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US 2023/0295678 A1Published application
Rapid pretreatment
AssigneeApalta Patents OÜ
InventorRobert E. LUMPKIN
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and compositions for the pretreatment of biomass within seconds with low inhibitor formation. The pretreatment process is used to convert biomass to a fuel or other useful chemicals by subjecting the feedstock to a rapid retention time under pressure and temperature and/or chemical reactant. The system includes a continuously-operating valve discharge apparatus to discharge pretreated feedstock while maintaining uniform pressure on the pretreatment system.
Claims20
An industrial scale method for pretreating at least one dry ton of biomass per day, the method comprising:
- a. feeding the biomass at a rate of at least one dry metric ton (MT) of biomass per day into an extrusion system comprising a barrel defining an inner chamber comprising a feeder zone and a reaction zone;
- and
- b. treating the biomass at an elevated temperature and pressure within the reaction zone for less than about 20 seconds, thereby producing a pretreated biomass composition comprising a liquid fraction comprising monosaccharides and solid particles comprising cellulose.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.