SACCHARIFICATION APPARATUS, SACCHARIFICATION METHOD, ETHANOL PRODUCTION APPARATUS, AND SOLID ACID CATALYST

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently reduce a sugar content of raw material polysaccharides by adjusting a particle diameter of a solid acid catalyst.SOLUTION: A saccharification apparatus includes: a catalytic reaction tank to store an aqueous solution including at least raw material polysaccharides and a solid acid catalyst and to hydrolyze the raw material polysaccharides under an action of the solid acid catalyst; a catalyst control system to recover the solid acid catalyst from the catalytic reaction tank, to select and remove the solid acid catalyst with a particle diameter larger than a specified diameter, and to supply the solid acid catalyst with a particle diameter equal to or less than the specified diameter to the catalytic reaction tank; a catalyst separation tank to receive the treated liquid from the catalytic reaction tank and to separate the solid acid catalyst; and a catalyst return device to supply the solid acid catalyst separated in the catalyst separation tank to the catalytic reaction tank.