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US 8,709,771 B2Granted
Processing biomass
AssigneeXyleco, Inc.
InventorsMarshall Medoff, Thomas Craig Masterman
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, to produce ethanol and/or butanol, e.g., by fermentation.
Claims18
A fermentation method comprising:
- mixing in a medium a low molecular weight sugar, one or more fermenting microorganisms, and an ionizing radiation irradiated lignocellulosic material,
- fermenting the low molecular weight sugar to a fermentation product, wherein
- the fermentation step produces fermentation product at a faster rate than would be produced in the fermentation step in the absence of the irradiated lignocellulosic material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.