System for fermentation of biomass for the production of ethanol

Abstract

A system for fermentation of biomass is disclosed. The system comprises a method for producing a fermentation product in a fermentation system from biomass that has been pre-treated and separated into a first component and a second component. The method comprises the steps of supplying the first component to the fermentation system; providing an ethanologen to the fermentation system; maintaining the first component and ethanologen in the fermentation system; and recovering the fermentation product from the fermentation system. A fermentation system configured to produce a fermentation product from biomass that has been pre-treated and separated into a first component and a second component is disclosed. The system comprises a first vessel configured to receive the first component and an ethanologen and a second vessel configured to propagate the ethanologen for supply to the first vessel. A biorefinery for producing a fermentation product from biomass is also disclosed. The biorefinery comprises a preparation system to prepare the biomass into prepared biomass; a pre-treatment system to pre-treat the prepared biomass with a dilute acid for separation into a first component from which pentose can accessed for fermentation and a second component from which hexose can be made available for fermentation; a first treatment system to treat the first component into a treated first component by removing removed components from the first component; a first fermentation system to produce a first fermentation product from the pentose; a distillation system to recover ethanol from the first fermentation product; and a treatment system to process removed components. The biomass comprises lignocellulosic material; the lignocellulosic material comprises at least one of corn cobs, corn plant husks, corn plant leaves and corn plant stalks. The first component comprises pentose; the pentose comprises xylose. The ethanologen is capable of fermenting xylose into ethanol.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A fermentation system configured to produce a fermentation product from biomass that has been pre-treated and separated into a first component and a second component comprising:
 a first vessel configured to receive the first component and an ethanologen;   a second vessel configured to propagate the ethanologen for supply to the first vessel;   wherein the first vessel is configured to maintain the first component and ethanologen at a temperature of between about 31 and about 34 degrees Celsius and at a pH of between about 5.2 and about 5.8 for a time of no less than 18 hours;   wherein the biomass comprises lignocellulosic material;   wherein the lignocellulosic material comprises at least one of corn cobs, corn plant husks, corn plant leaves and corn plant stalks;   wherein the first component comprises pentose;   wherein the pentose comprises xylose.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the first component comprises a liquid component of the lignocellulosic material. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the lignocellulosic material consists essentially of corn cobs, corn plant husks, corn plant leaves and corn stalks. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the ethanologen is an organism. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the organism is capable of fermenting xylose into a fermentation product. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the fermentation product comprises ethanol. 
     
     
         30 . A biorefinery for producing a fermentation product from biomass comprising:
 a preparation system to prepare the biomass into prepared biomass;   a pre-treatment system to pre-treat the prepared biomass with a dilute acid for separation into a first component from which pentose can accessed for fermentation and a second component from which hexose can be made available for fermentation;   a first treatment system to treat the first component into a treated first component by removing removed components from the first component;   a first fermentation system to produce a first fermentation product from the pentose by supplying an ethanologen and maintaining the first component and ethanologen at a temperature of between about 26 and about 37 degrees Celsius and at a pH of between, about 4.5 and about 6.0 for a time of no less than 18 hours;   a distillation system to recover ethanol from the first fermentation product;   a treatment system to process removed components;   wherein the biomass comprises lignocellulosic material;   wherein the lignocellulosic material comprises at least one of corn cobs, corn plant husks, corn plant leaves and corn plant stalks.   
     
     
         31 . The biorefinery of  claim 30 , wherein the pentose comprises xylose and the first fermentation product comprises a fermentation product produced by fermentation of xylose. 
     
     
         32 . The biorefinery of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 a second treatment system to treat the second component into a treated second component from which hexose can be accessed for fermentation;   a second fermentation system to produce a second fermentation product from the hexose by supplying an ethanologen to ferment the hexose;   a distillation system to recover ethanol from the second fermentation product.   
     
     
         33 . The biorefinery of  claim 30 , wherein the hexose comprises glucose. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the first component comprises a liquid component of the lignocellulosic material. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the second component comprises a solids component of the lignocellulosic material. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the lignocellulosic material consists essentially of corn cobs, corn plant husks, corn plant leaves and corn stalks.