Patent · US10610848B2 · B2 · US
Processing materials
- (11) Publication number
- US10610848B2
- (21) Application number
- 16/054,229
- (22) Filing date
- 2018-08-03
- (30) Priority date
- 2013-03-08
- (43) Publication date
- 2020-04-07
- (45) Date of grant
- 2020-04-07
- (51) IPC
- B01D 15/02; B01D 53/32; B01D 61/44; B01J 19/08; B65G 27/00; B65G 53/04; B65G 53/40; C07C 29/149; C07C 31/12; C10G 1/00; C10L 1/02; C10L 9/08; C12M 1/00; C12P 19/02; C12P 19/14; C12P 7/04; C12P 7/06; C12P 7/10; C12P 7/52; C12P 7/56; C13K 1/02; C13K 13/00; D21C 9/00; E04B 1/92; G21F 7/00; H01J 37/317
- (52) CPC
- B01J Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus: 19/085, 2219/0869, 2219/0879, 2219/0886
- B01D Separation: 15/02, 53/02, 53/32, 53/46, 61/44, 61/445
- B65G Transport or storage devices, e.g. conveyors for loading or tipping, shop conveyor systems or pneumatic tube conveyors: 27/00, 53/04, 53/40
- C07C Acyclic or carbocyclic compounds: 29/149, 31/12
- C08B Polysaccharides; derivatives thereof: 1/00
- C10G Cracking hydrocarbon oils; production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures, e.g. by destructive hydrogenation, oligomerisation, polymerisation; recovery of hydrocarbon oils from oil-shale, oil-sand, or gases; refining mixtures mainly consisting of hydrocarbons; reforming of naphtha; mineral waxes: 1/00
- C10L Fuels not otherwise provided for; natural gas; synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclasses C10G or C10K; liquified petroleum gas; use of additives to fuels or fires; fire-lighters: 1/023, 1/026, 2200/0469, 2200/0476, 2290/36, 9/08
- C12M Apparatus for enzymology or microbiology; {apparatus for culturing microorganisms for producing biomass, for growing cells or for obtaining fermentation or metabolic products, i.e. bioreactors or fermenters}: 47/00, 47/10
- C12P Fermentation or enzyme-using processes to synthesise a desired chemical compound or composition or to separate optical isomers from a racemic mixture {}: 19/02, 19/14, 2201/00, 2203/00, 7/04, 7/06, 7/10, 7/52, 7/56
- C13K Saccharides obtained from natural sources or by hydrolysis of naturally occurring disaccharides, oligosaccharides or polysaccharides: 1/02, 13/002
- D21C Production of cellulose by removing non-cellulose substances from cellulose-containing materials; regeneration of pulping liquors; apparatus therefor: 9/007
- E04B General building constructions; walls, e.g. partitions; roofs; floors; ceilings; insulation or other protection of buildings: 1/92, 2001/925
- G21F Protection against x-radiation, gamma radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment; treating radioactively contaminated material; decontamination arrangements therefor: 7/00
- G21K Handling of particles or ionising radiation not otherwise provided for; irradiation devices; gamma ray or x-ray microscopes: 5/10
- H01J Electric discharge tubes or discharge lamps: 2237/202, 2237/31, 2237/3165, 37/317
- Y02E Reduction of greenhouse gas [ghg] emissions, related to energy generation, transmission or distribution: 50/10, 50/16, 50/17, 50/30, 50/32, 50/343, 60/16, 60/17
- Y02P Climate change mitigation technologies in the production or processing of goods: 20/133, 20/136
- Y02W Climate change mitigation technologies related to wastewater treatment or waste management: 10/33, 10/37, 10/40
- (73) Assignee
- Xyleco Inc
- (72) Inventors
- Marshall Medoff; Thomas Craig Masterman; Robert Paradis
- (54) Title
- Processing materials
- (57) Abstract
Materials, such as biomass feedstocks (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels. Conveying systems, such as flowing gas conveying systems and such as closed-loop flowing gas conveying systems are described.
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Claims (11)
- A method of processing biomass, the method comprising; providing a recirculating gas flow of an inert gas within a vault constructed of radiation opaque materials, wherein at least a portion of the recirculating gas flow passes through a radiation field having an intensity above background levels, delivering a biomass through the vault, treating the biomass with ionizing radiation within the vault by contacting the biomass with an electron beam, and sending at least a portion of gas from the recirculating gas flow through an air pollution control system comprising an ozone abatement system, wherein the air pollution system is in-line with the recirculating gas flow so that substantially all of the gas in the recirculating gas flow flows through the pollution control system.
- The method of claim 1, wherein process gases are present in the recirculating gas flow.
- The method of claim 2, wherein the process gases are selected from the group consisting of volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, ozone and mixtures thereof.
- The method of claim 1, wherein the air pollution control system includes a metal oxide catalyst.
- The method of claim 1, further comprising diverting a portion of a gas in the recirculating gas flow out of the recirculating flow.
- The method of claim 5, wherein the portion of gas that is diverted is diverted downstream from an ingress.
- The method of claim 5, further comprising removing dust from the recirculating gas upstream from where the gas is diverted.
- The method of claim 1, wherein the biomass is a lignocellulosic material.
- The method of claim 8, wherein the lignocellulosic material has a density of less than 0.75 g/cm 3.
- The method of claim 8, wherein the lignocellulosic material has been comminuted and has a mean particle size between about 0.5 mm and 10 mm and an aspect ratio of greater than 2.
- The method of claim 1, wherein the radiation field is created by Bremsstrahlung X-rays.
Description
Many potential lignocellulosic feedstocks are available today, including agricultural residues, woody biomass, municipal waste, oilseeds/cakes and seaweed, to name a few. At present, these materials are often under-utilized, being used, for example, as animal feed, biocompost materials, burned in a co-generation facility or even landfilled.
Lignocellulosic biomass includes crystalline cellulose fibrils embedded in a hemicellulose matrix, surrounded by lignin. This produces a compact matrix that is difficult to access by enzymes and other chemical, biochemical and/or biological processes. Cellulosic biomass materials (e.g., biomass material from which the lignin has been removed) is more accessible to enzymes and other conversion processes, but even so, naturally-occurring cellulosic materials often have low yields (relative to theoretical yields) when contacted with hydrolyzing enzymes. Lignocellulosic biomass is even more recalcitrant to enzyme attack. Furthermore, each type of lignocellulosic biomass has its own specific composition of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Generally, the inventions relate to equipment, systems and methods for processing materials, such as biomass. Many processes are disclosed herein for saccharifying or liquefying a biomass material, e.g., cellulosic, lignocellulosic and/or starchy feedstocks, by converting biomass material to low molecular weight sugars, e.g., saccharifying the feedstock using an enzyme, e.g., one or more cellulase and/or amylase. The invention also relates to converting a feedstock to a product, e.g., by bioprocessing, such as fermentation.
Citations (103)
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Record as JSON
{
"publication_number": "US10610848B2",
"country": "US",
"kind": "B2",
"title": "Processing materials",
"abstract": "Materials, such as biomass feedstocks (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) are processed to produce useful products, such as fuels. Conveying systems, such as flowing gas conveying systems and such as closed-loop flowing gas conveying systems are described.",
"claims": [
"1. A method of processing biomass, the method comprising; providing a recirculating gas flow of an inert gas within a vault constructed of radiation opaque materials, wherein at least a portion of the recirculating gas flow passes through a radiation field having an intensity above background levels, delivering a biomass through the vault, treating the biomass with ionizing radiation within the vault by contacting the biomass with an electron beam, and sending at least a portion of gas from the recirculating gas flow through an air pollution control system comprising an ozone abatement system, wherein the air pollution system is in-line with the recirculating gas flow so that substantially all of the gas in the recirculating gas flow flows through the pollution control system.",
"2. The method of claim 1, wherein process gases are present in the recirculating gas flow.",
"3. The method of claim 2, wherein the process gases are selected from the group consisting of volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, ozone and mixtures thereof.",
"4. The method of claim 1, wherein the air pollution control system includes a metal oxide catalyst.",
"5. The method of claim 1, further comprising diverting a portion of a gas in the recirculating gas flow out of the recirculating flow.",
"6. The method of claim 5, wherein the portion of gas that is diverted is diverted downstream from an ingress.",
"7. The method of claim 5, further comprising removing dust from the recirculating gas upstream from where the gas is diverted.",
"8. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomass is a lignocellulosic material.",
"9. The method of claim 8, wherein the lignocellulosic material has a density of less than 0.75 g/cm 3.",
"10. The method of claim 8, wherein the lignocellulosic material has been comminuted and has a mean particle size between about 0.5 mm and 10 mm and an aspect ratio of greater than 2.",
"11. The method of claim 1, wherein the radiation field is created by Bremsstrahlung X-rays."
],
"description_excerpt": "Many potential lignocellulosic feedstocks are available today, including agricultural residues, woody biomass, municipal waste, oilseeds/cakes and seaweed, to name a few. At present, these materials are often under-utilized, being used, for example, as animal feed, biocompost materials, burned in a co-generation facility or even landfilled.\n\nLignocellulosic biomass includes crystalline cellulose fibrils embedded in a hemicellulose matrix, surrounded by lignin. This produces a compact matrix that is difficult to access by enzymes and other chemical, biochemical and/or biological processes. Cellulosic biomass materials (e.g., biomass material from which the lignin has been removed) is more accessible to enzymes and other conversion processes, but even so, naturally-occurring cellulosic materials often have low yields (relative to theoretical yields) when contacted with hydrolyzing enzymes. Lignocellulosic biomass is even more recalcitrant to enzyme attack. Furthermore, each type of lignocellulosic biomass has its own specific composition of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.\n\nGenerally, the inventions relate to equipment, systems and methods for processing materials, such as biomass. Many processes are disclosed herein for saccharifying or liquefying a biomass material, e.g., cellulosic, lignocellulosic and/or starchy feedstocks, by converting biomass material to low molecular weight sugars, e.g., saccharifying the feedstock using an enzyme, e.g., one or more cellulase and/or amylase. The invention also relates to converting a feedstock to a product, e.g., by bioprocessing, such as fermentation.",
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"Y02P 20/133",
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"Y02W 10/33",
"Y02W 10/37",
"Y02W 10/40"
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"ipc": [
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"assignees": [
"Xyleco Inc"
],
"inventors": [
"Marshall Medoff",
"Thomas Craig Masterman",
"Robert Paradis"
],
"filing_date": "2018-08-03",
"publication_date": "2020-04-07",
"grant_date": "2020-04-07",
"priority_date": "2013-03-08",
"application_number": "US-201816054229-A",
"family_id": "51491991",
"cited_by_count": 0,
"citations": [
"US2606867A",
"US2985589A",
"US4086152A",
"JPS624129A",
"US4952231A",
"US6740731B2",
"US6323307B1",
"EP0431648A1",
"US6846657B2",
"US5258488A",
"US5274073A",
"US6005067A",
"US5357035A",
"US5247058A",
"US5247059A",
"US6326458B1",
"US5142023A",
"US6277951B1",
"WO1993024704A1",
"US6355772B1",
"US6005068A",
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"US5665474A",
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"US5338822A",
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}
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