and extracting HMF from the organic phase to obtain recycled organic solvent; v. optionally suspending additional κ-carrageenan solid into the fourth aqueous phase and repeating the process of step (iii), and repeating step (iv) with the recycled organic solvent; vi. adding magnesium hydroxide to the fourth aqueous phase in an amount sufficient to achieve pH-neutral fourth aqueous phase; vii. adding the first aqueous phase to the pH-neutral fourth aqueous phase to produce a fifth aqueous phase, and subjecting the fifth aqueous phase to evaporative concentration to obtain crystals of potassium sulphate and a sixth aqueous phase containing galactose; viii. subjecting the sixth aqueous phase to further processing selected from (a) concentrating through evaporation to obtain crystals of galactose and a seventh aqueous phase (b) fermenting to obtain ethanol and a seventh aqueous phase or (c) adding dilute aqueous acid and incubating at 100-110° C. for 1-3hours at 25-30 kPa to obtain a levulinic acid and formic acid and a seventh aqueous phase; ix. neutralizing the seventh aqueous phase and recovering magnesium hydroxide.