Bioprocessing of Agricultural Feedstocks: Report on Pretreatment for

Biomass RefiningCharles E. Wyman, Dartmouth College

Y. Y. Lee, Auburn UniversityMohammed Moniruzzaman, Genencor International

Bruce E. Dale, Michigan State UniversityTim Eggeman, Neoterics International

Richard T. Elander, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryMichael R. Ladisch, Purdue University

Mark T. Holtzapple, Texas A&M UniversityJohn N. Saddler, University of British Columbia

Second World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing

Orlando, FloridaApril 20, 2005Biomass Refining CAFI

Cellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Needs

• High cellulose accessibility to enzymes • High sugar yields from hemicellulose• Low capital cost – low pressure, inexpensive

materials of construction• Low energy cost• Low degradation• Low cost and/or recoverable chemicals

Biomass Refining CAFI

Cellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Needs

• High cellulose accessibility to enzymes • High sugar yields from hemicellulose• Low capital cost – low pressure, inexpensive

materials of construction• Low energy cost• Low degradation• Low cost and/or recoverable chemicals• A large number of pretreatment technologies

have been studied, but only a few show promise

Biomass Refining CAFI

Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation (CAFI)

• Organized in late 1999• Included top researchers in biomass hydrolysis from

Auburn, Dartmouth, Michigan State, Purdue, NREL, Texas A&M, UBC, U. Sherbrooke

Mission: Develop information and a fundamental understanding

of biomass hydrolysis that will facilitate commercialization,

Accelerate the development of next generation technologies that dramatically reduce the cost of sugars from cellulosic biomass

Train future engineers, scientists, and managers.

Biomass Refining CAFI

CAFI USDA IFAFS Project Overview• Multi-institutional effort funded by USDA Initiative for Future

Agriculture and Food Systems Program for $1.2 million to develop comparative information on cellulosic biomass pretreatment by leading pretreatment options with common source of cellulosic biomass (corn stover) and identical analytical methods– Aqueous ammonia recycle pretreatment - YY Lee, Auburn University– Water only and dilute acid hydrolysis by co-current and flowthrough

systems - Charles Wyman, Dartmouth College– Ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) - Bruce Dale, Michigan State University– Controlled pH pretreatment - Mike Ladisch, Purdue University– Lime pretreatment - Mark Holtzapple, Texas A&M University– Logistical support and economic analysis - Rick Elander/Tim Eggeman,

NREL through DOE Biomass Program funding• Completed in 2004

Biomass Refining CAFI

Feedstock: Corn Stover• NREL supplied corn stover to all project participants

(source: BioMass AgriProducts, Harlan IA)• Stover washed and dried in small commercial operation,

knife milled to pass ¼ inch round screen

Glucan 36.1 %

Xylan 21.4 %

Arabinan 3.5 %

Mannan 1.8 %

Galactan 2.5 %

Lignin 17.2 %

Protein 4.0 %

Acetyl 3.2 %

Ash 7.1 %

Uronic Acid 3.6 %

Non-structural Sugars 1.2 %

Biomass Refining CAFI

USDA IFAFS Project Tasks

• Apply leading pretreatment technologies to prepare biomass for conversion to products

• Characterize resulting fluid and solid streams• Close material and energy balances for each

pretreatment process • Determine cellulose digestibility and liquid

fraction fermentability• Compare performance of pretreatment

technologies on corn stover

Biomass Refining CAFI

DOE Office of the Biomass Program Project: April 2004 Start

• Funded by DOE Office of the Biomass Program for $1.88 million through a joint competitive solicitation with USDA

• Using identical analytical methods and feedstock sources to develop comparative data for corn stover and poplar

• Determining more depth information on– Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in solids– Conditioning and fermentation of pretreatment hydrolyzate liquids– Predictive models

• Added University of British Columbia to team through funding from Natural Resources Canada to– Capitalize on their expertise with xylanases for better

hemicellulose utilization– Evaluate sulfur dioxide pretreatment along with those previously

examined: dilute acid, controlled pH, AFEX, ARP, lime• Augmented by Genencor to supply enzymes

Biomass Refining CAFI

DOE OBP Project Tasks

Biomass Refining CAFI

• Corn stover and poplar pretreated by leading technologies to improve cellulose accessibility to enzymes

• Conditioning methods developed as needed to maximize fermentation yields by a recombinant yeast, the cause of inhibition determined, and fermentations modeled

• Cellulose and hemicellulose in pretreated biomass enzymatically hydrolyzed, as appropriate, and models developed to understand the relationship between pretreated biomass features, advanced enzyme characteristics, and enzymatic digestion results

• Capital and operating costs estimated for each integrated pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation system and used to direct research

CAFI Project Advisory Board Serve as extension agents for technology transfer

Provide feedback on approach and resultsMeet with team every 6 months

Quang Nguyen, Abengoa Bioenergy

Mat Peabody, Applied CarboChemicals

Gary Welch, AventinereiGreg Luli, BC InternationalParis Tsobanakis, CargillRobert Wooley, Cargill DowJames Hettenhaus, CEAKevin Gray, DiversaPaul Roessler, DowSusan M. Hennessey, DuPontMichael Knauf, Genencor

Don Johnson, GPC (Retired)Dale Monceaux, Katzen EngineersKendall Pye, LignolMark Stowers, MBIRichard Glass, National Corn

Growers AssociationBill Cruickshank, Natural

Resources CanadaJoel Cherry, NovozymesRon Reinsfelder, Shell Carl Miller, SyngentaCarmela Bailey, USDADon Riemenschneider, USDA

Biomass Refining CAFI

Presentations and Publications of CAFI Results

• Team presentations at – 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

Austin, Texas, November 11 – 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

San Francisco, California, November 20 – 25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals,

Breckenridge, Colorado, May 7, 2003 – 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,

Indianapolis, Indiana, November 4 – 24th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Gatlinburg,

Tennessee, April 28, 2002 • Mosier N, Wyman CE, Dale B, Elander R, Lee YY, Holtzapple M,

Ladisc1 M. 2005. “Features of Promising Technologies for Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass,” BioResource Technology 96(6): 673-686

• Special issue of Bioresource Technology in progress to report USDA IFAFS findings in several papers including joint papers to introduce project and summarize results

Biomass Refining CAFI

ISAF Overviews on CAFI Research

• Pretreatment – Bruce Dale, Michigan State

• Enzymatic hydrolysis – Charles Wyman, Dartmouth

• Logistics and economics – Richard Elander, NREL

Acknowledgments US Department of Agriculture Initiative for Future

Agricultural and Food Systems Program, Contract 00-52104-9663

US Department of Energy Office of the Biomass Program, Contract DE-FG36-04GO14017

Natural Resources Canada Our team from Dartmouth College; Auburn,

Michigan State, Purdue, and Texas A&M Universities; the University of British Columbia; Genencor International; and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Biomass Refining CAFI

Insanity is doing what you always have always been

doing and expecting different results

Biomass Refining CAFI

Questions?

Biomass Refining CAFI