Metal catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to produce monomeric carbohydrates for transportation fuel and electrical production

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9809613-B2
Application number	US-201415101828-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2014
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

Methods and compositions for processing biomass using [Co(CN)5]3″ are disclosed. The resulting products include monomeric carbohydrate units that can also be converted to basic alcohols, including ethanol, for a variety of uses including transportation fuels and the generation of electricity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for generating monomeric carbohydrates from a biomass feedstock comprising:
providing a biomass feedstock stream having one or more of cellulose, hemicellulose, amylose, maltodextrin, and mixtures of the same;
contacting the aqueous feed stock with a pentacyanocobaltate(II) anion catalyst having the formula [Co(CN) 5 ] 3− to produce a product stream comprising at least one monomeric carbohydrate.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the pentacyanocobaltate(II) anion is provided as metal or ammonium salt, wherein the metal if present excludes cesium.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein the metal of the metal salt is selected from alkaline and alkaline earth metals.

4. The process of claim 2 , wherein the ammonium salt is (NH 4 + ) 3 [Co(CN) 5 ] 3− .

5. The process of claim 1 , further comprising providing a ligand to the catalyst.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the ligand is anionic chloride.

7. The process of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a pH greater than about 5.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the biomass is derived from one or more of: switch grass, xylan, and mixtures of the same.

9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising applying an electrical potential to the product stream.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the monomeric carbohydrate is selected from glucose, galactose, xylose, mannose, arabinose, rhamnose, and mixtures of the same.

11. The process of claim 10 , further comprising converting the one or more saccharides into ethanol.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the biomass feedstock is from pulp derived from biomass, waste material, recycled material, and combinations thereof.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the biomass feedstock is from short rotation forestry, industrial wood waste, forest residue, agricultural residue, energy crops, industrial wastewater, municipal wastewater, paper, cardboard, fabrics and combinations thereof.

14. A composition, comprising:
biomass having one or more of cellulose, hemicellulose, amylose, maltodextrin, and mixtures of the same;
pentacyanocobaltate(II) anion catalyst having the formula [Co(CN) 5 ] 3− .

15. The composition of claim 14 , further comprising water.

16. The composition of claim 14 , wherein the pentacyanocobaltate(II) anion catalyst includes at least one counterion that is a metal or ammonium cation; wherein the metal if present excludes cesium.

17. The composition of claim 16 , wherein the metal is selected from alkaline and alkaline earth metals.

18. The composition of claim 14 , further comprising a ligand.

19. The composition of claim 18 , wherein the ligand is anionic chloride.

Assignees

• Watt Gerald D
• Watt Richard K
• Univ Brigham Young

Inventors

• Watt Gerald D
• Watt Richard K

Classifications

• B01J27/26

  Cyanides · CPC title

• C12P5/023

  Methane · CPC title

• C12P7/10

  substrate containing cellulosic material · CPC title

• B01J27/128

  with iron group metals or platinum group metals · CPC title

• C12P3/00

  Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide {(recovery of carbon dioxides as by-products C12F3/02)} · CPC title