A method of producing methanol using a membrane gas absorption unit and at least one reactor. To produce methanol, a membrane gas absorption unit and a reactor are provided, each membrane gas absorption unit having a plurality of membranes, and each reactor having at least one section having a flocculator producing a pulsated magnetic field. The membrane gas absorption unit is first used to capture CO2 from a desired source. The captured CO2 is then supplied in a liquid form to the reactor. A hydrogen is supplied to the same reactor, and both captured CO2 and the hydrogen are then subjected to the pulsated magnetic field within the reactor to obtain a mixture of water and methanol. Finally, the water is distilled from the methanol to obtain pure methanol.

The present invention relates generally to processes for converting fructose-containing feedstocks to a product comprising 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) and water in the presence of water, solvent and an acid catalyst. In some embodiments, the conversion of fructose to HMF is controlled at a partial conversion endpoint characterized by a yield of HMF from fructose that does not exceed about 80 mol %. In these and other embodiments, the processes provide separation techniques for separating and recovering the product, unconverted fructose, solvent and acid catalyst to enable the effective recovery and reutilization of reaction components.

The present invention relates generally to processes for converting fructose-containing feedstocks to a product comprising 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) and water in the presence of water, solvent and an acid catalyst. In some embodiments, the conversion of fructose to HMF is controlled at a partial conversion endpoint characterized by a yield of HMF from fructose that does not exceed about 80 mol %. In these and other embodiments, the processes provide separation techniques for separating and recovering the product, unconverted fructose, solvent and acid catalyst to enable the effective recovery and reutilization of reaction components.

The present invention generally provides a process for treating a soapstock. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for treating a soapstock to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters. The present invention more particularly provides systems and methods for realizing the full fatty acid yield of a soapstock by first converting substantially all of the saponifiable material in a soapstock to salts of fatty acids (soaps) and acidulating the soaps to generate free fatty acids and/or fatty acid derivatives, e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters, wherein the soapstock comprises soaps and saponifiable lipids, e.g. glycerides and/or phospholipids, and the generating of free fatty acids and/or fatty acid is achieved without the use of a mineral acid.

This invention relates to improvements in the fast pyrolysis of biomass. In this invention, a portion of the products from a pyrolysis reactor are condensed in the liquid phase and at least a portion of the recovered liquid is recycled to the pyrolysis reactor for further conversion to valuable, useful products.

This invention relates to improvements in the fast pyrolysis of biomass. In this invention, a portion of the products from a pyrolysis reactor are condensed in the liquid phase and at least a portion of the recovered liquid is recycled to the pyrolysis reactor for further conversion to valuable, useful products.

There are provided processes for preparing a metal hydroxide comprising (i) at least one metal chosen from nickel and cobalt and optionally (ii) at least one metal chosen from manganese, lithium, copper, magnesium and aluminum, the process comprising:

reacting a metal sulfate comprising (i) at least one metal chosen from nickel and cobalt and optionally (ii) at least one metal chosen from manganese, lithium, copper, magnesium and aluminum with lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide and optionally a chelating agent in order to obtain a solid comprising the metal hydroxide and a liquid comprising lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate;

separating the liquid and the solid from one another to obtain the metal hydroxide;

submitting the liquid comprising lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate to an electromembrane process for converting the lithium sulfate, sodium sulfate and/or potassium sulfate into lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide respectively;

reusing the sodium hydroxide obtained by the electromembrane process for reacting with the metal sulfate; and

reusing the lithium hydroxide obtained by the electromembrane process for reacting with the metal sulfate and/or with the metal hydroxide.

Described herein are methods of recovering lithium from dilute lithium sources. The methods include concentrating a dilute aqueous lithium source to yield an extraction feed having an extraction lithium concentration; extracting lithium from the extraction feed using direct lithium extraction in an extraction stage to yield a lithium intermediate; concentrating a stream obtained from the lithium intermediate in a concentration stage to yield a lithium concentrate; and converting lithium in the lithium concentrate to lithium hydroxide.

The present invention relates to a system for jointly producing erythritol and liquid sorbitol by using a corn starch, including a liquefaction tank, a saccharification tank, a filter and a nanofiltration assembly. The liquefaction tank is used to perform liquefaction for the corn starch, the saccharification tank is used to perform saccharification for the liquefied material, the filter is used to filter out impurities in the saccharified material to obtain a glucose liquid, and the nanofiltration assembly is used to perform nanofiltration for the filtered glucose liquid to respectively obtain a dialysate and a concentrate. The system further includes a fermentation and crystallization assembly for performing fermentation and crystallization for the dialysate to prepare crystalline erythritol, and a hydrogenation and evaporation assembly for performing hydrogenation and evaporation for the concentrate to prepare liquid sorbitol. The present invention further provides a method of jointly producing erythritol and liquid sorbitol by using a corn starch. The present invention not only improves the purity of erythritol but also obtains liquid sorbitol, thus improving the utilization value of the corn starch.