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US 8,142,620 B2Granted
Processing biomass
AssigneeXyleco, Inc.
InventorMarshall Medoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful products, such as fuels. For example, systems can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy or sugary materials, to produce ethanol and/or butanol, e.g., by fermentation.
Claims19
A method comprising:
- irradiating a lignocellulosic biomass feedstock with electron beam radiation to cause chain scission of the biomass feedstock;
- cooling the irradiated biomass feedstock by contacting the irradiated feedstock with a fluid at a temperature lower than that of the irradiated feedstock;
- re-irradiating the biomass feedstock with electron beam radiation, and saccharifying the re-irradiated biomass feedstock, in a mixture with an aqueous medium and a microorganism and/or an enzyme.
A method comprising:
- saccharifying an irradiated feedstock, in a mixture with an aqueous medium and a microorganism and/or an enzyme, the irradiated feedstock having been formed by:
- irradiating a biomass feedstock with electron beam radiation to cause chain scission of the biomass feedstock;
- cooling the irradiated biomass feedstock feedstock by contacting the irradiated feedstock with a fluid at a temperature lower than that of the irradiated feedstock;
- and then
- re-irradiating the biomass feedstock with electron beam radiation.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.