Concurrent saccharification and fermentation of fibrous biomass
First Claim
1. A process for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of a cellulosic solids fraction extracted from a lignocellulosic feedstock, the process comprising the steps of:
- separating an extracted lignocellulosic feed stock into a cellulosic solids fraction and a liquids fraction;
processing said liquids fraction to remove extracted lignins therefrom thereby producing a de-lignified liquids fraction;
reducing the viscosity of the separated cellulosic solids fraction by intermixing said cellulosic solids fraction with a portion of said de-lignified liquids fraction;
intermixing the reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction with (a) an effective amount of a fermentative microbial culture, and (b) an effective amount of a cellulosic biomass-degrading enzyme;
commingling said microbial culture, said biomass-degrading enzyme and said reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction to provide a reaction mixture comprising ethanol; and
separating ethanol from said reaction mixture.
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Abstract
A process for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of a cellulosic solids fraction extracted from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The viscosity of the cellulosic solids fraction is reduced by intermixing with a liquid carbohydrate stream. A suitable liquid carbohydrate stream is a de-lignified liquids fraction that was previously separated from the solids fraction during processing of the lignocellulosic feedstock. Alternatively, the viscosity of the solids fraction may be reduced by commingling with a liquid carbohydrate stream comprising one or more monosaccharides. The reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction is then commingled with a fermentative microbial inoculant and a cellulosic biomass-degrading enzyme composition. The commingled mixture is maintained in a pressurized reaction vessel under elevated temperatures to enable simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulosic solids to monosaccharides and fermentation of the monosaccharides to produce an ethanolic beer. The ethanolic beer is distillable for recovery of fuel-grade ethanol and a stillage that may be further processed.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A process for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of a cellulosic solids fraction extracted from a lignocellulosic feedstock, the process comprising the steps of:
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separating an extracted lignocellulosic feed stock into a cellulosic solids fraction and a liquids fraction; processing said liquids fraction to remove extracted lignins therefrom thereby producing a de-lignified liquids fraction; reducing the viscosity of the separated cellulosic solids fraction by intermixing said cellulosic solids fraction with a portion of said de-lignified liquids fraction; intermixing the reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction with (a) an effective amount of a fermentative microbial culture, and (b) an effective amount of a cellulosic biomass-degrading enzyme; commingling said microbial culture, said biomass-degrading enzyme and said reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction to provide a reaction mixture comprising ethanol; and separating ethanol from said reaction mixture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A process for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of a cellulosic solids fraction extracted and separated from a lignocellulosic feedstock, the process comprising the steps of:
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reducing the viscosity of the separated cellulosic solids fraction by intermixing said cellulosic solids fraction with a liquid stream comprising at least one monosaccharide carbohydrate; intermixing the reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction with (a) an effective amount of a fermentative microbial culture, and (b) an effective amount of a cellulosic biomass-degrading enzyme; commingling said microbial culture, said biomass-degrading enzyme and said reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction to provide a reaction mixture comprising ethanol; and separating ethanol from said reaction mixture. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification