ORGANIC SOLVENT PRETREATMENT OF BIOMASS TO ENHANCE ENZYMATIC SACCHARIFICATION
First Claim
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1. A method for producing carbohydrate-enriched biomass comprising(a) providing lignocellulosic biomass comprising lignin;
- (b) suspending the biomass of (a) in an organic solvent solution comprising water and one or more organo-mercaptan(s) under alkaline conditions whereby a biomass-solvent suspension is formed;
(c) heating the biomass-solvent suspension to a temperature of about 100°
C. to about 220°
C. for about 5 minutes to about 5 hours whereby lignin is fragmented and is dissolved in the suspension; and
(d) removing the dissolved lignin to produce a carbohydrate-enriched biomass.
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Abstract
Biomass is pretreated using an organic solvent solution, under alkaline conditions, in the presence of one or more organo-mercaptan and optionally one or more additional nucleophile to fragment and extract lignin. Pretreated biomass is further hydrolyzed with a saccharification enzyme consortium. Fermentable sugars released by saccharification may be utilized for the production of target chemicals by fermentation.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for producing carbohydrate-enriched biomass comprising
(a) providing lignocellulosic biomass comprising lignin; -
(b) suspending the biomass of (a) in an organic solvent solution comprising water and one or more organo-mercaptan(s) under alkaline conditions whereby a biomass-solvent suspension is formed; (c) heating the biomass-solvent suspension to a temperature of about 100°
C. to about 220°
C. for about 5 minutes to about 5 hours whereby lignin is fragmented and is dissolved in the suspension; and(d) removing the dissolved lignin to produce a carbohydrate-enriched biomass. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26)
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17. A method of simultaneous fragmentation and selective extraction of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass to produce a substantially lignin-free biomass, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing; 1) an amount of lignocellulosic biomass; 2) a multi-component solvent solution comprising from about 40% to about 70% ethanol in water; 3) one or more organo-mercaptan(s); and 4) and one or more alkylamine(s) under alkaline conditions; (b) contacting said biomass with the multi-component solvent solution of (a) to form a solvent-biomass mixture; (c) placing the solvent-biomass mixture in a sealed pressure vessel whereby the mixture of (b) is heated at a temperature of about 100°
C. to about 220°
C. for about 5 minutes to about 5 hours whereby lignin is fragmented and dissolved in the solvent;(d) removing the dissolved lignin of (c) by filtration; and (e) washing the residual biomass with organic solvent, whereby substantially lignin-free biomass is produced. - View Dependent Claims (18, 23, 24, 25, 27)
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Specification