Co-solvent to produce reactive intermediates from biomass
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsCharles M. Cai, Charles E. Wyman, Taiying Zhang, Rajeev Kumar
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Abstract
The disclosure provides a system for production of reactive intermediates from lignocellulosic biomass. The reactive intermediates can be used as platform chemicals for biological conversions or can be further catalytically upgraded to be used as “drop in” reagents for fuels. The disclosure provides methods and compositions useful for processing biomass to biofuels and intermediates.
Claims30
A method for production of reactive intermediates from biomass, comprising:
- treating a biomass with a composition comprising an aqueous co-solvent mixture containing a co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) at a ratio of THF:water of 1:3 to 2:1, and an acid catalyst between 0 and 1 weight % of the co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran at a treatment temperature between 100° C. to 170° C. to produce a liquid phase comprising mono-saccharides, oligo-saccharides, furfural, and lignin;
- wherein the treatment of the biomass removes 70% or more of the lignin from the biomass,
- whereby a solid material is produced, which is greater than 85 weight % glucan;
- and
- whereby removing and/or recovering THF from the liquid phase produces a solid lignin product.
A method for the combined solubilization and catalytic conversion of biomass to produce reactive intermediates from biomass, comprising:
- treating a biomass with a composition comprising an aqueous co-solvent mixture containing a co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) at a ratio of (THF:water) from 1:1 to 2:1, and is between 0 and 1 weight % acid catalyst of the co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran at a treatment temperature between 130° C. to 250° C. to produce a solid material and a liquid phase comprising furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, and lignin;
- and
- removing and/or recovering THF from the liquid phase to produce a solid lignin product by removing greater than 70% of the lignin from the biomass, wherein
- (i) the co-solvent mixture is monophasic at Standard Temperature and Pressure and during treatment;
- (ii) the acid catalyst is added to achieve an adjusted pH that is less than or equal to 1.6;
- and
- (iii) the acid catalyst is selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, trifluoroacetic acid, FeCl3, AlCl3, CuCl2 and any combination of sulfuric acid, trifluoroacetic acid, FeCl3, AlCl3, and CuCl2.
A method for production of reactive intermediates from biomass, comprising:
- treating a biomass with a composition comprising a single phase co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) and sulfuric acid as a catalyst under conditions to produce a liquid phase comprising biomass-derived, monomeric sugars, oligosaccharides, and lignin products and a solid material comprising biomass-derived polysaccharides;
- whereby a co-solvent mixture of aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) is at a ratio of (THF:water) from 1:1 to 2:1;
- wherein the sulfuric acid is less than or equal to 1.0 weight % of the co-solvent mixture at a treatment temperature at or below 170° C.;
- whereby the tetrahydrofuran has a primary role in limiting a furfural loss by resinification;
- and
- whereby a step of removing and/or recovery of lignin from the co-solvent treated biomass by precipitation as a solid after the removal of THF from the liquid phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.