Alkaline peroxide treatment of nonwoody lignocellulosics
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture
InventorJohn M. Gould
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Abstract
By treating agricultural crop residues and other nonwoody lignocellulosic plant substrates with H.sub.2 O.sub.2 at a controlled pH within the range of about 11.2 to 11.8, the substrates are partially delignified and unprecedented levels of the cellulose and hemicellulose as insoluble fractions are made available for subsequent use. The products of this treatment are nontoxic and are characterized by low crystallinity and near quantitative cellulase digestibility. They are useful as carbohydrate sources in ruminant feeds and as microbial feedstocks for commercial process such as the production of alcohol and generation of single-cell protein.
Claims17
A method for treating a lignocellulosic substrate comprising, treating a substrate selected from the group of leaves and stalks and mixtures thereof from nonwoody plants in a reaction medium comprising an aqueous solution of strong alkali and hydrogen peroxide at a controlled pH in the range of about 11.2 to about 11.8 until substantially all of the polysaccharide in said substrate has been made available as a water-insoluble fraction, and recovering said water-insoluble polysaccharide fraction from said reaction medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.