Treatment of biomass to obtain fermentable sugars
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for treating biomass to produce fermentable sugars comprising:
- a) for a period of time up to about 25 hours, contacting biomass with an aqueous solution comprising ammonia to form a biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture, wherein the ammonia is present at a concentration at least sufficient to maintain alkaline pH of the biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture wherein said ammonia is present at 12 weight percent or less, relative to dry weight of biomass, and further wherein the dry weight of biomass is at a solids concentration of about 15 weight percent or more relative to the weight of the biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture, to produce a pretreated biomass product; and
b) contacting the product of step (a) with a saccharification enzyme consortium comprising one or more hemicellulose-hydrolyzing glycosidase, under suitable conditions, to produce fermentable sugars wherein said fermentable sugars provide a carbohydrate source for a biocatalyst for a fermentation process.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Biomass is pretreated using a low concentration of aqueous ammonia at high biomass concentration. 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.
91 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method for treating biomass to produce fermentable sugars comprising:
-
a) for a period of time up to about 25 hours, contacting biomass with an aqueous solution comprising ammonia to form a biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture, wherein the ammonia is present at a concentration at least sufficient to maintain alkaline pH of the biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture wherein said ammonia is present at 12 weight percent or less, relative to dry weight of biomass, and further wherein the dry weight of biomass is at a solids concentration of about 15 weight percent or more relative to the weight of the biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture, to produce a pretreated biomass product; and b) contacting the product of step (a) with a saccharification enzyme consortium comprising one or more hemicellulose-hydrolyzing glycosidase, under suitable conditions, to produce fermentable sugars wherein said fermentable sugars provide a carbohydrate source for a biocatalyst for a fermentation process. - 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)
-
Specification