The United States of America As Represented by the United States

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

Midwest Research Institute

The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

Renewable Spirits LLC

Karel Grohmann

Melvin P Tucker, Iii

Michael E Himmel

David Alexander Stewart

Wilbur W Widmer

Charles E Wyman

Ali Mohagheghi

Mark Wilkins

William S Adney

Robert W Torget

Robert D Hagenmaier

Diane D Spindler

Stanley M Lastick

Stanley M Lastick, Deceased

Christopher J Richard

Method for producing ethanol from solid citrus waste by reducing the concentration of limonene in citrus waste to allow fermentation. In one embodiment ground solid citrus waste is partially hydrolyzed and pasteurized by heating using a jet cooker and then injected into a flash tank to remove limonene. The heated citrus waste is then cooled, hydrolyzed with enzymes and fermented to ethanol. The remaining solids and liquids may be processed further to yield other byproducts. More particularly, the solids may be dried and pressed for use in cattle feed and the liquids may be further fermented or processed to yield additional ethanol, acetate, galacturonic acid monomers and polymers, five carbon sugars and other products.

Ethanol production from solid citrus processing waste

Method of pretreating citrus waste to break cell structure, pasteurize or sterilize citrus waste solids and remove inhibitory peel oil components (e.g., limonene) involving optionally reducing the particle size of the citrus waste prior to preheating, preheating the citrus waste through indirect heating in a preheater reactor to form preheated citrus waste and conveying the preheated citrus waste to a main reactor, heating the citrus waste through a combination of (simultaneous) indirect heating and direct heating to produce treated citrus waste solids that are pasteurized and a vapor containing water and peel oil components, separating the pasteurized citrus waste solids and the vapor containing water and peel oil components, and collecting the separated vapor containing water and peel oil components by condensation. The method optionally includes cooling the pasteurized citrus waste solids followed by saccharifying with enzymes and fermentation to produce ethanol or other products.

Method of pretreating citrus waste

A method and apparatus for vacuum cooling heated viscous and/or high solids mixtures employs at least one cooling tank () having inwardly sloping side walls () from a top () to an opening that is attached to a outlet pump or valve () located at the tank bottom, a rotational spreader () near the top and at least one vacuum pump () to maintain the predetermined vacuum in the tank, and input and output pumps (). The rotational spreader () breaks up the heated viscous and/or high solids mixture () and distributes it onto the side walls of the tank to form a film () which is cooled as it travels to and slides down the sides to the bottom where the viscous and/or high solids mixture is outputted from the tank by a pump or valve (). Multiple stages of the apparatus may be employed preferably with progressively greater vacuum pressure in each stage to accomplish even further cooling of the viscous and/or high solids mixtures.

Method and apparatus for vacuum cooling of viscous mixtures

Compositions for preparing edible coatings for fruits, vegetables, and prepared foods, which include polyvinyl acetate, provide a coating with a high gloss.

Edible food coatings containing polyvinyl acetate

A process is described for moving fragments that code for cellulase activity from the genome of A. cellulolyticus to several plasmid vectors and the subsequent expression of active cellulase acitivty in E. coli.

Cloning of cellulase genes from acidothermus cellulolyticus

A process for producing ethanol from mixed sugar streams from pretreated biomass comprising xylose and cellulose using enzymes to convert these substrates to fermentable sugars; selecting and isolating a yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe ATCC No. 2476, having the ability to ferment these sugars as they are being formed to produce ethanol; loading the substrates with the fermentation mix composed of yeast, enzymes and substrates; fermenting the loaded substrates and enzymes under anaerobic conditions at a pH range of between about 5.0 to about 6.0 and at a temperature range of between about 35.degree. C. to about 40.degree. C. until the fermentation is completed, the xylose being isomerized to xylulose, the cellulose being converted to glucose, and these sugars being concurrently converted to ethanol by yeast through means of the anaerobic fermentation; and recovering the ethanol.

Combined enzyme mediated fermentation of cellulous and xylose to ethanol

A purified low molecular weight cellulase endoglucanase I having a molecular weight of between about 57,420 to about 74,580 daltons from Acidothermus cellulolyticus (ATCC 43068). The cellulase is water soluble, possesses both C.sub.1 and C.sub.x types of enzyme activity, a high degree of stability toward heat, and exhibits optimum temperature activity at about 83.degree. C. at pH's from about 2 to about 9, and in inactivation temperature of about 110.degree. C. at pH's from about 2 to about 9.

Thermostable purified endoglucanas from acidothermus cellulolyticus ATCC

A fermentation reactor and method for fermentation of materials having greater than about 10% solids. The reactor includes a rotatable shaft along the central axis, the shaft including rods extending outwardly to mix the materials. The reactor and method are useful for anaerobic digestion of municipal solid wastes to produce methane, for production of commodity chemicals from organic materials, and for microbial fermentation processes.

High solids fermentation reactor

A two-stage dilute acid prehydrolysis process on xylan containing hemicellulose in biomass is effected by: treating feedstock of hemicellulosic material comprising xylan that is slow hydrolyzable and xylan that is fast hydrolyzable under predetermined low temperature conditions with a dilute acid for a residence time sufficient to hydrolyze the fast hydrolyzable xylan to xylose; removing said xylose from said fast hydrolyzable xylan and leaving a residue; and treating said residue having a slow hydrolyzable xylan with a dilute acid under predetermined high temperature conditions for a residence time required to hydrolyze said slow hydrolyzable xylan to xylose.

Two-stage dilute acid prehydrolysis of biomass

A substantially purified high molecular weight cellulase enzyme having a molecular weight of between about 156,000 to about 203,400 daltons isolated from the bacterium Acidothermus cellulolyticus (ATCC 43068) and a method of producing it are disclosed. The enzyme is water soluble, possesses both C.sub.1 and C.sub.x types of enzymatic activity, has a high degree of stability toward heat and exhibits both a high optimum temperature activity and high inactivation characteristics.

Thermostable purified endoglucanase from thermophilic bacterium

A process for producing ethanol from plant biomass includes forming a substrate from the biomass with the substrate including hydrolysates of cellulose and hemicellulose. A species of the yeast Brettanomyces custersii (CBS 5512), which has the ability to ferment both cellobiose and glucose to ethanol, is then selected and isolated. The substrate is inoculated with this yeast, and the inoculated substrate is then fermented under conditions favorable for cell viability and conversion of hydrolysates to ethanol.

Growing community of inventors

Winter Haven, FL, United States of America

Karel Grohmann