Patent · US9334518B2 · B2 · US

Array for processing materials

(11) Publication number

US9334518B2

(21) Application number

14/299,004

(22) Filing date

2014-06-09

(30) Priority date

2013-03-08

(43) Publication date

2016-05-10

(45) Date of grant

2016-05-10

(51) IPC

B01D 15/02; B01D 53/32; B01D 61/44; B01J 19/08; B65G 53/40; C12M 1/00; C12P 19/02; C12P 19/14; C12P 7/06; C12P 7/10; C12P 7/52; C13K 1/02; C13K 13/00; E04B 1/92; G21F 7/00; G21K 5/04; H01J 37/317

(52) CPC

C12P Fermentation or enzyme-using processes to synthesise a desired chemical compound or composition or to separate optical isomers from a racemic mixture {}: 19/14, 19/02, 2201/00, 2203/00, 7/04, 7/06, 7/10, 7/52, 7/56
B01D Separation: 15/02, 53/02, 53/32, 53/46, 61/44, 61/445
B01J Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus: 19/085, 2219/0869, 2219/0879, 2219/0886
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
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, 50/343, 60/16
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

Array for processing materials

(57) Abstract

Materials (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) are processed to produce useful intermediates and products, such as energy, fuels, foods or materials. For example, systems equipment, and methods are described that can be used to treat feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials, using an array of vaults.

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Claims (25)

A treatment operating unit, comprising: a plurality of enclosure systems, each enclosure system including one or more vaults, and within each vault, an irradiation device and a treatment conveyor, wherein a biomass material is treated in each vault utilizing the irradiation device and the treatment conveyor.
The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the enclosure systems are arranged in rows.
The operating unit of claim 2, wherein the rows extend in a first direction, and wherein each enclosure system comprises two or more vaults extending in a direction generally perpendicular to the first direction.
The operating unit of claim 3, wherein the first and second vaults of each enclosure share a common wall.
The operating unit of claim 4, wherein each first vault is configured to accept untreated biomass from a storage facility.
The operating unit of claim 5, wherein the first vault of each enclosure system further encloses equipment configured to transfer treated biomass from the first vault to the second vault of the enclosure system.
The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the irradiation device comprises an electron accelerator.
The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the treatment conveyor comprises a vibratory conveyor.
A method for producing treated biomass materials, the method comprising; partitioning a biomass material into a plurality of biomass material portions, conveying the biomass material portions into a plurality of first vaults, each first vault accepting one of the biomass material portions, treating the biomass material portions in the vaults, conveying the biomass material portions out of the first vaults, and combining the biomass material portions.
The method of claim 9, wherein treating comprises a treatment method selected from the group consisting of dosing with ionizing radiation, sonication, oxidation, pyrolysis, steam explosion, chemical treatment, mechanical treatment, freeze grinding and combinations thereof.
The method of claim 10, wherein dosing with ionizing radiation comprises irradiation with an electron beam.
The method of claim 10, wherein within each first vault the biomass material is treated with a dose between about 10 and about 50 Mrad of ionizing radiation.
The method of claim 9, wherein each conveying step comprises pneumatically conveying.
The method of claim 9, further comprising conveying the biomass material with a vibratory convey or while treating the biomass material portions.
The method of claim 9, further comprising continuously partitioning the biomass material, continuously conveying the biomass material portions into the first vaults, continuously treating the biomass material portions and continuously combining the biomass material portions, to continuously produce a treated biomass material.
The method of claim 9, wherein the temperature of each biomass material portion does not exceed 150° C. during the treating step.
The method of claim 9, further comprising cooling each biomass material portion after treating each biomass material portion.
The method of claim 17, wherein cooling is with a screw cooler.
The method of claim 9, further comprising, after conveying the biomass material portions out of the first vaults, conveying the biomass material portions to a plurality of second vaults, each second vault accepting one of the biomass material portions, treating the biomass material portions in the second vaults, conveying the biomass material portions out of the second vaults.
The method of claim 19, wherein each first and second vaults share a common wall.
The method of claim 19, further comprising cooling the biomass material portions between the first treating step and second treating step.
The method of claim 9, wherein treating reduces or further reduces the recalcitrance of the biomass material.
The method of claim 9, wherein the biomass material is a cellulosic or lignocellulosic material.
The method of claim 23, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass is selected from the group consisting of paper, paper products, paper waste, paper pulp, pigmented papers, loaded papers, coated papers, filled papers, magazines, printed matter, printer paper, polycoated paper, card stock, cardboard, paperboard, cotton, wood, particle board, forestry wastes, sawdust, aspen wood, wood chips, grasses, switchgrass, miscanthus, cord grass, reed canary grass, grain residues, rice hulls, oat hulls, wheat chaff, harley hulls, agricultural waste, silage, canola straw, wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rice straw, jute, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, abaca, com cobs, com stover, soybean stover, com fiber, alfalfa, hay, coconut hair, sugar processing residues, bagasse, beet pulp, agave bagasse, algae, seaweed, manure, sewage, arracacha, buckwheat, banana, barley, cassava, kudzu, ocra, sago, sorghum, potato, sweet potato, taro, yams, beans, favas, lentils, peas, and mixtures of any of these.
The method of claim 9, wherein the treated biomass material is produced at a rate of at least 500 lb/hr per vault.

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 enclosures for treating materials, such as biomass materials. This inventions also relate to equipment, methods and systems for producing products, e.g., from a biomass material. The methods and systems include utilizing an array of vaults for processing the biomass material. Generally, many methods include treating recalcitrant biomass in vaults with electron beams and then biochemically and chemically processing the reduced recalcitrance material to, for example, ethanol, xylitol and other products.

Citations (71)

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Record as JSON

{
  "publication_number": "US9334518B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Array for processing materials",
  "abstract": "Materials (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) are processed to produce useful intermediates and products, such as energy, fuels, foods or materials. For example, systems equipment, and methods are described that can be used to treat feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials, using an array of vaults.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A treatment operating unit, comprising: a plurality of enclosure systems, each enclosure system including one or more vaults, and within each vault, an irradiation device and a treatment conveyor, wherein a biomass material is treated in each vault utilizing the irradiation device and the treatment conveyor.",
    "2. The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the enclosure systems are arranged in rows.",
    "3. The operating unit of claim 2, wherein the rows extend in a first direction, and wherein each enclosure system comprises two or more vaults extending in a direction generally perpendicular to the first direction.",
    "4. The operating unit of claim 3, wherein the first and second vaults of each enclosure share a common wall.",
    "5. The operating unit of claim 4, wherein each first vault is configured to accept untreated biomass from a storage facility.",
    "6. The operating unit of claim 5, wherein the first vault of each enclosure system further encloses equipment configured to transfer treated biomass from the first vault to the second vault of the enclosure system.",
    "7. The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the irradiation device comprises an electron accelerator.",
    "8. The operating unit of claim 1, wherein the treatment conveyor comprises a vibratory conveyor.",
    "9. A method for producing treated biomass materials, the method comprising; partitioning a biomass material into a plurality of biomass material portions, conveying the biomass material portions into a plurality of first vaults, each first vault accepting one of the biomass material portions, treating the biomass material portions in the vaults, conveying the biomass material portions out of the first vaults, and combining the biomass material portions.",
    "10. The method of claim 9, wherein treating comprises a treatment method selected from the group consisting of dosing with ionizing radiation, sonication, oxidation, pyrolysis, steam explosion, chemical treatment, mechanical treatment, freeze grinding and combinations thereof.",
    "11. The method of claim 10, wherein dosing with ionizing radiation comprises irradiation with an electron beam.",
    "12. The method of claim 10, wherein within each first vault the biomass material is treated with a dose between about 10 and about 50 Mrad of ionizing radiation.",
    "13. The method of claim 9, wherein each conveying step comprises pneumatically conveying.",
    "14. The method of claim 9, further comprising conveying the biomass material with a vibratory convey or while treating the biomass material portions.",
    "15. The method of claim 9, further comprising continuously partitioning the biomass material, continuously conveying the biomass material portions into the first vaults, continuously treating the biomass material portions and continuously combining the biomass material portions, to continuously produce a treated biomass material.",
    "16. The method of claim 9, wherein the temperature of each biomass material portion does not exceed 150° C. during the treating step.",
    "17. The method of claim 9, further comprising cooling each biomass material portion after treating each biomass material portion.",
    "18. The method of claim 17, wherein cooling is with a screw cooler.",
    "19. The method of claim 9, further comprising, after conveying the biomass material portions out of the first vaults, conveying the biomass material portions to a plurality of second vaults, each second vault accepting one of the biomass material portions, treating the biomass material portions in the second vaults, conveying the biomass material portions out of the second vaults.",
    "20. The method of claim 19, wherein each first and second vaults share a common wall.",
    "21. The method of claim 19, further comprising cooling the biomass material portions between the first treating step and second treating step.",
    "22. The method of claim 9, wherein treating reduces or further reduces the recalcitrance of the biomass material.",
    "23. The method of claim 9, wherein the biomass material is a cellulosic or lignocellulosic material.",
    "24. The method of claim 23, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass is selected from the group consisting of paper, paper products, paper waste, paper pulp, pigmented papers, loaded papers, coated papers, filled papers, magazines, printed matter, printer paper, polycoated paper, card stock, cardboard, paperboard, cotton, wood, particle board, forestry wastes, sawdust, aspen wood, wood chips, grasses, switchgrass, miscanthus, cord grass, reed canary grass, grain residues, rice hulls, oat hulls, wheat chaff, harley hulls, agricultural waste, silage, canola straw, wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rice straw, jute, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, abaca, com cobs, com stover, soybean stover, com fiber, alfalfa, hay, coconut hair, sugar processing residues, bagasse, beet pulp, agave bagasse, algae, seaweed, manure, sewage, arracacha, buckwheat, banana, barley, cassava, kudzu, ocra, sago, sorghum, potato, sweet potato, taro, yams, beans, favas, lentils, peas, and mixtures of any of these.",
    "25. The method of claim 9, wherein the treated biomass material is produced at a rate of at least 500 lb/hr per vault."
  ],
  "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 enclosures for treating materials, such as biomass materials. This inventions also relate to equipment, methods and systems for producing products, e.g., from a biomass material. The methods and systems include utilizing an array of vaults for processing the biomass material. Generally, many methods include treating recalcitrant biomass in vaults with electron beams and then biochemically and chemically processing the reduced recalcitrance material to, for example, ethanol, xylitol and other products.",
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  "assignees": [
    "Xyleco Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Marshall Medoff",
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  ],
  "filing_date": "2014-06-09",
  "publication_date": "2016-05-10",
  "grant_date": "2016-05-10",
  "priority_date": "2013-03-08",
  "application_number": "US-201414299004-A",
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  "cited_by_count": 25,
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    "US2985589A",
    "US6323307B1",
    "US6740731B2",
    "US6846657B2",
    "US5247059A",
    "US5274073A",
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    "US6143863A",
    "US5525706A",
    "US5585191A",
    "US6207792B1",
    "US5574129A",
    "US5849401A",
    "US6452051B1",
    "US6160173A",
    "US7019170B2",
    "US6506873B1",
    "US6183814B1",
    "US7144977B2",
    "US6320077B1",
    "US6229046B1",
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    "US7273734B2",
    "US7309597B2",
    "US7083955B2",
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}

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