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Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with sulfur dioxide and/or sulfurous acid

  • US 10,655,149 B2
  • Filed: 09/16/2016
  • Issued: 05/19/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2016
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A process for hydrolyzing lignocellulosic biomass comprising:

  • a) feeding lignocellulosic biomass and acid into a pretreatment reactor, said acid comprising at least one of sulfur dioxide and sulfurous acid;

    b) heating said lignocellulosic biomass in the pretreatment reactor for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a slurry comprising pretreated lignocellulosic biomass, said slurry adjacent a headspace comprising sulfur dioxide;

    c) removing said slurry from the pretreatment reactor;

    d) preventing at least a portion of the sulfur dioxide in the headspace from exiting the pretreatment reactor as the slurry is removed;

    e) hydrolyzing cellulose in the removed slurry in the presence of cellulase to produce glucose; and

    f) contacting additional lignocellulosic biomass with the sulfur dioxide prevented from exiting the pretreatment reactor in step d) under conditions selected to pretreat the additional lignocellulosic biomass.

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