Patent Application: US-76633910-A

Abstract:
a process for separating the components of lignocellulosic biomass for the purpose of producing a pure reactive cellulose is disclosed . the process has two stages . in the first stage , the lignocellulosic biomass is pretreated with steam , with or without an acid catalyst , and then pressed , with or without the presence of an eluent , to remove hemicellulose and other impurities . in the second stage , the pretreated biomass is extracted with a solvent such as ethanol with or without acid catalysts in order to remove lignin and release a purified cellulose stream . the extracted cellulose is then rapidly decompressed to rupture the fibrous structure . the process provides a purified cellulose stream that is relatively easy to hydrolyze with enzymes and ferment to biofuels and other chemicals such as ethanol .

Description:
the process in accordance with the invention is a continuous two stage process . in the first stage , heat treatment is carried out under acid - catalyzed conditions and followed by pressing , with or without the presence of an eluent , to provide a hemicellulose fraction . in the second stage , acidic solvent extraction , washing and pressing provide a lignin rich stream and relatively pure reactive cellulose . acid catalyzed hydrolysis of the hemicellulose can occur via autohydrolysis or with added acid catalyst or any combination therof depending on the feedstock . a preferred process of the invention includes the steps of feed preparation , preheating , heating and catalyst addition , pretreatment , washing , solvent addition , solvent extraction , lignin removal , biomass recovery and ethanol recovery from purified cellulose . the following description is one embodiment the invention is capable of other embodiments biomass 10 is received , stored , cleaned and comminuted . biomass moisture may be adjusted to desired range of 30 - 60 % at this stage . prepared biomass is preheated or presteamed with live steam 20 at atmospheric pressure , in a preheating and conditioning or holding bin 30 to a temperature of up to 100 ° c ., and preferably 85 ° c . to 95 ° c . for 10 to 60 minutes . the preheating is carried out to remove air and adjust a moisture content of the lignocellulosic biomass to between 30 % and 60 %. steam and / or hot water are added . air is vented from the bin 30 through an air vent 35 . heated biomass is compressed in a modular screw device 40 to remove air through an air vent 50 . fatty acids , resins , esters or other compounds may exit the msd device at this point ( not shown on the diagram ). the biomass is then fed into a pressurized upflow tube 70 . the upflow tube 70 is sized to provide a 2 to 15 minutes holdup time . the dry matter content of the biomass varies from 30 % to 50 % prior to the addition of steam and catalyst if required . the biomass is further heated in the up flow tube 70 to a pretreatment temperature of 150 ° c . to 200 ° c . by direct steam injection 60 or by indirect steam 61 in a jacketed section of the up flow tube . if required , mineral acids or acid gases 65 are blended with the biomass , in an amount of 0 to 5 % of the dry mass of the biomass , to catalyze the removal of hemicellulose and to activate the cellulose . the addition of acid 65 is made through a set of one or more nozzles along the length of the up flow tube . the treated biomass moves through the up flow tube with the aid of a screw conveyor / mixer and is discharged into the pretreatment reactor 80 . the preheated and acidified biomass is discharged from the upflow tube 70 into the pretreatment reactor 80 . the pretreatment reactor is sized to allow a residence time of up to two hours . the pretreated biomass is continuously discharged from the pretreatment reactor to a second pressurized modular screw device 100 . pressurized biomass , still at the pressure of the pretreatment reactor is mixed with wash water 90 as it exits the pretreatment reactor 80 . the water 90 is pressed from the biomass as it passes through the modular screw device 100 , still under pressure . the term modular screw device or / counter - current washer device is intended to describe in general a machine that uses pressing or other means to separate solids from liquid or air from solids . however , it is contemplated that the separation of solid from liquid and / or air from solid can be accomplished with various different types of machines which are suitable to carry out this function . further water 90 may also be added along the pressing device 100 to achieve a greater extraction of hemicellulose 110 . the temperature of the wash water may vary from ambient temperature to 100 ° c . or higher to meet pressure requirements . in this washing stage a large fraction of the hemicellulose 110 is removed . the hemicellulose removal efficiency may vary from 50 % to 90 % or greater . in a preferred embodiment the hemicellulose is removed such that the remaining xylan and xylose measured as xylose in the de - lignified cellulose is between 4 % to 10 % most preferably 6 %+/− 1 %. the dry matter content of the biomass is about 30 % to 60 % prior to solvent addition and steam injection . after washing and pressing , pretreated pressurized biomass at a temperature of 30 ° c . to 100 ° c . or higher is fed from the modular screw device 100 into a second upflow tube 140 equipped with a screw conveyor / mixer . in the second upflow tube 140 , the biomass is reheated with a combination of indirect steam 116 or direct steam 115 to a temperature of 180 ° c . to 200 ° c . the residence time in the second upflow tube 140 may vary from 5 to 15 minutes . the pressure of the second upflow tube 140 depends on the type of solvent used and the composition of the solvent . a solvent 130 such as ethanol is injected into the second upflow tube 140 under pressure through or more nozzles and blended with the biomass as it passes through the second upflow tube 140 . a solvent 130 such as 40 % to 60 % ethanol in water is injected in the second upflow tube 140 . the ratio of solvent to dry matter biomass is 2 : 1 to 10 : 1 . mineral acids 120 or other suitable acid catalysts may also be added to the second upflow tube 140 to assist in the hydrolysis and dissolution of lignin from the biomass . the pretreated biomass is blended with the solvent 130 and catalyst and is discharged from the second upflow tube 140 into a solvent extraction reactor 150 . the solvent extraction reactor 150 is designed to have a retention time of 15 minutes to 2 hours . during the solvent extraction stage , about 80 % to 90 % of the lignin is dissolved and enters the solvent phase . at the outlet of the extraction reactor , an amount of solvent is added to help wash the biomass from the reactor and to prepare the biomass for lignin separation in step 7 . the solvent and biomass is discharged from the reactor under pressure to a modular screw / counter current washer 160 . the diluted biomass is pressed and extracted with solvent wash 170 in the modular screw / counter current washer 160 or something similar to achieve the same . about 95 % to 99 % of the solubilised lignin is removed from the biomass , along with some residual hemicellulose , extractives and other components . the wash stream is sent to the solvent recovery process 180 . preferably , evaporating / recovering just enough ethanol to avoid lignin precipitation , followed by a rapid decompression / drop in temperature through a spray dryer , leads to lignin precipitation and recovery ( solid phase ) and recovery of the remaining ethanol ( flashed off / vapor phase ). preferably , the resulting washed biomass has a cellulose content of 75 % to 95 %, and more preferably about 80 %. the pressurized , washed biomass is flashed into a cyclone 190 . solvent vapors 200 are recovered from the cyclone . purified cellulose 240 with low levels of residual solvent and lignin can be sent to the hydrolysis and fermentation stages . the purified cellulose at atmospheric pressure is washed in a modular screw / counter current washer 210 with wash water 220 to remove and recover the solvent 230 remaining in the solid phase to provide a pure solvent free cellulose product . preferably , the cellulose product has only 5 % to 8 % lignin remaining . 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