A method and apparatus for separating the organic membrane portion of waste egg
shells from the hard inorganic mineral portion thereof, so that each can be used
or further processed as desired, thereby addressing the environmental and economic
issues associated with disposing of waste egg shells. The membrane and shell are
separated by first processing waste eggshells so as to yield small waste eggshell
particles. During this processing, the waste eggshell particles are at least slightly
abraded, whereby the linking structure between the membrane and shell is at least
partially disrupted. Thereafter, the waste eggshell particles are conveyed to a
device, which isolates the two components based on their size and weight differences.
The methods listed above can provide products from the eggshell waste including
precipitated calcium carbonate, membrane, protein, amino acids, collagen and other
important components.
