Method for pretreatment of cellulosic and lignocellulosic materials for conversion into bioenergy
First Claim
1. A process for treating organic materials in order to minimize the cost-benefit ratio of converting the organic material to biofuel;
- the process comprises the steps ofa. providing an aqueous slurry comprising organic materials;
b. contacting said aqueous slurry with a solution comprising an amount of peroxide;
c. forming a mixture comprising said aqueous slurry and said solution, wherein the concentration of peroxide in said mixture is at least 1 ppm, said amount of peroxide being sufficient to oxidize at least a portion of said organic materials into an oxidized product and wherein said oxidized product comprises an amount of organic peroxide;
d. photolyzing at least a portion of said amount of said organic peroxide, thereby deactivating at least 5% of said amount of said organic peroxide wherein said photolyzing is accomplished by exposing said organic peroxide to wavelengths of an electromagnetic light in the range between 189 nm to 350 nm inclusive; and
wherein said oxidized product produces at least 50% less foam than said oxidized product would have without photolyzing said at least a portion of said amount of said organic peroxide; and
e. adding bacteria to said oxidized product.
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Abstract
A process for converting organic waste materials into usable products and products thereof is disclosed. According to the process, organic waste materials are contacted with an oxidant to form a product and then an amount of the oxidant is removed from the product to form a reactor-ready feedstock. The oxidant is removed by various means, including washing, photolysis, catalytic means, oxidation of the oxidant, reduction of the oxidant, and heat. The reactor-ready feedstock may then be introduced into a reactor, such as a digester or incubator, and the reactor-ready feedstock is converted by microorganisms into biofuel or other products.
42 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A process for treating organic materials in order to minimize the cost-benefit ratio of converting the organic material to biofuel;
- the process comprises the steps of
a. providing an aqueous slurry comprising organic materials; b. contacting said aqueous slurry with a solution comprising an amount of peroxide; c. forming a mixture comprising said aqueous slurry and said solution, wherein the concentration of peroxide in said mixture is at least 1 ppm, said amount of peroxide being sufficient to oxidize at least a portion of said organic materials into an oxidized product and wherein said oxidized product comprises an amount of organic peroxide; d. photolyzing at least a portion of said amount of said organic peroxide, thereby deactivating at least 5% of said amount of said organic peroxide wherein said photolyzing is accomplished by exposing said organic peroxide to wavelengths of an electromagnetic light in the range between 189 nm to 350 nm inclusive; and
wherein said oxidized product produces at least 50% less foam than said oxidized product would have without photolyzing said at least a portion of said amount of said organic peroxide; ande. adding bacteria to said oxidized product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- the process comprises the steps of
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13. A method of producing methane from organic materials comprising the steps of:
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a. providing an amount of organic material; b. forming a slurry from the amount of organic material; c. mixing the amount of the organic material with an amount of peroxide solution;
wherein said mixing generates a product which comprises an amount of organic peroxide;d. combining the product with a chemical solution, wherein said combining produces a pretreated substance; e. photolyzing at least a portion of said amount of organic peroxide, thereby deactivating at least 5% of said amount of organic peroxide, wherein said product produces at least 50% less foam than said product would have without photolyzing said at least a portion of said amount of said organic peroxide; and f. incubating the pretreated substance in a reactor for a period of time sufficient to convert a portion of the product into an amount of methane. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification