Flow-through biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass

摘要

The present invention is directed to a process for biologically converting carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass comprising the steps of: suspending lignocellulosic biomass in a flow-through reactor, passing a reaction solution into the reactor, wherein the solution is absorbed into the biomass substrate and at least a portion of the solution migrates through said biomass substrate to a liquid reservoir, recirculating the reaction solution in the liquid reservoir at least once to be absorbed into and migrate through the biomass substrate again. The biological converting of the may involve hydrolyzing cellulose, hemicellulose, or a combination thereof to form oligosaccharides, monomelic sugars, or a combination thereof; fermenting oligosaccharides, monomelic sugars, or a combination thereof to produce ethanol, or a combination thereof. The process can further comprise removing the reaction solution and processing the solution to separate the ethanol produced from non-fermented solids.

主权项

1. A process for biologically converting carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass, comprising the steps of:
suspending lignocellulosic biomass in a flow-through reactor, wherein said reactor comprises:
a reactor vessel having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;a reservoir tank having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, wherein said fluid outlet of said reservoir tank is fluidly connected to said fluid inlet of said reactor vessel; anda fluid passageway, wherein one end of said passageway is connected to said fluid outlet of said reactor vessel and another end of said passageway is connected to said fluid inlet of said reservoir tank; passing a reaction solution into said reactor, wherein said reaction solution is absorbed into said biomass and at least a portion of said reaction solution migrates through said biomass substrate to a liquid reservoir in said reactor vessel; and recirculating said reaction solution in said liquid reservoir at least once, wherein said reaction solution flows from said fluid outlet of said reactor vessel through said passageway to said reservoir tank and then into said fluid inlet of said reactor vessel; whereby a portion of carbohydrates in said lignocellulosic biomass are biologically converted, wherein said biological conversion comprises fermenting oligosaccharides, monomeric sugars, or a combination thereof to produce a fermentation product, and wherein said recirculation of said solution is driven by a build-up of fermentation gases in said flow-through reactor.