Patent ID: 8137955

Claim:
A method for heat recovery from pre-treated biomass comprising: transporting a first liquid having a first temperature into a pre-treatment reactor containing biomass, the first liquid elevating the temperature of the biomass to a second temperature; removing the first liquid from the pre-treatment reactor; transporting a second liquid having a third temperature into the pre-treatment reactor, the second liquid elevating the temperature of the biomass to a fourth temperature greater than about 75° C., and the fourth temperature is higher than the second temperature; allowing the biomass in the pre-treatment reactor to undergo a chemical agent-based pre-treatment reaction process at a temperature of at least the fourth temperature, the chemical agent-based pre-treatment reaction process yielding pre-treated biomass and soluble components; transporting a third liquid into the pre-treatment reactor at some point after the chemical agent-based pre-treatment reaction process begins, the pre-treated biomass elevating the temperature of the third liquid to a fifth temperature; and extracting at least some of the soluble components from the pre-treatment reactor.