The invention relates to a discharge screw arrangement (12) for discharging lignocellulosic material (7) from a lignocellulosic treatment reactor (1) and comprises a discharge screw (10), a feeder pipe (11) and a blow pipe (5), the discharge screw being accommodated in and rotatably arranged inside the feeder pipe and being configured to mechanically transport the lignocellulosic material in a longitudinal direction along a rotational axis of the discharge screw through the feeder pipe towards a downstream end (14) of the feeder pipe, which discharge screw arrangement is configured to allow steam to flow through the feeder pipe to help transporting the lignocellulosic material in the longitudinal direction along through the feeder pipe and out of the feeder pipe through an outlet nozzle (24) arranged in a side wall of the feeder pipe (11) at the downstream end of the feeder pipe and into the blow pipe, wherein the discharge screw arrangement further comprises a material spreader (20), which is rotatably arranged at the downstream end of the feeder pipe and is configured to transport the lignocellulosic material in a radial direction, perpendicular to a rotational axis of the material spreader, towards the outlet nozzle, which is arranged peripherally of the material spreader, and out of the feeder pipe through the outlet nozzle and into the blow pipe.

The present disclosure relates to cellulose nanomaterials made or derived from tobacco and methods for the production thereof. The tobacco-derived cellulose nanomaterials can be employed in various industrial applications such as film forming applications and solution thickening technologies. In particular, the disclosure is directed to methods for preparing tobacco-derived cellulose nanomaterials using less fibrillation cycles than in the production of wood pulp. The invention includes a method for preparing tobacco derived nanocellulose material comprising receiving a tobacco pulp in a dilute form such that the tobacco pulp is a tobacco pulp suspension with a consistency of less than about 5%; and mechanically fibrillating the tobacco pulp suspension to generate a tobacco derived nanocellulose material having at least one average particle size dimension in the range of about 1 nm to about 100 nm.

The invention relates to a process of detoxifying pretreated lignocellulose-containing material comprising washing the pretreated lignocellulose-containing material in a washing solution and treating the used washing solution to remove an enzyme inhibitor and/or an inhibitor of a fermenting organism before recycling the used washing solution.

Methods are disclosed for the continuous treatment of biomass comprising a pretreatment step, wherein said biomass is contacted with a first supercritical, near-critical, or sub-critical fluid to form a solid matrix and a first liquid fraction; and a hydrolysis step, wherein said solid matrix formed in said pretreatment step is contacted with a second supercritical or near-supercritical fluid to produce a second liquid fraction and an insoluble lignin-containing fraction. Also disclosed are apparatuses for the continuous conversion of biomass comprising a pretreatment reactor and a hydrolysis reactor associated with said pretreatment reactor.

Provided herein is a process for producing an alcohol from a sugar cane derived cellulosic feedstock comprising: subjecting the sugar cane derived cellulosic feedstock comprising bagasse, leaves, tops, or any combination thereof, to silica removal selected from processes comprising sieving, screening, washing, cyclone separation or any combination thereof. The bagasse, leaves or tops, or any combination thereof, from which at least a portion of the silica has been removed is treated in one or more processing stages to produce sugar, wherein the undissolved solids content of a slurry during said processing stages reaches a weight percent of at least 15%. Thereafter the sugar is fermented with yeast or bacteria to produce the alcohol and the alcohol is concentrated and recovered.

Provided herein is a process for producing an alcohol from a sugar cane derived cellulosic feedstock comprising: subjecting the sugar cane derived cellulosic feedstock comprising bagasse, leaves, tops, or any combination thereof, to silica removal selected from processes comprising sieving, screening, washing, cyclone separation or any combination thereof. The bagasse, leaves or tops, or any combination thereof, from which at least a portion of the silica has been removed is treated in one or more processing stages to produce sugar, wherein the undissolved solids content of a slurry during said processing stages reaches a weight percent of at least 15%. Thereafter the sugar is fermented with yeast or bacteria to produce the alcohol and the alcohol is concentrated and recovered.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to materials and methods for producing a wide range of raw materials from plant biomass. In certain embodiments, the present disclosure provides materials and methods for efficient decortication of plant biomass using a thermally regulated process to generate reactive oxygen species in the presence of a catalyst. Embodiments of the present disclosure address the need for improved methods with which to obtain a wide range of raw materials from plant biomass without the need for industrial decortication machines and without producing harmful industrial waste.

Provided herein is a process for producing a fermentation product from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The process comprises soaking a lignocellulosic feedstock in an aqueous solution to produce a soaked feedstock. The soaked feedstock is at least partially dewatered and the at least partially dewatered feedstock is subjected to pretreating. The pretreatment chemical is sulfur dioxide, sulfurous acid or a combination thereof and can be added to the process at any stage prior to and/or during pretreatment. The pretreated feedstock composition is fed to an enzymatic hydrolysis conducted at a temperature that is higher than 58 C. The cellulose in the pretreated feedstock composition is hydrolyzed with cellulase enzymes in the presence of the dissolved solids to produce glucose. The glucose is fermented to produce the fermentation product.

Provided herein is a process for producing a fermentation product from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The process comprises soaking a lignocellulosic feedstock in an aqueous solution to produce a soaked feedstock. The soaked feedstock is at least partially dewatered and the at least partially dewatered feedstock is subjected to pretreating. The pretreatment chemical is sulfur dioxide, sulfurous acid or a combination thereof and can be added to the process at any stage prior to and/or during pretreatment. The pretreated feedstock composition is fed to an enzymatic hydrolysis conducted at a temperature that is higher than 58 C. The cellulose in the pretreated feedstock composition is hydrolyzed with cellulase enzymes in the presence of the dissolved solids to produce glucose. The glucose is fermented to produce the fermentation product.

There is described a method of fractionating a biomass material comprising: (i) blending the biomass material with an acid catalyst to form a slurry; (ii) mixing the slurry with an organosolv reagent optionally under an inert atmosphere to form a pre-treatment mix; (iii) subjecting the pre-treatment mix to sonication; (iv) optionally heating the product of step (iii) in an autoclave under pressure; (v) separating the solid and liquid components of the fractionation mix; (vi) optionally washing the solid; (vii) optionally drying the solid component; (viii) separating the liquid component into organic and aqueous components; and (ix) isolating lignin from the organic component and/or isolating hemi-cellulose from the aqueous component.