Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC

Butamax (tm) Advanced Biofuels LLC

Keith H Burlew

Michael Charles Grady

Robert DiCosimo

Brian Michael Roesch

Joseph J Zaher

Stephane Francois Bazzana

Douglas Robert Anton

Bruce Aaron Diner

Larry Cameron Anthony

David J Lowe

Tyler T Ames

Francis J Woerner

Jelena Cirakovic

John W Hallam

Adam Bernfeld

Raymond Richard Zolandz

Anthony R Calabria

James Timothy Cronin

Benjamin Fuchs

James Gregory Wood

Adam David Henry

Duncan Coffey

Ana Paula Goes

Walter Tamulis

Robert Dicosimo

Adam Jones

Stephan E Francois Bazzana

Provided herein are processes and microorganisms which utilize both protein hydrolysates and carbohydrates from biomass feedstocks to produce renewable hydrocarbon compositions. Advantages of the disclosed methods may be recognized in fuel blends comprising such hydrocarbon compositions.

Production of renewable hydrocarbon compositions

The present disclosure is directed to methods, approaches, devices, equipment, and systems for minimizing or reducing contamination in facilities implementing fermentation or distillation processes. In embodiments, the facility is a biofuel plant that produces fermentation product such as product alcohol like butanol. In some embodiments, the methods, approaches, devices, equipment, and systems are operable to implement clean in place contamination (CIP) mitigation techniques that can also include sterilize in place (SIP) mitigation techniques to decontaminate equipment including surfaces of the equipment that come in contact with materials used in the production of product alcohols. Other cleaning and contamination minimizing techniques are also described.

Contamination mitigation

A method and system for efficiently producing a fermentative product alcohol such as butanol utilizing in situ product extraction are provided. The efficiency is obtained through separating undissolved solids after liquefying a given feedstock to create a feedstock and prior to fermentation, for example, through centrifugation. Removal of the undissolved solids avoids problems associated with having the undissolved solids present during in situ production extraction, and thereby increases the efficiency of the alcohol production.

Methods and systems for removing undissolved solids prior to extractive fermentation in the production of butanol

In an alcohol fermentation process, oil derived from biomass is hydrolyzed 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 catalytically (e.g., enzymatically) hydrolyzed into free fatty acids, which form 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 hydrolyzed by contacting the feedstock including the oil with one or more enzymes whereby at least a portion of the oil is hydrolyzed into free fatty acids forming a fermentation product extractant, or the oil can be separated from the feedstock prior to the feedstock being fed to a fermentation vessel, and the separated oil can be contacted with the enzymes to form the fermentation product extractant. The fermentation product extractant can be contacted with a fermentation broth for in situ removal of a product alcohol.

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

The present invention relates to the production of fermentation products such as alcohols including ethanol and butanol, and processes employing in situ product removal methods.

Processes and systems for the production of fermentation products

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Middletown, DE, United States of America

Keith H Burlew