HU210627B - Process for manufacturing glycerol and betaine - Google Patents

Description

lítására. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process by which the above products can be obtained from the distillation residue (mash) obtained during the alcoholic fermentation and distillation of the raw materials.

Other methods of producing said products have long been known and are commercially available. Glycerol, which is also a minor by-product of ethanol production or the yeast industry, is commercially produced as a by-product of soap production or petrochemically from mineral raw materials. It can be obtained either by synthesis or by crystallization from an aqueous solution of beet molasses.

Depending on how the Distiller's Dry Grain (DDG) is produced, it may also contain soluble matter (DDGS). DDG or DDGS is a by-product of ethanol production and is produced from the distillation residue. However, the distillation residue (DM) always contains sticky by-products (such as glycerol), depending on the fermentation raw materials, which adversely affect the flow of DDG; if the raw material for fermentation is sugar cane or sugar beet, the distillation residue may only be used as a fertilizer or feed additive or treated as industrial waste water.

The production of glycerol is disclosed, for example, in Hildebrandt (U.S. Patent No. 2,160,245) or in Walerstein (U.S. Patent 2,722,207). In Burris, Recoveiy of Chemicals Such as Glycerol, Dextrose and Amino Acids from Dilute Broths, Intem. Conf. On Fuel Alcohols and Chemicals from Biomass, Miami Beach, FL (1986)] suggested that glycerol could be made more economically from distillation residues than is currently the case, but the separation technique recommended (ultrafiltration less than 0.1 μπι) pore size organic membrane, pH adjustment, filtration, deionization, ion exchange and activated carbon treatment) cannot serve as the basis for an industrial scale glycerol recovery process.

Betaine production is also the subject of several patents (Heikkila et al., U.S. Patent 4,359,430; Japanese Patent Nos. 51/039625 or 80/045067). Because betaine can be produced economically from sugar beet molasses (such processes are also discussed in the cited patents), its extraction from mash is unknown, but this may also be due to the fact that the ion-exchange resins used to extract the beta from other yeast cells in the mash microorganisms and various compounds are contaminated until they are useless. The process for the preparation of glycerol and betaine from mash, which is the subject of the present invention, is not known to the public, except for the patent application cited as the priority of the present invention.

Our procedure allows the extraction of beta or glycerol, e.g. from distillation residues (DM) from ethanol production from sugar beet raw materials.

Critical steps in the process include microfiltration of DM and two chromatographic steps to yield pure glycerol and betaine. Microfiltration on an inorganic membrane, enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins and / or removal of potassium sulphate crystals from the filtrate (if necessary) results in completely pure DM, which can be concentrated to a very high dry matter content. From this concentrate, high purity glycerol and beta can be obtained by two chromatographic operations - with specific synthetic resins. The new process has a number of advantages over those currently used and the processes described in the patents cited, including lower energy and water requirements, lower investment costs, high solids content, or high purity of the products (glycerol and beta) degree.

The process of the present invention is suitable for the industrial production of said products using the remainder of fermentation distillation or similar processes.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for the production of glycerol, a valuable by-product of fermentation-based alcohol production. The use of this process does not affect the economics of the well-known ethanol production based on alcoholic distillation and distillation, but allows the production of a new product. More specifically, ethanol is produced using a well-known biochemical reaction sequence which can be influenced by the process of the invention so that the ratio of glycerol and / or other by-products is higher, while the ethanol yield is barely or at all reduced.

The invention also relates to the production of betaine or betaine hydrochloride by alcoholic fermentation of sugar beet processing by-products or similar raw materials.

The process of the present invention is as follows. The weight of the material pre-treated with alcoholic fermentation is distilled with an open column through which ethanol vapor is removed. The distillation residue is purified (if necessary) by centrifugation followed by microfiltration. This microfiltration, during which particles of 0.1 to 10 µm are removed, is a key step in the production of glycerol and beta.

Earlier experiments (Burris, 1, supra) used ultrafiltration to remove glycerol (particles smaller than 0.1 µm were also removed), but this method is uneconomical because of the rapid clogging of ultrafiltration membranes. An unexpected result of microfiltration with an inorganic membrane, besides filtering DM into a mirror, is that by-products, such as glycerol, can be recovered from the solution in greater amounts and thus first become economically feasible.

The DM filtrate can be further processed according to the raw material. These may include, as appropriate, softening (if necessary), concentration, enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins, removal of crystalline potassium sulphate, one or more chromatographic separations (with different resins depending on the materials to be recovered), and concentration of the recovered product, and Cleaning. By the process glycerol and

HU 210 627 B can be produced in economical amounts. A further advantage is that the residual solids are free of sticky intermediates, so they are free to roll and thus easier to handle.

The present invention has generally been described; the partial presentation is related to the two figures enclosed.

Figure 1, which illustrates the treatment of a number of other products, is a flow chart of the material flow of the process of the invention through various equipment and technological steps, while Figure 2 is a flow chart of a technology for producing glycerol and betaine.

As the process of the present invention will now be described in detail, it should be noted at the outset that one skilled in the art will be able to modify it while preserving its advantages. Accordingly, the following description is to be construed as providing broad guidance to those skilled in the art; however, the scope of the invention is not limited thereto.

Most of the technological steps and equipment shown in Figure 1 are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will not be described in detail.

It is known that the production of ethanol by alcoholic fermentation (fermentation) with yeasts or other microorganisms is associated with the growth of the microorganism and interacts with the formation of glycerol and succinic acid. The biochemical background of this phenomenon is that if the rate of NADH production from the oxidation of triose phosphates during the Embden-Meyerhof metabolic pathway exceeds the rate of utilization for acetaldehyde reduction, then due to the ATP deficiency of the cells, lead to the reduction of acetone phosphate to glycerol. The excess NADH may also result from the operation of the Szent-GyörgyKrebs cycle. (NADH = reduced nicotinic acid amide adenine dinucleotide, ATP = adenosine triphosphate).

In a conventional, successful alcoholic fermentation, if the mash is not recycled, 48 g of ethanol, 4.0 g of glycerol, 0.6 g of succinic acid and traces of lactic acid are produced from 100 g of reducing sugar. During fermentations starting from wet milled maize or certain grape varieties, the amount of lactic acid produced can be significant.

Returning to Figure 1 and apart from the nature of the raw material, the first step is the alcoholic fermentation of the raw material with yeasts and / or other microorganisms. At the start, it has to be decided whether ethanol, as the main product, is to be obtained from DM as the main product, because fermentation must be conducted accordingly. Cells proliferate during the anaerobic feeding phase; this allows us to influence glycerol levels. By altering the nature of the raw material and / or the fermentation conditions, it is also possible to obtain it in the beta in an amount that is worth extracting.

Regardless of the type of raw material, the second step in the process, after fermentation, is distillation, which is usually performed on an open column and the ethanol vapor is collected at the head of the column. The residue remaining after the ethanol is removed is DM, which contains the target products and by-products. The remainder of the description deals with the recovery of glycerol and its beta from this DM.

The first stage of DM processing, regardless of the product to be recovered, is always the cleaning, which may begin with a pre-cleaning with a centrifuge, optionally combined with chemical treatment. In many cases, protease (s), protein-degrading enzymes, are also added during pre-treatment to break down the membrane filter-blocking proteins and peptides. Pre-cleaning

if necessary, filtration through an inorganic membrane is followed. The membrane is a filter plate made of ceramic or other inorganic material with a pore size of 0.1 to 10 μπι, which separates the DM into a filtrate and a filter residue. Microfiltration is a critical step in extracting by-products: the filtrate must be completely clear ("mirrored") to be economical.

The filtrate, which contains all the solid particles, can be used as fertilizer or animal feed. Depending on the raw material, the filtrate may need to be "softened" to prevent depletion of the resin used for recovery and then concentrated to a dry matter content of preferably 50-75%. One way of softening is by ion exchange, or by using natural crystallization followed by removal of potassium salts which crystallize out over time.

The concentrated filtrate is then either directly transferred to the chromatography step (where glycerol and beta are recovered) or, in the case of sugar beet raw materials, the crystallized potassium sulfate is first crystallized. If the desired product is glycerol, an ion exclusion chromatography is performed, followed by an ion exchange chromatography, the solution is concentrated to 80-85% glycerol by evaporation, and the glycerol is purified by distillation to industrial grade, followed by purification.

By-product of the chromatographic steps mentioned

- a mixture of substances still flowing through the resin is either incorporated into animal feed or further processed. If the betaine is to be obtained from sugar beet raw material, the next step is chromatographic, but optionally the betaine can be prepared by other physico-chemical separation steps. If the raw material for fermentation is sugar beet, the first chromatographic step gives glycerol and betaine, which must be separated in a further step.

The most important operational parameter through which we can influence the relative concentration of glycerol produced during fermentation is the yeast application form.

Immobilized yeast cells have been found to produce increased levels of glycerol. Immobilization of cells can be accomplished by coupling to a high density, stably ionic crosslinked material, as follows.

HU 210 627 B

Example 1

Ground corn is cooked by steam blowing (149 ° C) for 2 minutes, first liquefied at pH 6.3 to 20.3 glucose equivalents (GE), then sugared at pH 4.5 to 36 GE reducing sugars. Immobilized yeast is prepared by mixing the desired amount of yeast cells in 1.5% sodium alginate solution with sterile quartz sand and then mixing the mixture through a 12 mesh (about 1.8 mm) mesh sieve. glucose was added to a 0.5 M solution of calcium chloride (pH 4.6) at room temperature. The calcium chloride causes the droplets of the alginate solution to precipitate in the form of beads and, after cooling for 24 hours (4 ° C), form spheres of 2-4 mm in diameter. Alginate containing 5.0 g / l of immobilized yeast cells or the same amount of free yeast cells as control is added to the prepared feedstock and heated to 34 ° C. Fermentation is carried out batchwise without recycle distillation; adjust the pH to 5.0 with sodium hydroxide. The yield of the two experiments per 100 g of reducing sugar is as follows:

glycerol succinic acid free yeast 3.38 g 0.67 g immobilized yeast 4.09 g 0.87 g

Other process parameters that are also contemplated by the invention include the concentration of yeast cells and carbohydrates (measured in dextrose equivalents in DE): the glycerol yield is increased by raising them. The relationship is illustrated in the following example.

Example 2

Pulp of sorghum seeds is prepared and fermented with various amounts of free yeast cells (initial pH = 4.9, 27 GE, 33 ° C). Fermentation is carried out batchwise without recycle. The following table shows the trends in yields as a function of sugar concentration and yeast content:

yeast cell (10 ⁸ / ml) sugar concentration (BUT) glycerol (g / 100 g reducing sugar) 1 27 3.03 3 27 3.07 5 27 3.19 5 46 3.37 15 90 5.01

The results clearly show that glycerol increases with higher levels of yeast cells and higher sugar concentrations.

Other fermentation parameters that can be optimized to increase the yield of desired by-products while maintaining ethanol production include: osmotic pressure, dissolved carbon dioxide concentration, pH, temperature, selection of the appropriate microorganism, method of fermentation and proper preparation of the raw material .

Increasing the osmotic pressure (which can be achieved, for example, by recycling the distillation residue), increasing the concentration of solutes and / or raising the temperature leads to both increased glycerol production and higher concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide. Since yeast, like most microorganisms, is very effective in controlling the intracellular pH at ambient p H values of 3 to 7, changing the pH has little effect on production, however, it has been observed that glycerol production increases when the first fermentation occurs. half of the pH is kept constant by the addition of a suitable alkali such as sodium carbonate. Various properties of the raw material prepared for fermentation, mash, (for example, the quality of the plant itself, the concentration of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, the ratio of fermentable sugars or the nature of non-sugar compounds) may interact with the physiological needs of the microorganism employed.

With the appropriate selection of the parameters listed, an increased amount of glycerol can be produced. The following example illustrates the relationship between parameters and production.

Example 3

Ground corn is cooked by steam blowing (152 ° C) for 3 minutes, then liquefied and partially saccharified to 20.6 DE reducing sugars. Various batches of pulp (A-D) are fermented and distilled using the yields shown in the table with the yields given. .

Procedural parameters Experiment THE B C D yeast (g / l), approx. 10 ^1θ cells / g 1.2 3.1 9.0 26.5 BUT 33.2 56.3 78.7 78.7 recycled distillation residue (%) 0 38.3 44.1 71.4, temperature ('C) 30 34 35 35 pH 4.5 5.5 6.0 5.0 fermentor head pressure (kPa) atmosz- férikus 11.9 16.1 8.4 yeast type free bound bound bound fermentation! time (hours) 58 39 12 9 Yield (g / 100g reducing sugar) ethanol 44.9 44.1 42.0 44.7 glycerol 4.8 5.8 8.3 12.3

"Recycling" refers to the percentage of recycled mash present in the pulp to be processed. The pH is adjusted to the specified value during the first half of the fermentation by addition of sodium carbonate.

HU 210 627 B

It can be seen from the table that by appropriately selecting the fermentation parameters, the yield of glycerol can be substantially increased without significantly reducing the yield of ethanol. - Example 4

The mash is made from pasteurized molasses and then fermented and distilled at the yields given in the table.

Procedural parameters Experiment THE B C D E yeast (g / 1) 1.0 3.0 18.2 32.0 20.0 reducing sugar (g / 1) 184 184 192 200 200 recycled distillation residue (%) 0 24.7 43.0 37.9 48.4 temperature (° C) 30 34 34 35 35 fermentor head pressure (kPa) open 6.3 12.6 14.7 8.4 yeast type free free bound bound bound type of fermentation sections waxy sections waxy sections waxy process continuous sections waxy flowering time (hours) 51 27 10 6 12 PH 4.5 5.0 6.0 5.5 5.0 Yield (g / 100 g reducing sugar) ethanol 48.3 47.8 43.9 46.4 45.1 glycerol 3.7 4.3 8.4 5.1 10.9

It is observed that for some parameter combinations the yield of glycerol falls below the maximum, but in the combination where the product yield is maximum, the yield of alcohol is not significantly reduced.

Example 5

The clarified wood hydrolyzate (yellow pine) is fermented batchwise; the pH is kept constant for the first 25 hours, and the residue is not recycled. The parameters and yields are as follows:

Procedural parameters Experiment THE B C yeast (g / 1) 15.0 40.0 40.0 reducing sugar (g / 1) 54.3 54.3 74.1 temperature (° C) 31 33 34 fermentor head pressure (kPa) atmospheric 2.1 8.4 yeast type free bound bound way of fermentation tub tub tub

Procedural parameters Experiment THE B C eq'letting time (hours) 68 43 41 '' pH 5.0 5.5 5.0 Yield (g / 100 g reducing sugar) ethanol 29.4 34.5 40.4 glycerol 3.4 3.9 6.9

According to the present invention, further fermentation of fermented mash prepared as described in the Examples above gives pure glycerol derived from natural raw materials. The solids remaining at the end of further processing can be dried to produce DDG or DDGS and / or fertilizer premix which is free-flowing and easier to handle due to the complete removal of the glycerol than similar products obtained by previous processes.

The next step in the processing of the fermented mash is usually the distillation of ethanol. This distillation may be carried out using a stripping column suitable for treating a stream of solids. The distillation residue, the distillation residue, is then pre-purified by centrifugation, if necessary, and the concentrate is further purified from any solid particles in a further purification step to make it a mirror-clear liquid. This cleaning can be done with flow-through microfiltration systems containing ceramic or other mineral-based membranes. Depending on the quality of the membrane, this process removes particles of 0.1 to 10 µm from the dilute distillation residue. A smooth and fast flow through the filtration process can be achieved by selecting the appropriate membrane and computer monitoring of the backwash process. Said microfiltration membranes are otherwise known and commercially available from known manufacturers. Such known devices can be used in the apparatus necessary for carrying out the process of the invention.

During chemical purification, one-fifth of the distillation residue is collected and calcium oxide (burnt lime) is added to near boiling point or boiling point where its pH is between 9.0 and 12.0. The remaining four-fifths of the volume is adjusted to pH 4.57.5 with sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide and / or sodium carbonate at the highest practicable temperature. The two fractions are then combined and the precipitated salts, which can be precipitated by adding polyelectrolytes, are removed by centrifugation.

Depending on the raw material, it may be necessary to "soften" the solution after microspheres or chemical purification, in particular to reduce the concentration of divalent cations (calcium and magnesium). This prevents the blocking and contamination of the ion-exclusion resins used in the subsequent steps caused by the deposition of salts of divalent cations in connection with possible operation steps; this build-up significantly reduces the efficiency of the operation.

HU 210 627 B

The purified distillation residue is then removed as much water as possible in the evaporator, i.e. its dry matter concentration is raised to the highest practicable level. Proper cleaning significantly improves the heat transfer capacity of the distillation residue compared to the average heat transfer capacity of the unpurified dilute solution while minimizing tread blockage.

The purified and concentrated distillation residue is then passed to an ion exclusion apparatus; a suitable device is, for example, a device of the Illinois Water Treatment Company (Rockford, IL, USA) which provides a suitable resin, e.g. Contains SM-51-Na, but other similar resins available from Dow Chemical, e.g. also Dowex 5O-WX8 resin. From the solution passing through the ion exchange device, the resin binds the glycerol, while the other ionic components enter the effluent stream. The yield of the recovery process is 80-98% while the glycerol recovered from the resin is 80-90% pure.

The device itself can be a single or multiple column system, a pulsating bed or a simulated moving bed. Feeding the flow solution maintains or improves product purity and / or yield. Condensates of any evaporator used in the apparatus may be used as desorbents; desorbent / feed ratio approx. 1,6-k. 3.0 can be between. Such a column remains in ionic equilibrium and does not require regeneration.

The by-product effluent of the ion-exclusion step may conveniently be recycled to the fermentation step. This is a "clean" stream that can both increase the osmotic pressure of the mash and reduce the water requirement of the whole process.

The glycerol obtained by ion exclusion chromatography can be further purified by mixed-bed ion exchange and after concentration can be purified to any degree of purity. Concentration and purification can be carried out, for example, by means of an energy-saving vacuum / steam multiple-action evaporator and a distillation refiner (e.g., G. Mazzoni SpA (Italy)).

The following example demonstrates that the recovery of glycerol from the distillation residue of a fermentation without special preparation which contains it in a higher concentration can be very advantageous.

Example 6

After distilling off the ethanol, the distillation residue from a wet milled corn distillate is pre-purified by centrifugation, and the diluted mash is subjected to microfiltration, i.e. filtration with a ceramic membrane. The clear filtrate is partially softened and then concentrated by evaporation to a dry matter content of 83% by weight, where it still functions as a Newtonian liquid. This is fed into an Adsep (Illinois Water Treatment Co.) equipment for about. At a dry weight concentration of 60% by weight - (one column 7.6 cm internal diameter, 158 cm bed height, IWT SM-51-Na resin fill), 0.8 1 / min / dm ² , 20% by volume in pulsed mode, 1.4 1 pulse volume. The glycerol-containing effluent solution was passed and further purified on a mixed-bed ion exchanger (IWT Co.) and, after adjusting its pH to 7.0 with sodium hydroxide, was concentrated to 83.1% glycerol by a Mazzoni evaporator. Further distillation and refining is carried out to obtain glycerol of analytical grade.

Changes in product composition during the process can be monitored in the table below; the values given refer to 100 parts by weight of crude distillation residue.

com- indicated on label Distillation residue Purified, concentrated distillation residue effluent Adsep column end product dry- material 7.37 5.01 1.21 traces water 92.63 8.91 15.69 0,007 proteins 2.36 1.07 traces - of carbohydrates capsule 1.19 0.38 0.13 - fats 0,007 0,003 0,001 - hamutarta- lom 0.84 0.77 0.09 - milk week 1.42 1.32 0.05 traces amber- tartaric acid 0.09 0.08 0,006 - other 0.343 .306 0,026 traces glycerol 1.01 0.96 0.94 0.924 glycerol content (% by weight): 1.01 6.90 5.19 99.25 inorganic cations (mg / l): Well ⁴ 10,700 740 K ⁺ 4500 70 Mg ⁴⁴ 960 70 Ca ⁴⁴ 240 4 Mn ⁴⁴ 90 2

Example 7

As shown in Figure 2, ultrapure glycerol and betaine hydride chloride are obtained from a distillation residue of a beet molasses distillation plant in a continuous operation.

Fermentation is carried out in the usual way: no modifications are made to increase glycerol production. The hot distillation residue was filtered through a flow-through microfiltration apparatus with an alpha-alumina membrane having a pore size of 0.2 µm. The resulting filtrate was treated with enzyme at 50 ° C to hydrolyze the protein and then concentrated to a dry weight content of > 66%. When cooled in a mixer, potassium sulfate crystallizes out; it can be removed, washed and dried by centrifuge.

HU 210 627 B

The concentrate is then fed to the first chromatographic separation system, whereby a mixture of beta and glycerol is separated from the residue. The ion-exclusion apparatus used utilizes a potassium-strongly acidic cation exchange resin having an average particle size of 375 µm and a water uptake capacity of 52.5% by weight in the form of hydrogen ion (IWT SM51). The product stream had a solids content of 36.3% by weight and a purity of 92% by weight based on (glycerol + betaine). Water is used as the desorbent.

The product stream is then concentrated to 75% by weight of total solids and fed to a second, much smaller, chromatographic apparatus containing a polystyrene-based, sulfate-shaped, highly basic resin pack; its average particle size is approx. 350 gm, water absorption capacity 41-46% by weight. [Both of these resins meet the food use requirements set forth in Food and Drug Administration No. 21. 173.25, subdivision A of subdivision A of the Decree of the Minister for the Environment.) Water is used again as a desorbent. The glycerol obtained from this second chromatographic step had a purity (after purification by a single bed ion exchange) of 97.6% and of betaine 88.2%. The glycerol stream can now be easily processed to ultra pure glycerol using the G. Mazzoni SpA apparatus; further converting the betaine stream into pure betaine and the betaine hydrochloride salt. Glycerol yield was 88.5% and betaine 93.2%.

In the second chromatographic separation step, another resin may be used to prepare pure glycerol and pure beta. It is a calcium-shaped, highly acidic cation exchange resin having an average particle size of 350 gm and a water uptake capacity (in the form of hydrogen) of 57.5-61.0% by weight.

The concentration (% by weight) of the compounds produced in each step is as follows:

all dry- material air particles s glycerol betaine distillation residue 7.5 1.0 0.7 1.5 after microfiltration 6.5 0.7 1.5 after concentration 60.0 6.3 13.5 after the first chromatographic separation 36.3 10.6 22.7 after concentration 75.0 22.0 47.0 glycerol after the second chromatographic separation 38.2 37.3 beta after the second chromatographic separation 23.7 0.5 20.9

The figures and the description show preferred embodiments of the process according to the invention. Although specific terms are used, the description is to be construed in general and descriptive terms only and should not serve as a basis for limiting the process of the invention.

PATENT CLAIMS

Claims (20)

PATENT CLAIMS 1. A process for the continuous production of glycerol from the distillation residue which is left over after the alcoholic fermentation of ethanol - such as maize, wheat or other cereals, sugar cane, sugar beet, grapes or other fruits, potatoes, tapioca root, sugar sorghum or the like - , characterized by i) purifying the distillation residue by microfiltration through a 0.1 to 10 m pore size inorganic membrane; ii) separating the glycerol from the filtrate by other means by ion exclusion chromatography; and iii) further purifying the separated glycerol. The process of claim 1, wherein the solid components are removed from the distillation residue by centrifugation prior to purification by microfiltration. A process according to claim 1, wherein if the distillation residue is made from a raw material obtained from sugar beet processing, the distillation residue purified in step i) is treated with a protein-degrading enzyme or enzymes. Process according to claim 3, characterized in that, if the distillation residue is made from raw material from sugar beet processing, the distillation residue purified in step i) is concentrated to a dry matter content of 50-75% and the precipitated crystalline potassium sulphate is removed. . 5. A process according to claim 1, wherein prior to performing the ion exclusion chromatography step ii), the filtrate of the microfiltration is concentrated to a practically permissible maximum solids content. 6. The process of claim 1, wherein the glycerol is further purified by ion exchange chromatography in step iii), then concentrated to 80-85% glycerol, distilled and finally purified by filtration on a scavenger, activated carbon or the like to produce ultra pure glycerol. . Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the distillation residue is prepared by the following steps: - making a pulp from a biological raw material; fermenting said pulp with an appropriate amount of yeast until the resulting mash contains at least 9 g of glycerol and 40 g of ethanol per 100 g of reducing sugar in the pulp; then distilling the ethanol from the mash to give a distillation residue. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the yeast cells are fixed. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the fermentation of the stock pulp is mixed with the yeast cells at a concentration of at least 100 g / l. A process according to claim 7, characterized by It is contemplated that at least 80 g of glucose-equivalent fermentable sugar pulp is prepared. 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the fermentation of the stock pulp is maintained at a constant pH for the first two-thirds of its time. 12. The process of claim 7, wherein the yeast is added to the crude paste in sufficient quantity to ferment to a mash containing at least 15 grams of glycerol and 40 grams of ethanol per 100 grams of reducing sugars in the paste. 13. The process according to claim 7, wherein the microfiltration, chromatographic separation and purification of the glycerol of the distillation residue are carried out as part of a continuous technology. 14. A process for the production in the process of production in beta from a distillation residue which remains after the alcoholic fermentation of raw materials from sugar beet processing and the distillation of ethanol, characterized in that: i) purifying the distillation residue by microfiltration through an inorganic membrane with a pore size of 0.1 to 10 μτη; ii) separating the betaine from the other constituents from the purified distillation residue by ion exclusion chromatography; and iii) further purifying the separated betaine. The process of claim 14, wherein the solid components are removed from the distillation residue by centrifugation prior to purification by microfiltration. 16. A14. The process of claim 1, wherein the distillation residue purified in step i) is treated with a protein-degrading enzyme or enzymes. 17. A process according to claim 16, wherein the distillation residue purified in step i) is concentrated to a dry matter content of 50-75% by weight and the precipitated crystalline potassium sulfate is removed. 18. The process according to claim 14, wherein prior to performing the ion exclusion chromatography step ii), the filtrate of the microfiltration is concentrated to a practically permissible maximum solids content. 19. The process of claim 14 wherein the purification step iii) comprises ion exchange chromatography, concentration, conversion of the betaine to the hydrochloride salt, crystallization, filtration, washing and drying of the compound. 20. A process according to claim 14, wherein the microfiltration, chromatographic separation and purification of the product from the distillation are carried out as part of a continuous technology.