Patents by Inventor Rainer Ricker

Rainer Ricker has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20070077635
    Abstract: Process and device for obtaining fatty acids or fatty acid esters from native oils and fats by their enzymatic hydrolysis and optional simultaneous esterification with alcohols, especially n- and iso-alcohols Process and device for obtaining fatty acids or fatty acid esters from native oils and fats, in which lipases, as biocatalysts for hydrolysis of oils or fats, are caused to act on a mixture of an oil or fat, water, and optionally an oil- or fat-soluble alcohol to hydrolyze the oil or fat and optionally to form an ester, where the reaction mixture thus formed is placed in an self-discharging centrifuge for separation into a glycerol-containing aqueous phase and an organic phase, the centrifuge is adjusted so that a lipase-enriched intermediate phase collects in the centrifuge between the aqueous that is drained off and the organic phase that is drained off, and the centrifuge is emptied at specified times and the discharged drum contents from the centrifuge are returned to the combined hydrolysis or optio
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2002
    Publication date: April 5, 2007
    Inventors: Karlheinz Brunner, Rainer Frische, Rainer Ricker, Corinna Kaske, Dirk Kilian
  • Patent number: 7109363
    Abstract: A method for the production of fatty acid esters of primary and/or secondary alcohols from raw, unpurified oils or fats containing free fatty acids and slimy substances or from waste oils loaded with free fatty acids from the food industry. Acidic catalytic esterification is performed on the free fatty acids along with extensive deactivation of the slimy substances present with respect to the disadvantageous emulsion-forming property thereof, whereby a water-free primary and/or secondary alcohol and a highly acidic hygroscopic catalyst are added to the starting substance in the form of crude oil or fat or waste oil, the reaction product is rinsed with glycol from a prior alkaline transesterification, whereupon alkaline transesterification occurs for the unmodified remaining glyceridically bound fatty acids in the reaction product of the acidic-catalytic esterification process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Westfalia Separator AG
    Inventors: Karlheinz Brunner, Rainer Frische, Rainer Ricker
  • Patent number: 6960673
    Abstract: A method for pretreating crude oils and fats for subsequent alkaline transesterification with primary and/or secondary alcohols. The raw oil or fat loaded with slimy substances is treated with a mixture used at 0.15 wt. % in relation to the oil or fat comprising an alcohol and concentrated acid, and preferably is subsequently rinsed with an alkaline glycerol phase arising from an alkaline transesterification reaction of the above-mentioned type. After the rinsing process, the glycerol phase which is loaded with slimy substances and soaps of free fatty acids is separated as a heavy phase of neutral oil liberated from free fatty acids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2005
    Assignee: Westfalia Separator AG
    Inventors: Karlheinz Brunner, Rainer Frische, Rainer Ricker
  • Publication number: 20040102640
    Abstract: A method for the production of fatty acid esters of primary and/or secondary alcohols from raw, unpurified oils or fats containing free fatty acids and slimy substances or from waste oils loaded with free fatty acids from the food industry. Acidic catalytic esterification is performed on the free fatty acids along with extensive deactivation of the slimy substances present with respect to the disadavantageous emulsion-forming property thereof, whereby a water-free primary and/or secondary alcohol and a highly acidic hygroscopic catalyst are added to the starting substance in the form of crude oil or fat or waste oil, the reaction product is rinsed with glycol from a prior alkaline transesterification, whereupon alkaline transesterification occurs for the unmodified remaining glyceridically bound fatty acids in the reaction product of the acidic-catalytic esterification process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2003
    Publication date: May 27, 2004
    Inventors: Karlheinz Brunner, Rainer Frische, Rainer Ricker
  • Publication number: 20040054206
    Abstract: A method for pretreating crude oils and fats for subsequent alkaline transesterification with primary and/or secondary alcohols. The raw oil or fat loaded with slimy substances is treated with a mixture used at 0.15 wt. % in relation to the oil or fat comprising an alcohol and concentrated acid, and preferably is subsequently rinsed with an alkaline glycerol phase arising from an alkaline transesterification reaction of the above-mentioned type. After the rinsing process, the glycerol phase which is loaded with slimy substances and soaps of free fatty acids is separated as a heavy phase of neutral oil liberated from free fatty acids.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2003
    Publication date: March 18, 2004
    Inventors: Karlheinz Brunner, Rainer Frische, Rainer Ricker
  • Patent number: 5928696
    Abstract: The extraction of native products is rendered difficult by the fact that attraction forces act between the liquid native products which are not water-soluble and the tissue incorporating them, and that other constituents are dissolved or present in the form of particles in suspension in the products during the extraction process. The initial substance mixture is, therefore, processed together with a water-soluble, organic solvent and optionally water to form a paste. The addition of the water-soluble, organic solvent enables the substance mixture to be separated cleanly into an aqueous phase and an organic phase in the centrifugal field, no further cleaning being necessary for the organic phase. The process according to the invention has a wide area of application. In principle, it can be applied to all substance mixtures containing liquid, organic substances, in particular to vegetable and animal tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: Dr. Frische GmbH
    Inventors: Bernd Best, Karlheinz Brunner, Katja Hegwein, Rainer Ricker, Rainer Frische