PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A SUGAR SOLUTION BY COMBINED CHEMICAL AND ENZYMATIC SACCHARIFICATION OF POLYSACCHARIDE ENRICHED BIOMASS
First Claim
1. A method of producing a concentrated sugar solution from biomass, the method comprising:
- a) delignifying biomass comprising the substeps ofi) contacting with water and at least one nucleophilic base, a biomass comprising lignin and having a glucan/xylan weight ratio G1/X1 to form a biomass slurry having a pH of about 12.5 to about 13.0; and
ii) maintaining the biomass slurry under reaction conditions such that the slurry attains a pH of about 9.5 to about 10.0 and has a glucan/xylan weight ratio G2/X2 within about 15% of the value of G1/X1, and wherein the slurry comprises a lignin-containing liquid fraction and a solid fraction comprising a polysaccharide enriched biomass;
wherein G1 and G2 are grams of glucan per 100 grams of biomass and biomass slurry respectively, and X1 and X2 are grams of xylan per 100 grams of biomass and biomass slurry respectively;
b) contacting with an aqueous acid solution comprising at least one mineral acid the solid fraction of the polysaccharide enriched biomass at reaction conditions sufficient to produce an intermediate saccharification product comprising xylose, xylan, and glucan, wherein the concentration of the solid fraction in the aqueous acid solution is about 13 weight percent to about 20 weight percent; and
c) contacting with a saccharification enzyme consortium at a pH of from about 4.5 to about 5.5 the intermediate saccharification product at reaction conditions sufficient to produce a final saccharification product comprising at least about 7 percent by weight fermentable sugars, based on the total weight of the saccharification product, in 24 hours of contact with the saccharification enzyme consortium.
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Abstract
Concentrated sugar solutions obtained from polysaccharide enriched biomass by contacting biomass with water and at least one nucleophilic base to produce a polysaccharide enriched biomass comprising a solid fraction and a liquid fraction and then contacting enriched biomass with a dilute mineral acid selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, or a combination thereof, to produce an intermediate saccharification product, which is contacted with an enzyme consortium to produce a final saccharification product comprising fermentable sugars.
55 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of producing a concentrated sugar solution from biomass, the method comprising:
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a) delignifying biomass comprising the substeps of i) contacting with water and at least one nucleophilic base, a biomass comprising lignin and having a glucan/xylan weight ratio G1/X1 to form a biomass slurry having a pH of about 12.5 to about 13.0; and ii) maintaining the biomass slurry under reaction conditions such that the slurry attains a pH of about 9.5 to about 10.0 and has a glucan/xylan weight ratio G2/X2 within about 15% of the value of G1/X1, and wherein the slurry comprises a lignin-containing liquid fraction and a solid fraction comprising a polysaccharide enriched biomass; wherein G1 and G2 are grams of glucan per 100 grams of biomass and biomass slurry respectively, and X1 and X2 are grams of xylan per 100 grams of biomass and biomass slurry respectively; b) contacting with an aqueous acid solution comprising at least one mineral acid the solid fraction of the polysaccharide enriched biomass at reaction conditions sufficient to produce an intermediate saccharification product comprising xylose, xylan, and glucan, wherein the concentration of the solid fraction in the aqueous acid solution is about 13 weight percent to about 20 weight percent; and c) contacting with a saccharification enzyme consortium at a pH of from about 4.5 to about 5.5 the intermediate saccharification product at reaction conditions sufficient to produce a final saccharification product comprising at least about 7 percent by weight fermentable sugars, based on the total weight of the saccharification product, in 24 hours of contact with the saccharification enzyme consortium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification