Ethanol production from lignocellulose
AssigneeUniversity of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsLonnie O. Ingram, Brent E. Wood
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Abstract
This invention presents a method of improving enzymatic degradation of lignocellulose, as in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic material, through the use of ultrasonic treatment. The invention shows that ultrasonic treatment reduces cellulase requirements by ⅓ to ½. With the cost of enzymes being a major problem in the cost-effective production of ethanol from lignocellulosic material, this invention presents a significant improvement over presently available methods.
Claims16
A method for producing ethanol from lignocellulose comprising discontinuously treating an aqueous mixture containing lignocellulose, a cellulase and an ethanologenic microorganism with ultrasound under conditions sufficient for hydrolysis of said lignocellulose to occur, to thereby produce ethanol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.