Prehydrolysis of lignocellulose
First Claim
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1. A process for prehydrolyzing lignocellulosic material comprising:
- placing solid lignocellulosic material in a prehydrolysis reactor;
adding an acidic liquid to said solid lignocellulosic material to make a mixture;
heating the mixture to reaction temperature;
maintaining reaction temperature for time sufficient to fractionate the lignocellulosic material into a solubilized portion containing at least 20% of the lignin from the lignocellulosic material and a solid fraction containing cellulose;
removing said solubilized portion from the solid fraction while at or near reaction temperature wherein said cellulose in the solid fraction is rendered more amenable to enzymatic digestion;
and recovering said solubilized portion.
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Abstract
The invention relates to the prehydrolysis of lignocellulose by passing an acidic or alkaline solution through solid lignocellulosic particles with removal of soluble components as they are formed. The technique permits a less severe combination of pH, temperature and time than conventional prehydrolysis. Furthermore, greater extraction of both hemicellulose and lignin occurs simultaneously in the same reactor and under the same conditions.
184 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A process for prehydrolyzing lignocellulosic material comprising:
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placing solid lignocellulosic material in a prehydrolysis reactor; adding an acidic liquid to said solid lignocellulosic material to make a mixture; heating the mixture to reaction temperature; maintaining reaction temperature for time sufficient to fractionate the lignocellulosic material into a solubilized portion containing at least 20% of the lignin from the lignocellulosic material and a solid fraction containing cellulose; removing said solubilized portion from the solid fraction while at or near reaction temperature wherein said cellulose in the solid fraction is rendered more amenable to enzymatic digestion; and recovering said solubilized portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A process for producing sugar from lignocellulosic material comprising;
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placing solid lignocellulosic material in a prehydrolysis reactor; adding an acidic liquid to said lignocellulosic material to make a mixture; heating the mixture to reaction temperature; maintaining reaction temperature for time sufficient to solubilize a sufficient portion of lignocellulosic material to render the cellulose therein enzymatically digestible; removing solubilized portion from the solid material while at or near reaction temperature; recovering said solubilized portion; hydrolyzing sugar contained in the solubilized portion; removing the solid material from the prehydrolysis reactor; allowing the solid material to cool to enzymatically digestible temperature; adding at least one enzyme capable of digesting cellulose to glucose to the solid material; and digesting cellulose in the solid material with the enzyme to produce glucose; recovering the glucose. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification