PROCESSING BIOMASS

摘要

Carbon-containing materials, such as biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) or coal are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels. For example, systems are described that can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy materials, to produce ethanol.

主权项

1. A method of making a product, the method comprising:
modifying a manufacturing facility that was built to produce ethanol exclusively from grain, or from corn sweetener, sucrose, or lactose by adding a lignocellulosic saccharification unit and one or more electron beam devices to the manufacturing facility; transporting a lignocellulosic starting material to the modified manufacturing facility; irradiating the lignocellulosic starting material using the one or more electron beam devices to provide a dose of at least 10 Mrad, producing an irradiated lignocellulosic material having a lower level of recalcitrance than the lignocellulosic starting material; and producing esters or anhydrides by a process comprising
saccharifying the irradiated material,fermenting the saccharified material substantially entirely to butyric acid, andconverting at least some of the butyric acid to the esters or anhydrides.