FR2643632A1 - Process for converting marine plants - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the present invention is a process for converting marine plants. It consists of a combination first of a washing operation intended to remove the foreign bodies, carried out in a perforated drum rotating in a constantly renewed fresh water bath, followed by a desalting operation in a water bath at 25 degrees centigrade with mixing by a high pressure water jet, and by a rinsing operation with a water jet on a perforated cloth, then by a heating operation at a temperature between 35 and 45 degrees centigrade carried out in an exchanger, then by a pressing operation which makes it possible to extract proteins under a pressure of 15 kilograms per square centimetre using an alternating sequential slit press, and finally by the decompacting of the peat obtained and by the treatment, by flocculation, of the liquid containing the proteins. It is intended to make it possible to exploit marine plants, and more particularly dead posidonias deposited on beaches by the sea.

Description

PROCESS OF TRANSFORMING MARINE PLANTS
The present invention relates to a process for transforming marine plants.

It is intended to allow the exploitation of marine plants, and more particularly of dead Posidonia deposited on beaches by the sea.

Currently, marine plants are practically not exploited, and the cleaning of the beaches. made more and more necessary by the development of tourism, is almost always a completely unproductive operation requiring investments with lost funds in machines or manpower.

The method according to the present invention eliminates all these drawbacks. Indeed, it makes it possible to transform marine plants into products usable in agriculture, such as peat of the tinée with the amendment of the grounds or the culture above ground, and protein complexes usable in animal feed or in the form of solution for agriculture .

It consists of the first combination of washing intended to remove foreign bodies carried out in a perforated drum rotating in a fresh water bath with constant renewal, followed by desalting in a water bath at 25 degrees centigrade with high-pressure water jet mixing, and water jet rinsing on a perforated mat, then heating to a temperature between 35 and 45 degrees centigrade carried out in an exchanger, then a pressing allowing the extraction of proteins under a pressure of 15 kilograms per square centimeter using an alternating sequential press with slits, finally decompacting the peat obtained and treatment by flocculation of the liquid containing the proteins.

The detailed description below, given by way of nonlimiting example of one of the embodiments of the subject of the invention, will make it possible to better understand its characteristics, as well as its successive operational phases - The collection of marine plants must be done with great care, taking care to take too much sand or pebbles with marine plants.

- The purpose of washing is to separate the foreign bodies contained in the mass of leaves, namely: sand, pieces of wood or plastic, etc. This operation is carried out in a device with a perforated drum, the perforations of which are meshes of decreasing size axially, rotating in a fresh water bath with constant renewal. A worm device drains the waste to the outside.

- The washed sea plants are then sent to the desalting station consisting of a lukewarm water bath with stirring by arrival of high pressure water and then rinsing on a perforated conveyor belt.

- Heating is a particularly important point because it determines the quality and quantity of proteins extracted. Too low a temperature does not allow to extract all the proteins, and considerably increases the degradation time of the peat. Too high a temperature destroys certain proteins. Heating is carried out at a temperature between 35 and 40 degrees centigrade in a coaxial exchanger, with a slow rise in temperature, the regulation taking place automatically according to the desired flow rate.

- The pressing takes place under a pressure of 15 kilograms per square centimeter in a special press in which the marine plants are brought after heating. This press is of the "alternative sequential" type and is the subject of French patent FR 87 07081 by the same inventor. The pressing is carried out continuously in a perforated cylinder with fine slits allowing the liquid containing the proteins to pass. Dry residues are blown off at the end of the press in the form of compacted peat.

- The peat is treated directly at the outlet of the press from which it leaves very compressed. It requires significant unpacking which is carried out by a crumbling system consisting of a cylinder with an axis perpendicular to the direction of exit of the press, carrying radial needles and rotating at high speed. The peat thus obtained is then bagged and delivered for consumption.

 - Protein processing consists of filtering the liquid from the press, followed by flocculation with soda, potash or lime. The whole is then centrifuged to obtain a complex usable in agriculture.

Thanks to the possibility of transforming marine plants, up to
then considered as waste, bulky in marketable products, the device which has just been described performs particularly well for the profitability of beach cleaning.

The positioning of the various constituent elements gives this device a maximum of useful effects which had not been obtained to date by similar devices.

Claims (6)

10 Process for the transformation of marine plants, intended to allow the exploitation of marine plants, and more particularly dead posidonia deposited on beaches by the sea, having for object to transform said marine plants into products usable in agriculture, such as peat intended for soil improvement or soil-less cultivation, and protein complexes usable in animal feed or in the form of a solution for agriculture, characterized by the first combination of washing intended to remove foreign bodies carried out in a perforated drum rotating in a constantly changing fresh water bath, followed by desalting in a 25 degree centigrade water bath, stirred by high pressure water supply, and also rinsing with water, then heating to a temperature between 35 and 45 degrees centigrade carried out in a slowly rising heat exchanger, then a pres wise under a pressure of 15 kilograms per square centimeter using an alternating sequential press with slots, intended for the extraction of proteins, finally decompacting the peat obtained and treatment by flocculation of the liquid containing the proteins. 20 Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the perforations of the rotary drum intended for washing are meshes of decreasing size axially. 30 A method according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the waste removed by washing is discharged to the outside by a worm device.  4 Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rinsing is carried out by water jet on a perforated conveyor belt.  50 Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the press of the "alternative sequential" type is in accordance with French patent FR 84 07081 by the same inventor. 60 Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heating takes place in a coaxial exchanger, with a slow rise in temperature, the regulation taking place automatically as a function of the desired flow rate. 70 Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decompaction of the peat is carried out by a crumbling system consisting of a cylinder with an axis perpendicular to the direction of exit of the press, carrying radial needles and rotating at high speed.