Purdue Research Foundation

Bowen Engineering Corporation

Archer Daniels Midland Company

Federal University of Sao Carlos

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporatio—embrapa

Defense Life Sciences, Inc.

Michael Ralph Ladisch

Nathan Scott Mosier

Richard L Hendrickson

George T Tsao

Youngmi Kim

Brian Stater

Bradley Spindler

Kent Hamaker

Mark Brewer

Rashid Bashir

Willem Evert Vermerris

Rafael Gomez

Young Mi Kim

Eduardo De Aquino Ximenes

Thomas Richard Kreke

Paul L Westgate

Christine M Ladisch

J Paul Robinson

Ahmad K Hilaly

Kirk Solon Foster

Arun K Bhunia

James Thomas Jones

Thomas L Huang

Yiqi Yang

Bruce E Dale

Rollo J Everett

Justin Van Rooyen

Alberto Colli Badino, Jr

Fernanda Marisa Da Cunha

Cristiane Sanchez Farinas

Eduardo Ximenes

Jerry L Weiland

Gary Welch

Xingya Liu

Amanda C Stewart

Wan-Tzu Chen

Jeremiah Bwatwa

Eric M Perkins

Joseph R Weil

Karen L Kohlman

Ajoy Velayudhan

Jiyin Liu

Karen Kohlmann

Arindam Bose

Teh-An Hsu

Xingya (Linda) Liu

Seockmo Ku

Alisha Tungare

Jaycey Hardenstein

Amanda Deering

Methods for rapidly concentrating a food sample for efficient detection of bacteria are disclosed. A microfiltration approach followed by centrifugation was used to concentrate the cells with an enzyme (e.g., a protease) added at the beginning of the process to facilitate more efficient micro-filtering. The enzyme was found to have no significant effect on cell viability.

Rapid concentration, recovery and detection of pathogens in food samples

Disclosed herein are methods for improving ethanol production from biomass sources by blocking cellulose from binding to lignin.

Methods for mitigating the inhibitory effects of lignin and soluble phenolics for enzymatic conversion of cellulose

Described are processes that include the non-enzymatic, hydrolytic liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass to form digest slurries and heat recovery from such digest slurries. Due to enhanced flow properties of the digest slurries such heat recovery can be efficiently conducted in spiral, plate and frame or other heat exchanger designs, with the recovered heat going to unit operations of the process such as heating incoming pretreatment media for the liquefaction. Processes can also involve additional hydrolytic digestion of some or all of the initial slurry components with enzyme and/or additional heat recovery from the initial slurry by direct contact heat exchange in which a portion of the digest slurry liquids is flashed to vapor and that vapor is condensed onto incoming lignocellulosic biomass to the process. Processes as described can be integrated into ethanol manufacture by fermentation of sugars from the digested compositions.

Liquefaction biomass processing with heat recovery

Described are methods for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass that comprise thermally conditioning the biomass by flow processing an aqueous slurry of the biomass through an outer passage(s) of one or more heat exchange devices while circulating a heat exchange fluid through an inner passage(s) of the heat exchange device(s). Also described are methods for producing fermentation products, especially ethanol, from the pretreated biomass.

Flow process for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

Whole corn kernels or particles thereof are enzymatically disassembled. The method can produce a solid starch fraction, a solid pericarp fraction, and a liquid fraction. A high purity starch solids product can be provided suitable for use as a feedstock in other chemical processes.

Enzyme catalyzed disassembly of corn kernels

Methods for enhancing production of a cellulose component are disclosed herein.

Liquefied cellulosic biomass for enzyme production

Described are methods for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass that comprise passing a hot aqueous biomass slurry through a heat exchange passage from an inlet to an outlet and locally regulating pressure in the passage by feed of a pressurized liquid medium to one or more intermediate locations of the passage. Also described are methods for producing ethanol from the pretreated biomass.

Locally-regulated pressurized pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

Described are methods and systems useful in the processing of food samples to detect pathogenic cells in the samples. Embodiments include homogenizing a food sample, digesting solids of the homogenized food sample, and removing lipids from the homogenized food sample. Cells in the sample can then be concentrated using hollow fiber membrane filtration. Regeneration cycles can enable multiple reuses of the hollow fiber membrane filter. Systems and processes herein can be automated, under the control of a computer.

Methods and systems useful for foodborne pathogen detection

Described are processes for the liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass under the digestive action of dicarboxylic acid(s). Such digests can exhibit enhanced flowability, reduced volume, and significant biomass conversion to dissolved components, and can in some embodiments be further liquefied by contact with an enzyme. Products resultant of these steps can be used for their sugar content to manufacture biofuels or other products.

Biomass liquefaction processes, and uses of same

Mixtures of ethanol and water are dehydrated using starch pearls to adsorb and remove water. Vapor-phase adsorption equilibrium capacities of cassava starch pellets (tapioca pearls) having different particle sizes are disclosed, and tapioca pearl particles are shown to be surprisingly more effective for dehydrating 88 to 97% w/w feed ethanol than corn grits. The adsorption equilibrium curve and BET surface area measurement show that the adsorption capacity of tapioca pearls is a function of surface area available to water molecules. SEM images demonstrate that the particle architecture required for the adsorption and dehydration properties is that of a core-shell configuration with pre-gel starch acting as a central scaffold holding together other particles to the outer layer of the particle. The outer surface area of the pearls, populated with dry starch granules, is the main factor determining the adsorption capacity of the pearls. Tapioca pearls are shown to possess a surprisingly higher adsorption capacity than corn grits of the same particle size. Pearls of 2 mm size in diameter gave 34% higher linear adsorption equilibrium constant (K) than grits of 1.7 mm.

Methods and systems useful for drying ethanol

Methods for increasing yield of fermentable sugars from plant stover are provided. The methods include using plants homozygous for two brown midrib mutations, bm1 and bm3. The methods also include using plants homozygous for a mutation in a gene that results in reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity, and a mutation in a gene that results in reduced 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity. The methods also include using transgenic plants that have reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity and reduced 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity in comparison with wild-type plants.

Methods for increasing the yield of fermentable sugars from plant stover

The disclosure describes a process for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol utilizing a dicarboxylic acid such as maleic acid as an enzyme mimic to hydrolyze the hemicellulose and cellulose of the biomass. Controlling the condition of the maleic acid hydrolysis can selectively hydrolyze the hemicellulose giving as a result a liquid portion rich in xylose and a solid portion rich in glucan. The glucan can be further hydrolyzed to produce a glucose containing material. The sugar materials can be fermented to produce ethanol which is recovered. The dicarboxylic acid is then recovered from the residue left after the ethanol is removed from the fermentation material, and the recovered dicarboxylic acid is recycled to the beginning of the process to treat additional lignocellulosic biomass.

Process for preparing enriched glucan biomass materials

Methods for increasing yield of fermentable sugars from plant stover are provided. The methods include using plants homozygous for two brown midrib mutations, bm1 and bm3. The methods also include using plants homozygous for a mutation in a gene that results in reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity, and a mutation in a gene that results in reduced 5 -hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity. The methods also include using transgenic plants that have reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity and reduced 5 -hydroxyconiferaldehyde/5-hydroxyconiferyl alcohol O-methyltransferase activity in comparison with wild-type plants.

A method and system for recovering heat from a pretreated hot biomass stream is described. The method and system for heat recovery includes a flash cooler connected to a direct contact condenser. A liquid portion of the hot biomass stream flashes into vapors upon the hot biomass stream entering the flash cooler. The flashed vapors are transferred to the direct contact condenser. The flashed vapors and an incoming cold biomass stream subsequently come into contact with each other in the direct contact condenser, thereby causing heat to be transferred from the hot biomass stream to the cold biomass stream. As the heat transfer occurs, the flashed vapors condense onto the surface of the cold biomass.

Heat recovery from a biomass heat source

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West Lafayette, IN, United States of America

Michael Ralph Ladisch