Patent ID: 8247200
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: C12P

Abstract:
1. A process, comprising: a) pretreating the cellulosic biomass by adding a base to the cellulosic biomass to produce a pretreated cellulosic biomass comprising the acetate salt; b) adding an acid to the pretreated cellulosic biomass to adjust the pretreated cellulosic biomass to a pH of 4.0 to 6.0, thereby producing a neutralized cellulosic biomass; c) hydrolyzing the neutralized cellulosic biomass with cellulase enzymes to produce a crude sugar stream; d) separating insoluble residue from the crude sugar stream to produce a clarified sugar stream; and e) feeding an aqueous stream obtained from the pretreated cellulosic biomass, an aqueous stream obtained from the neutralized cellulosic biomass, the clarified sugar stream, or a combination thereof, to an ion exclusion chromatographic separation to produce the salt stream comprising inorganic salt and acetate salt, which ion exclusion separation is performed at a pH range between 5.0 and 10.0 using a cation exchange resin.