p PATE! (12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER TH (19) World Intletual Property Organ Z INO A Se ‘T COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) Sa (10) International Publication Number (43) International Publication Date = ye dune 2014 26.06.2018) wipol pct Cees (1) International Patent Classification (74) Agent: PUNDSACK, Scott, Ry Bonden Ladner Gervais COSF 5/00 (2006.01) CO2F 3/30(2006.01) LLP, World Exchange Plaza, 100 Queen Street, Suite CURR 3/12 (2006.01) CASE 17/00 (2006.01) 1109, Ottawa, Ontario KLP 119 (CA) C028 328 O61) (81) Designated States (uriess otherwise indicated, for every 21) International Application Number: kind of national protection available): AE, AG, AL, AM, PCT/US20121070992 AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BN, BR, BW, BY, BZ, CA; CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, (22) International Fling Date: . DO, DZ, EC, FE, EG, ES, Fl, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, 20 December 2012 20.12.2012) iN. FIR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KN, KP. 25) Filing Language: English KR. KZ, LA, LC, Lk. ER, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, Mi, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, (26) Publication Language: English NO, NZ, OM, PA, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, (71) Applicant; GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TI, [WSUS], 1 River Road, Schenectady, New York 12345 TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, (us), 2M ZW (72) Inventors: CARTHERY, JR., Luis Arnolde; Rodovia (4) BONKOSKI, William A.; 3239 Dundas Street West, Oak- GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, RW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, ville, Ontario L6M 4B2 (CA), VALLERO, Marcus Vini- UG, ZM, ZW) E ey AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TJ, ius Guerini, Rodovia Raposo Tavares, 22901, Cotia, S30 ’, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, BEU, Clayton; Rua Dr. Marcos Fiuza Silva, 46, Urbanova ML, MR, NE, SN, 7D, FG) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SL SK. SM, = with imiernational search report (Art 21(3)) (4) Title: VINASSF TREATMENT FOR WATER REUSE, FERTILIZER AND BIOGAS PRODUCTION 420-24 12 14 16 18 32 36 (28 | 7 28 34 + fx22 a z= & Z § 107 + = (87) Abstract: A system for treating vinasse combines an anaerobic digester (AD), a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and a salt concen, & trator such as an electrodialysis (ED) oF reverse osmosis (RO) unit, The AD constimes part of the organic matter in vinasse and gen erates methane, Efluent from the AD is treated in the MBR to remove additional organic matter, EMuent from the MBR is treated in the salt concentrator to separate a salt solution from the remaining effent, The salt solution contains mineral nutrients and may be used as fertilizer. The remaining effluent may be re-used, The methane can be sold as a prod or used as a souree of power WoO 2110 15 20 25 30 WO 2014098874 PCT/US2012/070992 MINASSE TREATMENT FOR WATER REUSE, FERTILIZER AND BIOGAS PRODUCTION BACKGROUND [0001] Vinasse is an aqueous waste product produced while making ethanol by fermentation. The term vinasse is often applied to waste produced when making fuel ethanol from sugarcane. However, similar waste products are produced when making fuel ethanol from other feedstock such as sugar beet or com, when producing drinking alcohol, and when making wine. In these applications, a similar waste product may be called spent wash, slop, stillage, dunder, wet distiler’s grains with solubles (WDGS) or other words. For the purposes of this specification, the word vinasse will be used to include waste produced when making fuel ethanol from sugarcane and other similar aqueous waste products from alcohol production unless a specific source of the vinasse is specified [0002] 10 or more liters of vinasse are produced for every liter of alcohol distilled. Vinasse has high concentrations of organic and inorganic matter. Vinasse has been applied as fertilizer to fields near distilleries. However, the organic compounds in the vinasse decompose on the land and create offensive odors. Further, unless vinasse is applied at a low rate, the amount of salts provided by the vinasse is more than the plants can take up. The soil becomes saturated over time which results in lower crop yields and, in some cases, groundwater or surface water contamination. As distilleries continue or expand their operations, the vinasse must be trucked longer distances to avoid saturating local fields and the trucking costs become prohibitive. Vinasse trucking costs for an average size mill can exceed $1000 (US) per hour of produc [0003] The vinasse may be condensed in an evaporator to reduce trucking costs. For example, an evaporation plant in Karnataka uses an evaporator to increase solids concentration from 12 to about 55-60 wt%. However, the evaporator consumes energy. The distillate has a high concentration of organic contaminants and is recycled to the fermenter. [0004] Anaerobic treatment has been proposed as an altemative for treating stillage. For example, a paper by R. Tomezak-Wandzel et al., "Anaerobic Treatment of Distillery Wastewater’, suggests using anaerobic digestion as a primary stilage treatment. In laboratory experiments, an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor achieved a 90% COD removal rate.10 15 20 25 30 WO 2014/098874 PCT/US2012/070992 [0005] In another approach, a plant installed by Rochem Separation Systems treats spent wash from a molasses based distillery with a single stage reverse osmosis system. The spent wash flow is 450 cubic meters per day and the recovery rates is 50%. This is a very small system. In comparison, a typical fuel ethanol plant in Brazil may produce over 500 cubic meters per hour of vinasse. INTRODUCTION TO THE INVENTION [0006] A system for treating vinasse described in this specification combines an anaerobic digester, a membrane bioreactor and a salt concentrator such as an electrodialysis or reverse osmosis unit. Preferably, the anaerobic digester is placed upstream of the membrane bioreactor which is upstream of the concentrator. [0007] Ina process described in this specification, an anaerobic digester consumes part of the organic matter in vinasse and generates methane. Effluent from the anaerobic digester is treated in a membrane bioreactor to remove additional organic matter. Effluent from the membrane bioreactor is treated in a salt concentrator to separate a salt solution from the remaining effiuent. The salt solution contains mineral nutrients and may be used as a fertilizer. The remaining effluent is well treated and may be re-used, for example for fermentation, irrigation, cooling tower make up water or boiler feed water. The methane, or electricity generated from the methane, may be sold as a product. Alternatively, the methane may be used to produce power for an associated distillery or for the vinasse treatment system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 0008) Figure 1 is a schematic process flow diagram for a vinasse treatment system. [0009] Figure 2 is a process flow diagram of an example of a vinasse treatment system according to a design example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0010] Figure 1 shows a vinasse treatment system 10 comprising an anaerobic digester 12, a membrane bioreactor 14 and a salt concentrator 16. [0011] The anaerobic digester 12 may be in the form, for example of a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The digester 12 may be located near a distillery, preferably near the outlet of distillation columns where the vinasse 18 is produced. The vinasse 18 leaves -2-