Process for treating biomass to derivatize polysaccharides contained therein to increase their accessibility to hydrolysis and subsequent fermentation
First Claim
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1. A process for producing fermentable sugars from polysaccharide containing biomass, comprising the steps of:
- treating the biomass with a swelling agent to produce a swelled biomass;
contacting the swelled biomass with a derivatization agent to derivatize the polysaccharide contained therein to produce a derivatized polysaccharide with increased accessibility, wherein the derivatized polysaccharide, as compared to a swelled polysaccharide without derivatization, (i) exhibits an increase in a soluble portion as determined by an Enzyme Accessibility Test, and (ii) is substantially insoluble as measured by a Solubility Test; and
converting the derivatized polysaccharide to fermentable sugars by hydrolysis;
fermenting the fermentable sugars with at least one biocatalyst under suitable fermenting conditions to produce a target chemical;
converting a portion of the target chemical into at least one derivatization agent; and
feeding at least a portion of the converted derivatization agent back into the step of contacting the swelled biomass with a derivatization agent.
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Abstract
A process is described for producing fermentable sugars derivable from biomass that contains polysaccharide, such as cellulose, made increasingly accessible as a substrate for enzymatic degradation or other methods of depolymerization. These fermentable sugars are subsequently able to be fermented to produce various target chemicals, such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones or acids.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A process for producing fermentable sugars from polysaccharide containing biomass, comprising the steps of:
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treating the biomass with a swelling agent to produce a swelled biomass; contacting the swelled biomass with a derivatization agent to derivatize the polysaccharide contained therein to produce a derivatized polysaccharide with increased accessibility, wherein the derivatized polysaccharide, as compared to a swelled polysaccharide without derivatization, (i) exhibits an increase in a soluble portion as determined by an Enzyme Accessibility Test, and (ii) is substantially insoluble as measured by a Solubility Test; and converting the derivatized polysaccharide to fermentable sugars by hydrolysis; fermenting the fermentable sugars with at least one biocatalyst under suitable fermenting conditions to produce a target chemical; converting a portion of the target chemical into at least one derivatization agent; and feeding at least a portion of the converted derivatization agent back into the step of contacting the swelled biomass with a derivatization agent. - 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)
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Specification