CELLULOSE CO-FEED FOR DRY MILL CORN ETHANOL OPERATIONS

摘要

The present application provide methods for producing ethanol from a biomass. The methods combine sugars produced from a feedstock containing starch with sugars produced from a cellulosic biomass. The methods allow increased amounts of ethanol to be produced from a given solids concentration in the fermenters. The methods also encompass filtering the liquefied feedstock mash through a filter comprising biomass fibers. The biomass filter produces a post-filtered mash stream comprising a high concentration of sugars and a low concentration of non-fermentable solids. The methods provide numerous advantages described herein.

主权项

1. A method for processing a cellulosic biomass, comprising:
a) generating a liquefied mash from a feedstock comprising non-cellulosic biomass; b) filtering the liquefied mash through cellulosic biomass to generate a first liquids stream comprising dissolved sugars and a first solids stream comprising the cellulosic biomass and non-dissolved components from the liquefied mash; c) treating the first solids stream under conditions sufficient to convert components of the biomass to cellulosic sugars, thereby producing a mixture comprising solids, liquids, and dissolved cellulosic sugars; d) separating the mixture into a second liquids stream comprising dissolved sugars and a second solids stream; e) contacting the second liquids stream with feedstock to form a slurry; and f) processing the slurry to produce liquefied mash, thereby producing a mash comprising both cellulosic and non-cellulosic sugars.