E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC

Jelena Cirakovic

Bruce Aaron Diner

Douglas Robert Anton

Michael Charles Grady

Francis J Woerner

Robert DiCosimo

Brian Michael Roesch

Keith H Burlew

Stephane Francois Bazzana

Janine Fan

Carl Eugene Camp

Carl E Camp

In an alcohol fermentation process, oil derived from biomass is chemically converted into an extractant available for in situ removal of a product alcohol such as butanol from a fermentation broth. The glycerides in the oil can be chemically converted into a reaction product, such as fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty amides, fatty acid methyl esters, fatty acid glycol esters, and hydroxylated triglycerides, and mixtures thereof, which forms a fermentation product extractant having a partition coefficient for a product alcohol greater than a partition coefficient of the oil of the biomass for the product alcohol. Oil derived from a feedstock of an alcohol fermentation process can be chemically converting into the fermentation product extractant. The oil can be separated from the feedstock prior to the feedstock being fed to a fermentation vessel, and the separated oil can be chemically converted to a fermentation product extractant, which can then contacted with a fermentation product comprising a product alcohol, whereby the product alcohol is separated from the fermentation product.

Extraction solvents derived from oil for alcohol removal in extractive fermentation

An alcohol fermentation process and composition that includes production of alcohol esters by esterification of product alcohol in a fermentation medium with a carboxylic acid (e.g., fatty acid) and a catalyst (e.g., lipase) capable of esterifying the product alcohol, such as butanol, with the carboxylic acid to form the alcohol esters. The alcohol esters can be extracted from the fermentation medium, and the product alcohol recovered from the alcohol esters. The carboxylic acid can also serve as an extractant for removal of the alcohol esters from the fermentation medium.

Production of alcohol esters and in situ product removal during alcohol fermentation

A high yield and high productivity processes for preparing 3-hydroxyglutaronitrile by reacting an epihalohydrin or a 4-halo-3-hydroxy-butanenitrile, or analogous compound containing a different leaving group, with cyanide (CN&#x2014;) in the presence of water and an ionic liquid. The use of an ionic liquid as a cosolvent with water results in increased productivity and selectivity.

Process for the synthesis of 3-hydroxyglutaronitrile

Mechanical milling of biomass as a pretreatment to render the biomass readily saccharifiable requires high energy input. Preceding mechanical milling by treatment with anhydrous ammonia was found to greatly reduce the energy requirement for fine milling, providing a more economical pretreatment process for commercial use.

Anhydrous ammonia treatment for improved milling of biomass

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Wilmington, DE, United States of America

Jelena Cirakovic