Butterfat Losses in Buttermilk from Commercial Churnings
Abstract The effect of churning procedures on fat losses in the buttermilk at two creameries in south Alberta was studied. Seasonal fluctuations were found to exist. Losses ranged from 0.72% to 3.00% with averages of 1.11 and 1.57% at the two plants. The temperature of the buttermilk at time of draining was quite important, 59°F being the maximum permissible to prevent greatly increased losses. A churning time of 45 to 60 minutes appeared to give minimum fat losses although churning times below 45 minutes showed a greater tendency to high losses than did those in excess of 60 minutes. Overloading of the churn greatly increased fat losses.
Seasonal and regional variations in some chemical and physical properties of Alberta butterfat.
Refractive indexes, iodine and Reichert-Meissl values and softening points of butterfat from seven creameries situated in northern, central and southern parts of Alberta displayed distinct seasonal and regional variations over a 2-year period Except for the softening points no statistically significant difference was found when the variations of the 1952-53 data were compared with those of 1953-54. Both seasonal and regional fluctuations in the butterfat composition may be related in part to differing feeding practices High refractive indexes and iodine and Reichert-Meissl values were observed during the spring and summer and low values during autumn and winter, although Lethbridge butterfats were characterized by maximum Reichert-Meissl values in November The average monthly iodine values varied regionally The values of the butterfat from one point, however, did not follow this pattern Softening points were inversely correlated with iodine values (r = −0 37) and with Reichert-Meissl values (r = −0 58)
Hydrogen-rich gas production from biomass air and oxygen/steam gasification in a downdraft gasifier
Biomass gasification is an important method to obtain renewable hydrogen. However, this technology still stagnates in a laboratory scale because of its high-energy consumption. In order to get maximum hydrogen yield and decrease energy consumption, this study applies a self-heated downdraft gasifier as the reactor and uses char as the catalyst to study the characteristics of hydrogen production from biomass gasification. Air and oxygen/steam are utilized as the gasifying agents. The experimental results indicate that compared to biomass air gasification, biomass oxygen/steam gasification improves hydrogen yield depending on the volume of downdraft gasifier, and also nearly doubles the heating value of fuel gas. The maximum lower heating value of fuel gas reaches 11.11MJ/Nm3 for biomass oxygen/steam gasification. Over the ranges of operating conditions examined, the maximum hydrogen yield reaches 45.16gH2/kg biomass. For biomass oxygen/steam gasification, the content of H2 and CO reaches 63.27–72.56%, while the content of H2 and CO gets to 52.19–63.31% for biomass air gasification. The ratio of H2/CO for biomass oxygen/steam gasification reaches 0.70–0.90, which is lower than that of biomass air gasification, 1.06–1.27. The experimental and comparison results prove that biomass oxygen/steam gasification in a downdraft gasifier is an effective, relatively low energy consumption technology for hydrogen-rich gas production.