Process for producing fuel using two fermentations
AssigneeIogen Corporation
InventorPatrick J. Foody
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process is provided for forming a fuel or a fuel intermediate from two fermentations that includes feeding an aqueous solution comprising a fermentation product from a first bioreactor to a second bioreactor and/or a stage upstream of the second bioreactor, which also produces the fermentation product. The aqueous solution may be added at any stage of the second fermentation and/or processing steps upstream from the second bioreactor that would otherwise require the addition of water. Accordingly, the product yield is increased while fresh/treated water usage is decreased.
Claims19
A process for producing ethanol comprising:
- (i) obtaining methane sourced from biogas, said biogas produced from anaerobic digestion;
- (ii) reforming a gas to produce syngas, said gas comprising the methane sourced from biogas;
- (iii) converting one or more components of the syngas to ethanol, said converting comprising subjecting a gas substrate comprising the one or more components to a gas fermentation, said one or more components comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, or a combination thereof;
- (iv) using an aqueous stream comprising ethanol produced in (iii) in an ethanol production process that comprises fermenting carbohydrate to ethanol,
- wherein step (iv) comprises feeding said aqueous stream to a stage in the ethanol production process such that ethanol produced in (iii) is copresent with carbohydrate during at least part of a step of fermenting said carbohydrate to ethanol.
A process for producing ethanol comprising:
- (i) treating a feedstock to obtain a fermentable carbohydrate;
- (ii) fermenting said fermentable carbohydrate to produce ethanol;
- (iii) feeding a portion of the treated feedstock not converted to ethanol to an anaerobic digester;
- (iv) collecting biogas from said anaerobic digester;
- (v) converting one or more components of said collected biogas to ethanol, said converting comprising fermenting a gas substrate comprising one or more components obtained or derived from the collected biogas, said one or more components selected from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen;
- and
- (vii) using an aqueous stream comprising ethanol produced in step (v) within the process such that ethanol produced in step (v) is copresent with fermentable carbohydrate for at least part of a step of fermenting said fermentable carbohydrate to produce ethanol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.