Michigan State University

United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Michigan Biotechnology Institute

Dartmouth College

Bruce E Dale

Venkatesh Balan

Masomeh B Sticklen

Shishir Chundawat

Shahina B Maqbool

Derek Marshall

Leonardo Da Costa Sousa

Bryan Ritchie

Leonardo Sousa

Patricia J Slininger

Farzaneh Teymouri

Bruce S Dien

Bryan Bals

Stephanie R Thompson

Justin K Weaver

Lee R Lynd

Timothy J Campbell

Maureen A Shea Andersh

Tim Campbell

Mark Laser

Albert M Cheh

Shahina B Magbool

Shuhaida Harun

Maureen A Shea-Andersh

Ming Woei Lau

Balan Venkatesh

A product is provided comprising at least one densified biomass particulate having a substantially smooth, non-flakey outer surface and containing no added binder, wherein said densified biomass particulate is comprised of a plurality of pretreated lignin-coated plant biomass fibers which contain a trace amount of base from pretreatment of said fibers. Methods for using and making the product are also described.

Densified biomass products containing pretreated biomass fibers

A method of increasing sugar yield in a bioproduct production process is provided comprising pretreating one or more size-adjusted lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) particles with a pretreatment, such as an ammonia pretreatment, wherein the one or more size-adjusted LCB particles form a substrate, with the one or more particles having an average particle size in at least one dimension greater than 5 mm.

Methods for increasing sugar yield with size-adjusted lignocellulosic biomass particles

Several mutated strains ofare generated by repetitive culturing of the parent strain on two types of concentrated hydrolyzates and with ethanol-challenged xylose-fed continuous culture. Isolates collected from various enriched populations are screened and ranked based on relative xylose uptake rate and ethanol yield. Ranking on hydrolyzates with and without nutritional supplementation is used to identify those isolates with best performance across diverse conditions.

Yeast strains

Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass are provided. The methods include converting native cellulose Ito cellulose IIIby pretreating the lignocellulosic biomass with liquid ammonia under certain conditions, and performing extracting or digesting steps on the pretreated/converted lignocellulosic biomass.

Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

A method for pretreating biomass is provided, which includes, in a reactor, allowing gaseous ammonia to condense on the biomass and react with water present in the biomass to produce pretreated biomass, wherein reactivity of polysaccharides in the biomass is increased during subsequent biological conversion as compared to the reactivity of polysaccharides in biomass which has not been pretreated. A method for pretreating biomass with a liquid ammonia and recovering the liquid ammonia is also provided. Related systems which include a biochemical or biofuel production facility are also disclosed.

Methods for pretreating biomass

A method is provided in which pretreated and densified cellulosic biomass particulates can be hydrolyzed at a high solids loading rate as compared with the solids loading rate of loose hydrolysable cellulosic biomass fibers. The resulting high concentration sugar-containing stream can be easily converted to biofuels or to an entire suite of other useful bioproducts.

Methods of hydrolyzing pretreated densified biomass particulates and systems related thereto

A method for producing a microbial growth stimulant (MGS) from a plant biomass is described. In one embodiment, an ammonium hydroxide solution is used to extract a solution of proteins and ammonia from the biomass. Some of the proteins and ammonia are separated from the extracted solution to provide the MGS solution. The removed ammonia can be recycled and the proteins are useful as animal feeds. In one embodiment, the method comprises extracting solubles from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass with a cellulase enzyme-producing growth medium (such) in the presence of water and an aqueous extract.

Extraction of solubles from plant biomass for use as microbial growth stimulant and methods related thereto

A process is provided comprising subjecting a quantity of plant biomass fibers to a pretreatment to cause at least a portion of lignin contained within each fiber to move to an outer surface of said fiber, wherein a quantity of pretreated tacky plant biomass fibers is produced; and densifying the quantity of pretreated tacky plant biomass fibers to produce one or more densified biomass particulates, wherein said biomass fibers are densified without using added binder.

Methods for producing and using densified biomass products containing pretreated biomass fibers

A method of alkaline pretreatment of biomass, in particular, pretreating biomass with gaseous ammonia.

A method is provided in which pretreated and densified cellulosic biomass particulates can be hydrolyzed at a high solids loading rate as compared with the solids loading rate of loose hydrolysable cellulosic biomass fibers. The resulting high concentration sugar-containing stream can be easily converted to biofuels or an entire suite of other useful bioproducts.

A process for the treatment of biomass to render structural carbohydrates more accessible and/or digestible using concentrated ammonium hydroxide with or without anhydrous ammonia addition, is described. The process preferably uses steam to strip ammonia from the biomass for recycling. The process yields of monosaccharides from the structural carbohydrates are good, particularly as measured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the structural carbohydrates. The monosaccharides are used as animal feeds and energy sources for ethanol production.

Process for the treatment of lignocellulosic biomass

A product comprising at least one densified biomass particulate of a given mass having no added binder and comprised of a plurality of lignin-coated plant biomass fibers is provided, wherein the at least one densified biomass particulate has an intrinsic density substantially equivalent to a binder-containing densified biomass particulate of the same given mass and h a substantially smooth, non-flakey outer surface. Methods for using and making the product are also described.

Pretreated densified biomass products

A process for producing sugars from lignocellulosic materials such as corn stover by the addition of corn stillage as a carbon source is disclosed. The sugars are formed by treating the combination of the corn stillage and the lignocellulosic materials with hydrolytic enzymes. The sugars can be fermented to ethanol, and the process improves ethanol production economies with an increased sugar yield from the lignocellulosic materials.

Growing community of inventors

Mason, MI, United States of America

Bruce E Dale