Patent ID: 8247203

Claim:
A method for recovering inorganic salt during processing of a lignocellulosic feedstock comprising: (a) pretreating the lignocellulosic feedstock by adding one or more than one acid to the lignocellulosic feedstock to produce a pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock, wherein at least a portion of hemicellulose in the feedstock is hydrolyzed to produce one or more than one sugar monomer selected from the group consisting of xylose, arabinose, mannose, galactose and a combination thereof; (b) removing a sugar-acid mixture from the pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock; (c) adding base to the removed sugar-acid mixture and then recovering inorganic salt therefrom; (d) adding one or more than one soluble base to the pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock to adjust the pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock to a pH of about 4.0 to about 6.0 to produce a neutralized feedstock; (e) enzymatically hydrolyzing the neutralized feedstock to produce a sugar stream and an enzyme hydrolyzed feedstock; and (f) fermenting the sugar stream to produce a fermentation broth comprising alcohol.