SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES FOR CELLULOSIC ETHANOL PRODUCTION

• US 20080299633A1
• Filed: 08/15/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wise Landfill Recycling Mining, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Wise Landfill Recycling Mining, Inc.
• Inventors: Rush, Stephen L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,514,247 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/165
• CPC Class Codes: C10L 1/026 for compression ignition
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/10 substrate containing cellulosic material
• CPC Class Codes: C12P 7/649 Biodiesel, i.e. fatty acid alkyl esters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 50/10 Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel

Abstract

A cellulosic ethanol production process. An implementation of a process for producing fuel ethanol and biodiesel from cellulose may include: providing a raw cellulose stream by mixing a waste cellulose stream and an algae cellulose stream, hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream to form a hydrolyzed cellulose stream, liquefying the hydrolyzed cellulose stream to produce a formed sugars stream and one or more liquefaction byproduct streams, fermenting the formed sugars stream to produce a raw ethanol stream by reacting the sugars stream with a yeast feed in at least one fermenter, separating the raw ethanol stream to form a fuel ethanol stream, producing an algae stream by reacting at least one of the one or more liquefaction byproduct streams with algae in at least one algae bioreactor, and reacting the algae stream in at least one biodiesel reactor to produce the algae cellulose stream and a biodiesel stream.

Claims

1. An integrated process to produce fuel ethanol and biodiesel from cellulose comprising:

providing a raw cellulose stream to one or more containers selected from the group consisting of a vat, a bioreactor, and a tank by mixing a waste cellulose stream and an algae cellulose stream;

hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream to form a hydrolyzed cellulose stream;

liquefying the hydrolyzed cellulose stream to produce a formed sugars stream and one or more liquefaction byproduct streams;

fermenting the formed sugars stream to produce a raw ethanol stream by reacting the sugars stream with a yeast feed in at least one fermenter;

separating the raw ethanol stream to form a fuel ethanol stream;

producing an algae stream by reacting at least one of the one or more liquefaction byproduct streams with algae in at least one algae bioreactor;

reacting the algae stream in at least one biodiesel reactor to produce the algae cellulose stream and a biodiesel stream; and

recovering the fuel ethanol and the biodiesel from their respective streams.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reacting the raw cellulose stream with one of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reducing the concentration of auxin in the raw cellulose stream using one or more organic transport inhibitors selected form the group consisting of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises adjusting the pH of the raw cellulose stream with one of capsaicin, an inorganic acid, an organic acid, and any combination thereof.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises:

dehydrogenating the raw cellulose stream with a compound selected from the group consisting of;

one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of dehydrogenase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals, and any combination thereof;

one or more organic transport inhibitors selected from the group consisting of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof, and

any combination of enzymes and organic transport inhibitors thereof.

6. The process of claim 1, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reacting the raw cellulose stream with one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of dehydrogenase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals.

7. The process of claim 1, wherein one of the one or more liquefaction byproduct streams includes xylitol.

8. An integrated process to produce fuel ethanol and biodiesel from cellulose comprising:

providing a raw cellulose stream to one or more containers selected from the group consisting of a vat, a bioreactor, and a tank by mixing a waste cellulose stream and an algae cellulose stream;

hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream to form a hydrolyzed cellulose stream by reacting the raw cellulose stream with one or more organisms;

liquefying the hydrolyzed cellulose stream to form a sugars stream;

separating the sugars stream to form a xylitol stream and a separated sugars stream;

fermenting the separated sugars stream to form a raw ethanol stream by reacting the separated sugars stream with a yeast feed in at least one fermenter;

separating the raw ethanol stream to form a fuel ethanol stream;

producing an algae stream by reacting the xylitol stream with algae in at least one algae bioreactor;

reacting the algae stream in at least one biodiesel reactor to produce the algae cellulose stream and a biodiesel stream; and

recovering the fuel ethanol and the biodiesel from their respective streams.

9. The process of claim 8, wherein the one or more organisms are selected from the group consisting of a fungus, a yeast, a bacterium, a protozoan, and any combination thereof.

10. The process of claim 8, wherein the one or more organisms are selected from the group consisting of Piromyces sp. E2, Neocallimastix sp. L2, Mixotricha paradoxa, Spirochaeta endosymbiotes, Escherichia coli, and Escherichia coli BL21.

11. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reacting the raw cellulose stream with one of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof.

12. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises regulating the activity of the one or more organisms using one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of dehydrogenase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals.

13. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reducing the concentration of auxin in the raw cellulose stream using one or more organic transport inhibitors selected from the group consisting of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof.

14. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises adjusting the pH of the raw cellulose stream with one of capsaicin, an inorganic acid, an organic acid, and any combination thereof.

15. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises:

dehydrogenating the raw cellulose stream with a compound selected from the group consisting of;

one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of dehydrogenase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals, and any combination thereof;

one or more organic transport inhibitors selected from the group consisting of capsaicin, quercetin, genestine, ethanol, and any combination thereof, and

any combination of enzymes and organic transport inhibitors thereof.

16. The process of claim 8, wherein hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream further comprises reacting the raw cellulose stream with one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of dehydrogenase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals.

17. An integrated process for producing fuel ethanol and biodiesel from cellulose comprising:

providing a raw cellulose stream by mixing a waste cellulose stream and an algae cellulose stream;

hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream to form a hydrolyzed cellulose stream, a hydrolysis CO₂ stream, and an hydrolysis ethanol stream by reacting the raw cellulose stream with one or more fungi selected from the group consisting of the genera Neocallimastix, Piromyces, and Orpinomyces;

liquefying the hydrolyzed cellulose stream to produce a sugars stream by heating the hydrolyzed cellulose stream and by reacting the hydrolyzed cellulose stream with one or more enzymes, one or more bacteria, or with one or more enzymes in combination with one or more bacteria;

separating the sugars stream to produce a xylitol stream and a separated sugars stream;

fermenting the separated sugars stream to produce a raw ethanol stream and a fermentation CO₂ stream by reacting the separated sugars stream with a yeast feed in at least one fermenter;

separating the raw ethanol stream to produce a fuel ethanol stream and a waste cellulose stream;

producing an algae stream by reacting the hydrolysis CO₂ stream, the fermentation CO₂ stream, an atmospheric CO₂ stream, and the xylitol stream with algae in at least one algae bioreactor; and

reacting the algae stream in at least one biodiesel reactor to produce the algae cellulose stream and a biodiesel stream; and

recovering the fuel ethanol and the biodiesel from their respective streams.

18. The process of claim 17, wherein the one or more fungi selected from the group consisting of the genera Neocallimastix, Piromyces, and Orpinomyces are selected from the group consisting of Neocallimastix patriciarum, Neocallimastix patriciarum strain 27, Neocallimastix frontalis, and Piromyces sp. strain E2.

19. The process of claim 17, wherein the one or more enzymes are selected from the group consisting of α

-amylase, β

-glucanase, cellobiase, dehydrogenase, exoglucohydrolase, formate, alcohol dehydrogenase E, cytosol, pyruvate formate lyase, lignase, and excrements of cephalopods or ocean mammals.

20. The process of claim 17, wherein separating the sugars stream further comprises chromatographically separating xylitol in the sugars stream to produce the xylitol stream and the separated sugars stream.