Bioprocessing of Agricultural Feedstocks: Report on Pretreatment for Biomass Refining

1. Bioprocessing of Agricultural Feedstocks: Report on Pretreatment for Biomass Refining Charles E. Wyman, Dartmouth College Y. Y. Lee, Auburn University Mohammed Moniruzzaman, Genencor International Bruce E. Dale, Michigan State University Tim Eggeman, Neoterics International Richard T. Elander, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Michael R. Ladisch, Purdue University Mark T. Holtzapple, Texas A&M University John N. Saddler, University of British Columbia Second World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing Orlando, Florida April 20, 2005 Biomass Refining CAFI

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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 hydrolysisby 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

6. 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 Biomass Refining CAFI

7. 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

8. 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

9. DOE OBP Project Tasks • 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 Biomass Refining CAFI

10. Quang Nguyen, Abengoa Bioenergy Mat Peabody, Applied CarboChemicals Gary Welch, Aventinerei Greg Luli, BC International Paris Tsobanakis, Cargill Robert Wooley, Cargill Dow James Hettenhaus, CEA Kevin Gray, Diversa Paul Roessler, Dow Susan M. Hennessey, DuPont Michael Knauf, Genencor Don Johnson, GPC (Retired) Dale Monceaux, Katzen Engineers Kendall Pye, Lignol Mark Stowers, MBI Richard Glass, National Corn Growers Association Bill Cruickshank, Natural Resources Canada Joel Cherry, Novozymes Ron Reinsfelder, Shell Carl Miller, Syngenta Carmela Bailey, USDA Don Riemenschneider, USDA CAFI Project Advisory BoardServe as extension agents for technology transferProvide feedback on approach and resultsMeet with team every 6 months Biomass Refining CAFI

11. 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 Technology96(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

12. ISAF Overviews on CAFI Research • Pretreatment – Bruce Dale, Michigan State • Enzymatic hydrolysis – Charles Wyman, Dartmouth • Logistics and economics – Richard Elander, NREL

13. 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

14. Insanity is doing what you always have always been doing and expecting different results Biomass Refining CAFI

15. Questions? Biomass Refining CAFI