Neste Oil Oyj

Heidi Kahelin

Ossi A Pastinen

Simo Laakso

Miia Mujunen

Annika Malm

Tarja Suomalainen

The present invention relates to a method for the production of fat with a principal application as transportation biofuel or a component or raw material therefor. According to the method, cell masses, cell suspensions and/or liquid phases formed in the production of single cell oil, and/or biomass-containing side streams or microorganism cell masses for another purpose and/or originating from other sources, are contacted with a fat-production capable microorganism and the organism is allowed to produce fat. The resulting fat is recovered or the microorganism mass is passed to a single-cell oil production process. By means of the invention, the organic matter present in the cell mass and side streams of single-cell oil can be re-utilized for the production of the single-cell oil, thereby improving a total fat yield, as well as reducing an organic load of the side streams.

Method for the production of fat

The present invention relates to a process for producing enzymes and single cell oil. The process comprises that microorganisms capable of producing both single cell oil and enzymes are cultivated under conditions suitable for single cell oil production and enzyme production in a single cell oil production process. A microorganism culture comprising single cell oil and enzymes is obtained and at least part of the microorganism culture, of the supernatant and/or microorganism cells separated from the microorganism culture, of protein fraction enriched from the supernatant, and/or of protein fraction obtained from the cells is used as an enzyme preparation or as a source of enzymes. Single cell oil is recovered from the microorganism cells and used as biofuel, component of biofuel or as a starting material for biofuel production. Enzymes produced according to the process are used in the same or in another industrial process.

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Espoo, Finland

Heidi Kahelin