Patent ID: 8058041

Claim:
A process for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of a cellulosic solids fraction extracted from a lignocellulosic feedstock, the process comprising the steps of: separating an extracted lignocellulosic feed stock into a cellulosic solids fraction and a liquids fraction; processing said liquids fraction to remove extracted lignins therefrom thereby producing a de-lignified liquids fraction; reducing the viscosity of the separated cellulosic solids fraction by intermixing said cellulosic solids fraction with a portion of said de-lignified liquids fraction; intermixing the reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction with (a) an effective amount of a fermentative microbial culture, and (b) an effective amount of a cellulosic biomass-degrading enzyme; commingling said microbial culture, said biomass-degrading enzyme and said reduced-viscosity cellulosic solids fraction to provide a reaction mixture comprising ethanol; and separating ethanol from said reaction mixture.