Research Overview – Clemson University Animal Co-Products Research and Education Center (ACREC)Annel K. Greene, ACREC Center Director
Early steps toward development of ACREC
• The concept initiated in Fall 2002
• Joint venture between the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation and Clemson University
• February 23, 2003 – Discussion forum
Early steps toward development of ACREC
• Research needs at the time were related to non-nutritional applications for rendered products
• Concern on future related to the feed rule
Early steps toward development of ACREC
• Developed structure, procedures, formats, timelines, by-laws, legal
• Officially named: Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center (ACREC)
• Built a coalition of researchers that continues to grow
Early steps toward development of ACREC
• Research areas chosen by the renderers were:• Feed safety - thermal processing, chemical, etc.• Environmental – protection and remediation• New product development – materials, polymers,
textiles
Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center (ACREC)
Dedication Conference – March 27-29, 2006
ACREC today
• A total of 136 research projects have been conducted or are in progress
• At least 91 graduate students have been directly involved in research projects related to rendering challenges since inception
• At least 19 post-doctoral scholars have conducted research on rendering challenges
ACREC today
• More than 2500 undergraduate students have been introduced to the rendering industry through classroom instruction
• More than 350 undergraduate students have conducted research related to the rendering industry
ACREC today
• Many of our graduates are now employed in the rendering industry or related industries such as pet food, animal feed, wastewater, etc.
• The rendering industry through the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation has funded nearly $5 million in research at ACREC.
ACREC today
• 49 faculty directly involved conducting studies• From 4 different colleges• From 16 different departments
• 18 of the ACREC faculty sought tenure during this timeframe
• 6 out of 9 currently funded projects are by faculty who have been at Clemson less than 10 years
Dr. Srikanth Pilla
• Associate Professor of Automotive Engineering at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR)
Dr. Srikanth Pilla
• Making biodegradable plastic laminates for automobiles using rendered animal proteins
• Has made a major breakthrough in advancing “self-healing” technologies
Dr. Srikanth Pilla
• Advantages for rendering – potential to create new high value outlets for animal proteins
• Could result in high value “disappearance” of a large volume of animal proteins
Dr. Andrew Hurley
• Associate Professor of Packaging Science
• Renderable gloves and bags• polyethylene can be a
problem in rendered fat • derived from plastic bags in
the raw stream
Dr. Andrew Hurley
• Identified a commercially available biodegradable plastic to make renderable gloves and bags
• Material degrades during rendering cooking processes
Dr. Andrew Hurley
• Advantages for rendering –will prevent downgrading of value of animal fats due to “poly” and will prevent glove and other particles contaminating animal feed and pet food ingredients
Dr. Mark Blenner
• Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Working to engineer yeast to produce omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids
Dr. Mark Blenner
• The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils command a premium price in the market
• Supplies are limited
• Used in aquaculture feeds
Dr. Mark Blenner
• The rendering industry produces millions of pounds of fats but these are a different fatty acid composition than fish oils.
• Working to convert tallow and other rendered fats to omega-3 fatty acids.
Dr. Mark Blenner
• Advantages for the rendering industry –conversion of lower value fatty acids to higher value ones will increase profitability and open new markets.
Fish Oil Market:
0.9 MM tons 2016
$3.06 billion in 2016
Anticipated to be $4.9 billion by 2025
Yarrowia lipolytica – a lipolytic yeastFDA GRAS approved
The genome is fully sequenced
Dr. Xiuping Jiang
• Professor of Food Science & Professor of Microbiology
• Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic compound formed by bacterial degradation of sulfur containing proteins such as in feathers.
Dr. Xiuping Jiang
• With then graduate student Chao James Gong, isolated bacteriophages capable of inhibiting the growth of hydrogen sulfide producing bacteria.
Bacteriophages
Bacteriophages
Are GRAS approved
Prior to discovery of antibiotics, bacteriophages wereused as antimicrobials
Used in many cold cuts and other foods today
Dr. Xiuping Jiang
• Also isolated bacteriophages capable of inhibiting growth of Salmonella and conducted extensive studies on boot bath sanitation in rendering processing plants.
Dr. Xiuping Jiang
• Advantages for the rendering industry – reduced production of toxic hydrogen sulfide, reduced degradation of incoming raw materials and reduced incidence of Salmonella.
Dr. Charlie Gooding
• Professor of Chemical Engineering
• Conducted the life cycle analysis for rendering operations and products
• Created the carbon footprint calculator that is available on the FPRF website.
Dr. Charlie Gooding
• Engaged hundreds of sophomore and senior chemical engineering students in projects related to rendering.
• Directed a student study on development of high value products from rendered fats.
Dr. David Bruce
• Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Conducted the life cycle analysis for using rendered animal fats to produce biodiesel
Dr. David Bruce
• Accounting for all energy inputs and outputs, demonstrated that use of animal fats to make biodiesel has a very favorable final energy balance for the product.
Dr. Alexey Vertegel and Dr. Vladimir Reukov
• Department of Bioengineering
• Created a potent antioxidant from blood
• Have started their own company – VRM – to move their product into the market
• Working on obtaining FDA approvals
Dr. Alexey Vertegel and Dr. Vladimir Reukov
• Have further created a flocculant product from their waste that is proving beneficial for wastewater treatment
• Their solution – VRM Floc-X
• Natural biodegradable, renderable flocculant
• Produced from by-product of antioxidant production
• USDA Collaboration
• Dr. Rafael Garcia
Flocculant sample prepared from chicken blood.
Dr. Alexey Vertegel and Dr. Vladimir Reukov
• Benefit for the rendering industry – offers non-polyacrylamide flocculant for wastewater treatment.
Dr. Scott Husson
• Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Worked on a project to clean wastewater without the need for chemicals
• Utilized advanced membrane technology
Dr. David Ladner and Dr. Yi Zheng
• Department of Environmental Engineering
• Built on the work of Dr. Husson on membrane wastewater cleaning systems
Dr. David Ladner and Dr. Yi Zheng
• Constructed a field-deployable membrane bioreactor/separator for rendering facility wastewater treatment
Dr. David LadnerAssociate Professor Department of Environmental
Engineering and Earth Sciences
Dr. Yi ZhengHas since moved to Kansas State
Biotransformation of Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) into High-Value Astaxanthin for Animal Feed
Dr. David Ladner and Dr. Yi Zheng
Why Astaxanthin?
• Bioactive carotenoid
Benefits and applications• Health benefits: anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, enhancement of
immune system, etc.• Increase health and fertility and decrease mortality of chicken• Pigmentation of fishes• Food, cosmetic, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, feed, and aquaculture
industries
Dr. Yi Zheng and Dr. David Ladner
Astaxanthin is currently priced at $2500 to $7500 per kg
Produced by microalgae and a yeast – is important pigment for aquaculture and poultry feed
Currently, soybean meal is used for natural astaxanthin production
Biological transformation of meat and bone meal into the high value natural antioxidant astaxanthin
U.S. Astaxanthin Market by Product, 2014 - 2025 (Million dollar)
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-astaxanthin-marketAstaxanthin Market Size & Share, Industry Research Report, 2018-2025
Compound annual growth rate (CAGR: ~13%)
Production of Astaxanthin
• Chemical synthesis (~$2,500)
• Feed and aquaculture
• Cheap, but less benefits
• Biosynthesis for natural astaxanthin (~$12,000)
• Microalga, Haematococcus pluvialis for human consumption with emerging market for feed and aquaculture
• Yeast, Phaffia rhodozyma for animal feed and aquaculture
Comparison between MBM and defatted soybean meal (DSM)
Dr. Joseph Thrasher
• Professor of Chemistry
• An article was published by another university stating that feather meal was contaminated with a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and personal care products
Dr. Joseph Thrasher
• Dr. Thrasher and his team of chemistry graduate students conducted an extensive analysis of feed-grade feather meal and challenged that paper’s findings.
Dr. Christopher Kitchens
• Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Investigated the use of supercritical carbon dioxide as a green solvent for extraction of rendered fat
Dr. Christopher Kitchens
• Project goal is to allow renderers greater options such as increasing fat extraction when fat prices are at a premium and producing low fat meals which may be of interest to pet food manufacturers
Dr. Christopher Kitchens
• In another project, is extracting valuable fat from DAF sludge
• Investigating conversion of these extracted lipids to fatty acid methyl esters
DAF Solids Extract via Supercritical Methanol
Cake as Supplied
Clean OilDirty Sludge/Oil
Extracted Powder
Potential Impact
• Effective means of dealing with DAF Solids with a proven, scalable method of solvent extraction
• Sustainable method of converting low grade oils to FAMEs using supercritical methanol.
• Insensitive to excess water, FFA, impurities etc.
• Scaleable, continuous, catalyst free.
DAF Extract After Reaction
Dr. Christopher Kitchens
• Is working with an extraction equipment company on pilot scale tests and design of extraction units
• Advantage to rendering industry – increased profitability
Dr. Christopher Kitchens
• Has also worked on improving soil fertility using rendered products as fertilizing ingredients
• Project funded by USDA and VFRC - $700K
Dr. Sudeep Popat
• Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
• Exploratory project to use microbial fuel cells to further clean wastewater while generating electricity
Dr. Sudeep Popat
• Will also generate value-added chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide which could be used in processing plant sanitation
Dr. Kevin Finneran
• Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
• Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences
Dr. Kevin Finneran
• Working on an extremely high value application of rendered products in an environmental remediation system. Could command as much as $1.35 to $3.00 per pound in a market that is anticipated to be $24.8 billion annually by 2022.
Dr. Andrew G. TennysonAssociate Professor
Dr. Rhett C. SmithAssistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Free Fatty Acid Based Composites for (Bio)Material Applications
Reaction Process:•Assess the elemental composition of the materials•Monitor for possible hydrogen sulfide generation•Evidence for formation of C-S bonds and consumption of C=C bonds
Macroscopic Structure-Property Relationships:•Oleic Acid : Sulfur Ratio•Development of tars versus solids•Need product to be re-meltable•Want to be able to use existing asphalt-casting equipment
Renewable Source of Asphalt Materials
Dr. Dan Whitehead & Dr. Frank Alexis
• Associate Professors of Chemistry and Bioengineering, respectively.
• Dr. Alexis recently moved to a university in South America
• Developing biodegradable materials that selectively capture and destroy malodorous compounds associated with rendering operations
t
ACREC: The Future?
Innovation to solve rendering challenges
New approaches
Bringing expertise from non-traditional agricultural fields
Clemson University ACREC
Thank you!