US 8,795,994 B2Granted

Method of producing biofuel using sea algae

AssigneeKorea Institute of Industrial Technology

InventorsGyung Soo Kim, Myung-Kyo Shin, Yong Jin Kim, Kyeong Keun Oh, Jun Seok Kim, Hyun Jin Ryu, Key Hyup Kim

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Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of producing biofuel, more specifically a method of producing biofuel comprising the steps of generating monosugars from marine algae, or from polysaccharides extracted from marine algae by treating the marine algae or the polysaccharides with a hydrolytic enzyme and/or a hydrolytic catalyst; and fermenting the monosugars using a microorganism to produce biofuel. The method of producing biofuel of the present invention solve the problem of raw material suppliance since it uses marine algae as a raw material for biomass, and reduce the production costs by excluding lignin eliminating process that has been required by the conventional method using wood-based raw materials, resulting in economic and environmental advantages.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A method of producing biofuel comprising the following steps:

generating monosugars selected from the group consisting of galactose, galactose derivative, and 3,6-anhydrogalactose by treating red algae selected from the group consisting of Gelidium amansii, Cottonii and Gracilaria verrucosa, or polysaccharides extracted from red algae selected from the group consisting of Gelidium amansii, Cottonii and Gracilaria verrucosa with a hydrolytic enzyme and/or a hydrolytic catalyst;
wherein the extraction of the polysaccharides is performed by the following steps:
soaking the red algae in an alkali aqueous solution and washing them with water;
soaking the washed red algae in an extraction solvent for a predetermined time and extracting one or more polysaccharides selected from the group consisting of agar, carrageenan and alginic acid;
and
separating the extracted polysaccharides and collecting the remaining starch or cellulose;
and
fermenting the monosugars using a Brettanomyces custersii.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.