Apparatus and process for continuous saccharification of marine algae and cellulosic biomass

• US 10,041,031 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2012
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biocorp Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Biol Systems Co., Ltd., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company Limited (Government of South Korea)
• Inventors: Shin, Myung Kyo, Jeong, Dong In, Kim, In Sik, Im, Dongjoong
• Primary Examiner(s): DRODGE, JOSEPH W
• Application Number:
  US14/905,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20160152937A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,108 Days
• Field of Search: 127 2, 127 9, 127 42, 127 461, 366144, 366145, 366280, 422600, 422624, 422630, 422632, 422633, 422642, 422650, 422659, 422224, 422225, 422229
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/1862 placed in series
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00094 Jackets
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00162 controlling the pressure
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00164 controlling the flow
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00166 controlling the residence time inside the reactor vessel
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/187 inclined at an angle to the horizontal or to the vertical plane
• CPC Class Codes: C08B 37/0003 General processes for their isolation or fractionation, e.g. purification or extraction from biomass
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 23/58 Reaction vessels connected in series or in parallel combinations of bioreactors with other apparatus, C12M43/00
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 27/00 Means for mixing, agitating or circulating fluids in the vessel by introduction of gas C12M29/06, C12M29/14, mixing in general or mixers per se B01F; mixing in apparatus for chemical or physical processes B01J
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 29/06 Nozzles; Sprayers; Spargers; Diffusers per se B01F23/231, B01J19/26
• CPC Class Codes: C12M 41/40 of pressure

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and process for continuous saccharification of marine algae and cellulosic biomass.

Claims

1. An apparatus for performing continuous saccharification of biomass, the apparatus comprising:

a source input unit for supplying a source of the biomass;

a first reactor in fluid communication with the source input unit for receiving the source from the source input unit;

a reaction unit including a downward reactor in fluid communication with the first reactor through an inlet located near a top of the downward reactor to receive the source from the first reactor and configured to move the source downwardly from the inlet, and an upward reactor in fluid communication with the downward reactor through an outlet located near a bottom of the downward reactor to receive the source from the downward reactor and configured to move the source upwardly from the outlet;

a reactant liquid discharge unit provided near a top of the upward reactor for discharging the source from the upward reactor; and

a deposit removal unit provided near a bottom of the downward reactor for removing deposits from the source collected at the bottom of the downward reactor;

wherein an axis of the downward reactor and an axis of the upward reactor are tilted at a predetermined angle away from 90°

.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source includes marine algae, terrestrial cellulosic biomass, or a combination thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source includes marine algae containing water or marine algae from which water is removed by a dehydration process.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source input unit further includes an agitator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first reactor comprises a spraying device, a driving unit, and a pressure control device.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the spraying device is configured to directly inject high-pressure steam into the first reactor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the downward reactor and the upward reactor further includes an impeller.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein a slope of each of the impellers are set to enable the source to move in a reaction direction of the downward reactor and the upward reactor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source is mixed with a reaction catalyst in the first reactor.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the reaction catalyst is selected from the group consisting of water, an acid, a base, an enzyme, and the combinations thereof.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, configured such that the reaction catalyst is collected through the deposit removal unit and recycled.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, configured to maintain the temperature of the downward reactor and the upward reactor at about from about 50°

C. to about 300°

C.