Method for treatment of biomass

摘要

The subject disclosure relates to a method for producing a fermentation product from biomass that has been pre-treated in a pre-treatment system and separated into a liquid component and a first solids component. The method comprises: (a) treating the liquid component in a filtration system comprising at least one nano-filter to produce a treated liquid component, and to remove an acid from the liquid component; (b) supplying the treated liquid component, a fermenting organism, and agents to a fermentation system; (c) recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation system; and (d) supplying the acid for re-use in the pre-treatment system. In many embodiments, the biomass comprises lignocellulosic material and the liquid component comprises pentose (e.g., xylose).

主权项

1. A method for producing a fermentation product from biomass that has been pre-treated in an acid pre-treatment system and separated into a liquid component comprising a first concentration of a pentose and a first amount of at least one acid comprising sulfuric acid, and a first solids component, the method comprising:
(a) treating the liquid component in a filtration system, the treating comprises: contacting a first nano-filter with the liquid component to form a first retentate and a first permeate, wherein the first retentate comprises a second concentration of the pentose that is greater than the first concentration of the pentose and a second amount of the sulfuric acid that is less than the first amount of the sulfuric acid; and supplying water and the first retentate to a second nano-filter to contact the second nano-filter to form a second retentate and a second permeate, wherein the water supplied to the second nano-filter is in addition to the first retentate, wherein the second retentate comprises a third amount of the sulfuric acid that is less than the second amount the sulfuric acid; and (b) combining the second retentate, a fermenting organism, and agents in a fermentation system that ferments the pentose, the fermenting organism, and the agents into a fermentation product; (c) recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation system; (d) removing water from the first permeate and the second permeate to form a concentrated permeate comprising the sulfuric acid, wherein the removing comprises using a reverse osmosis process; and (e) supplying the concentrated permeate for re-use in the acid pre-treatment system; wherein the biomass comprises lignocellulosic material; and wherein the pentose comprises xylose.