University of Maine System

American Process International LLC

Api Intellectual Property Holdings, LLC

American Process, Inc.

Adriaan Van Heiningen

Theodora Retsina

Mikhail Iakovlev

Myrto Papaioannou

Eleni Natsi

Vesa Pylkkanen

Michael Albert Bilodeau

Jonathan Spender

Evangelos Sklavounos

Herbert Sixta

Byung-Hwan Um

Peter Van Walsum

M Clayton Wheeler

G Peter Van Walsum

Thomas J Schwartz

A process for the production of cellulose, lignocellulosic sugars, lignosulfonate, and ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. The process comprises steaming, pretreatment, chemical recovery, saccharification, and optionally fermentation. The pretreatment conditions use only sulfur dioxide and water, simultaneously resulting in high glucan conversion to glucose at low enzyme charges, high recovery of hemicellulose-derived monomeric sugars, high lignosulfonate yield, and the absence of lignin precipitates. High-yield production of ethanol through fermentation can be obtained using this process.

Process for the production of cellulose, lignocellulosic sugars, lignosulfonate, and ethanol

A process for the production of ethoxylated and hydroxylated lignin fractions, cellulose, lignocellulosic sugars, and ethanol in high yields is provided. The process comprises steaming, pretreatment, chemical recovery, saccharification, and optionally fermentation. A combination of pretreatment conditions is provided resulting in simultaneously high yields of ethoxylated or hydroxylated lignin and cellulose or cellulosic sugars and hernicellulosic sugars. High yield production of ethanol through fermentation can be obtained using this process.

Process for the production of bioproducts from lignocellulosic material

The present invention provides, among other things, methods including the steps of providing a cellulosic biomass, associating the cellulosic biomass with an organic liquid to form a mixture, treating the mixture to reduce the moisture content of the mixture to 30% or below (if necessary), and processing the mixture to produce cellulose nanofibrils in a slurry. In some embodiments, provided methods allow for the production of high solids content slurries containing 4% or more cellulosic nanofibrils.

Methods for the production of high solids nanocellulose

The present invention relates to producing chemicals and biofuels from wood material, e.g. mixed forest biomass. Specifically, the invention concerns a process for conditioning spent liquor produced by SO-ethanol-water (SEW) fractionation of wood chips for fermentation to butanol, ethanol and acetone/isopropanol (so called ABE process) by Clostridia bacteria.

Conditioning of SO2-ethanol-water spent liquor for fermentation by clostridia

In a process for recovering acetic acid from a wood extract, an aqueous wood extract is provided that contains acetic acid and dissolved hemicellulose containing uronic acid. A water insoluble solvent containing an extractant for the acetic acid is also provided. In a preferred embodiment, the solvent is undecane and the extractant is trioctylphosphine oxide. The wood extract is contacted with the solvent and extractant in order to extract the acetic acid from the wood extract. The acetic acid is then recovered from the solvent and extractant.

Recovery of acetic acid from wood extracts

A process for upgrading an organic acid includes neutralizing the organic acid to form a salt and thermally decomposing the resulting salt to form an energy densified product. In certain embodiments, the organic acid is levulinic acid. The process may further include upgrading the energy densified product by conversion to alcohol and subsequent dehydration.

Energy densification of biomass-derived organic acids

A method for the fractionation of lignocellulosic materials into cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin in a batch or continuous process in a treatment with vaporous mixture of aliphatic alcohol, sulfur dioxide and water. Cooking conditions are varied to get different proportions of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Chemical recovery through pressure release is described.

Growing community of inventors

Orono, ME, United States of America

Adriaan Van Heiningen