Patent · US9611516B2 · B2 · US

Controlling process gases

(11) Publication number

US9611516B2

(21) Application number

14/299,006

(22) Filing date

2014-06-09

(30) Priority date

2013-03-08

(43) Publication date

2017-04-04

(45) Date of grant

2017-04-04

(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; C10L 9/08; 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; H01J 37/30; H01J 37/317

(52) CPC

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
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

Controlling process gases

(57) Abstract

Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful intermediates and products, such as energy, fuels, foods or materials. For example, equipment, systems and methods are described that can be used to treat feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials, in a vault in which hazardous gases are removed, destroyed and/or converted. The treatments are efficient and can reduce the recalcitrance of the lignocellulosic material so that it is easier to produce an intermediate or product, e.g., sugars, alcohols, sugar alcohols and energy, from the lignocellulosic material.

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Claims (9)

A method comprising: impinging a substantially inert gas on a first foil window of an electron beam horn while passing electrons through the window and inert gas while processing a cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass material in particulate form on a conveyor; while flowing the inert gas through an enclosed space defined by the foil window, which is in communication with a vacuum side of the electron beam horn, and a secondary foil disposed facing the first foil window under flow conditions that maintain the pressure inside the space between about 50 and 200 psi; treating the inert gas to remove contaminants produced during processing of the biomass material; and enzymatically saccharifying the processed biomass material to produce a sugar solution.
The method of claim 1, wherein the foil has a surface communicating with a high vacuum side of an accelerator tube.
The method of claim 1, wherein the foil, along with a secondary foil, defines a space about which the substantially inert gas traverses.
The method of claim 3, wherein the pressure inside the space is greater than atmospheric pressure.
The method of claim 1, wherein the inert gas comprises nitrogen.
The method of claim 1, further comprising recycling the inert gas.
The method of claim 6, wherein recycling comprises impinging the substantially inert gas on the foil window more than one time before discarding it.
The method of claim 1, wherein treating the inert gas comprises filtering the gas.
The method of claim 1, wherein treating the inert gas comprises removing from the inert gas contaminants selected from oxygen, ozone, oils, particulates, water and mixtures thereof.

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 methods, equipment and systems for treating materials, such as biomass. The inventions also relate to methods, systems and processing equipment used for producing products from a biomass material. Generally, the methods include treating a recalcitrant biomass, (e.g., with electron beams or other ionizing radiation) to reduce the recalcitrance of the biomass, optionally while conveying the biomass using one or more conveyor(s) and optionally in an enclosure, such as a vault.

Citations (89)

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Record as JSON

{
  "publication_number": "US9611516B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Controlling process gases",
  "abstract": "Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful intermediates and products, such as energy, fuels, foods or materials. For example, equipment, systems and methods are described that can be used to treat feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials, in a vault in which hazardous gases are removed, destroyed and/or converted. The treatments are efficient and can reduce the recalcitrance of the lignocellulosic material so that it is easier to produce an intermediate or product, e.g., sugars, alcohols, sugar alcohols and energy, from the lignocellulosic material.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method comprising: impinging a substantially inert gas on a first foil window of an electron beam horn while passing electrons through the window and inert gas while processing a cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass material in particulate form on a conveyor; while flowing the inert gas through an enclosed space defined by the foil window, which is in communication with a vacuum side of the electron beam horn, and a secondary foil disposed facing the first foil window under flow conditions that maintain the pressure inside the space between about 50 and 200 psi; treating the inert gas to remove contaminants produced during processing of the biomass material; and enzymatically saccharifying the processed biomass material to produce a sugar solution.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein the foil has a surface communicating with a high vacuum side of an accelerator tube.",
    "3. The method of claim 1, wherein the foil, along with a secondary foil, defines a space about which the substantially inert gas traverses.",
    "4. The method of claim 3, wherein the pressure inside the space is greater than atmospheric pressure.",
    "5. The method of claim 1, wherein the inert gas comprises nitrogen.",
    "6. The method of claim 1, further comprising recycling the inert gas.",
    "7. The method of claim 6, wherein recycling comprises impinging the substantially inert gas on the foil window more than one time before discarding it.",
    "8. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the inert gas comprises filtering the gas.",
    "9. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the inert gas comprises removing from the inert gas contaminants selected from oxygen, ozone, oils, particulates, water and mixtures thereof."
  ],
  "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 methods, equipment and systems for treating materials, such as biomass. The inventions also relate to methods, systems and processing equipment used for producing products from a biomass material. Generally, the methods include treating a recalcitrant biomass, (e.g., with electron beams or other ionizing radiation) to reduce the recalcitrance of the biomass, optionally while conveying the biomass using one or more conveyor(s) and optionally in an enclosure, such as a vault.",
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  "assignees": [
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  "inventors": [
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    "US4769082A",
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}

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