Process for treating lignocellulosic feedstock comprising wet oxidation

A process for producing one or more products from a lignocellulosic feedstock comprising:

• (i) treating the lignocellulosic feedstock by contacting same with an acid or base with addition of heat to produce a pretreated feedstock;
• (ii) adjusting the pH of the pretreated feedstock with an acid or base to produce a pretreated feedstock having a pH at which cellulase enzymes can hydrolyze cellulose to glucose, wherein the addition of acid or base provides at least one of a sulfite, a sulfite salt, sulfurous acid, and a sulfonic acid;
• (iii) hydrolyzing the pretreated feedstock with cellulase enzymes to produce glucose;
• (iv) fermenting at least the glucose to produce a fermentation product;
• (v) recovering the fermentation product, thereby producing a stream of concentrated fermentation product;
• (vi) treating an upstream process stream, which originates from the process and comprises the at least one of a lignin, a lignosulfate, and a combination thereof, by wet oxidation to produce a treated stream comprising a salt;
• and
• (vii) providing a stream comprising salt from the treated stream of step (vi) for use as a salt product, as a process chemical for introduction within the process, or a combination thereof.

A process for producing one or more products from a lignocellulosic feedstock comprising:

• (i) treating the lignocellulosic feedstock by contacting same with at least heat to produce a pretreated feedstock, the treatment including adding an acid;
• (ii) optionally adjusting the pH of the pretreated feedstock with a base to produce a pretreated feedstock having a pH at which cellulase enzymes can hydrolyze cellulose to glucose, wherein the addition of the acid, base, or combination thereof provides at least one of a sulfite, a sulfite salt, sulfurous acid, and a sulfonic acid;
• (iii) hydrolyzing the pretreated feedstock with cellulase enzymes to produce glucose;
• (iv) fermenting at least the glucose to produce a fermentation product;
• (v) recovering the fermentation product, thereby producing a stream of concentrated fermentation product;
• (vi) treating an upstream process stream, which originates from the process and comprises lignin, a lignosulfate, or a combination thereof by wet oxidation, to produce a treated stream comprising a salt;
• (vii) introducing steam energy from step (vi) to the step of pretreating;
• and
• (viii) providing a stream comprising salt from the treated stream of step (vi) for use as a salt product, as a process chemical for introduction within the process, or a combination thereof.