Patent ID: 7840363

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining total mill flow in a biofuel production process, the method comprising: using one or more physical computing devices programmed to perform the steps of: receiving measured biomass slurry flow and slurry density values from a process fed by one or more mills, backset, and at least one water source, wherein the process comprises one or more slurry mixing or holding tanks, and wherein the slurry comprises biomass solids and water; receiving a slurry composition value indicating percentage biomass solids of the slurry; receiving a measured backset flow value; receiving a backset density value; receiving a backset composition value indicating percentage biomass solids of the backset; determining a quantity of biomass solids and/or water of the slurry based on the measured biomass slurry flow and slurry density values and the slurry composition value; determining a quantity of the biomass solids and/or water of the backset based on the measured backset flow value, the backset density value, and the backset composition value, and based on input from a computer-implemented filter that accounts for time delays and time lags between measurement of the backset flow and measurement of the biomass slurry flow; determining total mill flow based on the quantity of biomass solids and/or water of the slurry and/or water of the backset; and storing the determined total mill flow, wherein the total mill flow is useable to determine production efficiency in the biofuel production process.