1. A method of processing biomass, the method comprising:
reducing one or more dimensions of individual pieces of biomass; and
exposing the biomass to an electron beam while conveying the biomass using a screw.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after exposure to the electron beam, subjecting the biomass to a primary process to form a product.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the primary process comprises fermentation.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein exposure to the electron beam is performed on the biomass while the biomass is exposed to air or air enriched with an oxidizing gas.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the electron beam radiation is applied at a total dosage of between about 10 Mrad and about 150 Mrad.
6. The method of claim 2 further comprising, after exposure to the electron beam, contacting the biomass with a microorganism andor an enzyme having the ability to convert at least a portion of the biomass to the product.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the product comprises a combustible fuel.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the microorganism comprises a bacterium or a yeast.
9. The method of claim 6 wherein converting comprises fermenting the material.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the biomass comprises a cellulosic andor lignocellulosic material.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the screw conveys the biomass through multiple electron beam irradiation devices.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising operating the electron beam at a power of at least 100 kW.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition, comprising the following components (A), (B) and (C):
(A) an oil or fat having a diglyceride content of 30 wt. % or greater,
(B) an egg yolk, the egg yolk containing a lysophospholipid and a phospholipid, and
(C) a water soluble soybean polysaccharide.
2. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claim 1 wherein the lysophospholipid is partially or entirely derived from the egg yolk.
3. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claim 1 or 2, wherein the lysophospholipid is partially or entirely derived from an enzyme treated egg yolk.
4. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claim 3, wherein the weight percentage of the lysophospholipid to the total phospholipid is 15% or greater in terms of a phosphorous amount.
5. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claim 3, wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of esterases, lipases, phospholipases, and mixtures thereof.
6. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claims 1, further comprising a phytosterol, phytosterol esters, and mixtures thereof.
7. The acidic oil-in-water type emulsified composition of claim 1, which is obtained by subjecting an aqueous phase containing the egg yolk to mechanical treatment to heighten the viscosity by at least 50% or reducing the solubility of the egg yolk protein by 5 to 60%, each compared with that before the treatment, and then adding an oil phase containing the component (A).