FRACTIONATION OF BIOMASS FOR CELLULOSIC ETHANOL AND CHEMICAL PRODUCTION
First Claim
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1. A continuous process for fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass having a lignin content of less than 12%, comprising the steps of:
- a) exposing the lignocellulosic biomass to steam in a reaction vessel at a preselected temperature and a preselected reaction pressure, for a preselected exposure time, and at a selected pH value for removing a hemicellulose fraction of the lignocellulosic biomass and activating a cellulose fraction of the lignocellulosic biomass to obtain a prehydrolyzed lignocellulosic biomass;
b) purging liquid condensate and vapor generated during the exposure step to remove and collect a first liquid stream with water soluble compounds and a first vapor stream with volatile chemicals;
c) extracting liquid containing hemicellulose hydrolysis and degradation components from the prehydrolysed lignocellulosic biomass as a hemicellulose degradation stream;
d) rapidly releasing the reaction pressure after the extracting step to afford explosive decompression of the prehydrolyzed lignocellulosic biomass into fibrous solids, vapor and condensate; and
e) collecting the vapor and condensate from the explosive decompression for separation and recovery of byproducts.
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Abstract
A process is defined for the continuous steam pretreatment and fractionation of corn cobs and low lignin lignocellulosic biomass to produce a concentrated cellulose solid stream that is sensitive to enzymatic hydrolysis. Valuable chemicals are recovered by fractionating the liquid and vapor stream composed of hydrolysis and degradation products of the hemicellulose. Cellulosic derived glucose is produced for fermentation to biofuels. A hemicellulose concentrate is recovered that can be converted to value added products including ethanol.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A continuous process for fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass having a lignin content of less than 12%, comprising the steps of:
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a) exposing the lignocellulosic biomass to steam in a reaction vessel at a preselected temperature and a preselected reaction pressure, for a preselected exposure time, and at a selected pH value for removing a hemicellulose fraction of the lignocellulosic biomass and activating a cellulose fraction of the lignocellulosic biomass to obtain a prehydrolyzed lignocellulosic biomass; b) purging liquid condensate and vapor generated during the exposure step to remove and collect a first liquid stream with water soluble compounds and a first vapor stream with volatile chemicals; c) extracting liquid containing hemicellulose hydrolysis and degradation components from the prehydrolysed lignocellulosic biomass as a hemicellulose degradation stream; d) rapidly releasing the reaction pressure after the extracting step to afford explosive decompression of the prehydrolyzed lignocellulosic biomass into fibrous solids, vapor and condensate; and e) collecting the vapor and condensate from the explosive decompression for separation and recovery of byproducts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification