NZ625179B2 - Improved methods for processing biomass - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for processing biomass materials that are disposed in one or more porous structures or carriers, e.g., a bag, a shell, a net, a membrane, a mesh or any combination of these. Containing the material in this manner allows it to be readily added or removed at any point and in any sequence during processing. Also disclosed is the addition of an additive such as, e.g., microorganism, a nutrient, a spore, an enzyme, an acid, a base, a gas, an antibiotic, or a pharmaceutical to the structure or carrier to convert the contained biomass into useful products. sequence during processing. Also disclosed is the addition of an additive such as, e.g., microorganism, a nutrient, a spore, an enzyme, an acid, a base, a gas, an antibiotic, or a pharmaceutical to the structure or carrier to convert the contained biomass into useful products.

Description

IMPROVED METHOS FOR PROCESSING BIOMASS by Marshall Medoff, Thomas Craig Masterman, James J. Lynch CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 61/579,550 and 61/579,562, both filed on December 22, 201 1. The entire sures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to improvements in conducting microbiological, biological and biochemical ons.

BACKGROUND As demand for petroleum increases, so too does interest in renewable feedstocks for manufacturing biofuels and biochemicals. The use of ellulosic biomass as a feedstock for such manufacturing processes has been studied since the 1970s. Lignocellulosic biomass is attractive because it is nt, renewable, domestically ed, and does not compete with food industry uses.

Many potential ellulosic feedstocks are ble today, including agricultural residues, woody biomass, municipal waste, oilseeds/cakes and sea weeds, to name a few. At present these materials are either used as animal feed, biocompost materials, are burned in a cogeneration facility or are lled.

Lignocellulosic biomass is recalcitrant to degradation as the plant cell walls have a structure that is rigid and compact. The structure comprises lline cellulose fibrils embedded in a hemicellulose matrix, surrounded by . This compact matrix is difficult to access by enzymes and other al, biochemical and ical ses. Cellulosic biomass materials (e.g., biomass material from which substantially all the lignin has been removed) can be more accessible to enzymes and other conversion processes, but even so, naturally-occurring cellulosic materials often have low yields (relative to theoretical yields) when contacted with hydro lyzing enzymes. Lignocellulosic biomass is even more recalcitrant to enzyme attack.

Furthermore, each type of lignocellulosic biomass has its own specific composition of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

While a number of methods have been tried to extract structural carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass, they are either are too expensive, produce too low a yield, leave undesirable chemicals in the resulting product, or simply degrade the sugars.

Monosaccharides from ble biomass s could become the basis of chemical and fuels industries by replacing, supplementing or tuting petroleum and other fossil feedstocks. However, ques need to be developed that will make these monosaccharides available in large quantities and at acceptable purities and prices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Provided herein are methods for producing a product, which methods include maintaining a combination comprising a liquid , a structure or carrier, and a reduced-recalcitrance cellulosic or ellulosic biomass disposed within the structure or carrier, under conditions that allow the passage of molecules out of and/or into the ure or carrier.

In r aspect, provided herein is a method for producing a product comprising the step of: maintaining a combination comprising a liquid medium, an additive, a structure or carrier comprising a bag, and a reduced-recalcitrance cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass disposed within the structure or carrier, under conditions that allow the passage of molecules out of and/or into the structure or carrier, and that allow the additive to convert the molecules to one or more enzymes, and wherein the one or more enzymes are manufactured and stored and then used in saccharification reactions of the same or similar biomass material at a later date and/or in a different location.

In another aspect, provided herein is a method for ing a t, where the method includes: providing a liquid medium; providing a osic or lignocellulosic biomass, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass is disposed in a structure or carrier, and wherein the structure or carrier possesses one or more pores configured to allow the passage of molecules; providing an additive; combining the structure or carrier and the additive in the liquid medium to make a ation; maintaining the ation under conditions that allow the passage of molecules out of and/or into the structure or carrier; and maintaining the combination under conditions that allow the ve to convert the molecules to one or more products; thereby producing a product.

Additionally, provided herein are methods of producing an enzyme, where the methods include: providing a liquid medium; providing a cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass; providing a microorganism e of ing an enzyme in the presence of the cellulosic or lignocellulosic s; providing a structure or carrier, wherein the structure or carrier possesses one or more pores configured to allow the passage of molecules; disposing the osic or lignocellulosic biomass within the structure or carrier; combining the liquid , the ure or carrier, and the microorganism to make a combination; and maintaining the combination under ions that allow the microorganism to produce the enzyme; thereby producing an enzyme.

Also provided herein is a method of providing a substance to a microorganism, where the method includes: providing a liquid medium; providing a microorganism; providing a substance; providing a structure or carrier, wherein the structure or carrier possesses one or more pores configured to allow the passage of the substance into and out of the structure or carrier; either: by disposing the microorganism within the ure or carrier, and forming a combination by combining the liquid medium, the microorganism within the structure or carrier and the substance, or by disposing the substance within the structure or carrier, and forming a combination by combining the liquid medium, the substance within the structure or carrier, and the microorganism; and maintaining the combination under conditions that allow the substance [Text continued on page 3] to move out of and into the structure or carrier, and to come in contact with the rganism; y providing the substance to the microorganism. Such methods can also include: ing a second ure or carrier; and ing both the microorganism and the substance each in a separate structure or carrier.

Also provided herein is a system for making a product, Where the system includes: a liquid medium in a container; a microorganism capable of making a product; and a structure or r containing a substance, where the structure or carrier is configured to release the substance into the liquid medium.

In any of the methods or systems provided herein, the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass can be disposed Within the structure or carrier, and the methods can fiarther include: disposing the additive Within a second structure or carrier; and the structure or r containing the cellulosic or ellulosic biomass is disposed Within the second structure or carrier.

In any of the methods or systems provided herein, the substance can be a sugar, e.g., a sugar can be disposed Within one or more structures or carriers.

In any of the methods or systems ed herein, the t produced can be a molecule, a protein, a sugar, a filel or combinations thereof. The protein can be an enzyme.

Any of the methods or s ed herein can further include disposing a microorganism in the structure or carrier. Alternatively, the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material, or the ve can be disposed in the structure or carrier. The cellulosic or lignocellulosic material, the additive, or the microorganism can be disposed in a second structure or carrier. The additive can be a microorganism, an enzyme, an acid, a base or ations thereof.

In any of the methods or systems provided herein, the structure or carrier can be a bag, a shell, a net, a membrane, a mesh or combinations thereof. Where the structure or carrier includes a bag, the bag can be formed of a mesh material having a maximum opening size of less than 1 mm. Alternatively, the mesh al can have an average pore size of from about 10 mm to 1 nm. Where the structure or carrier is a bag, the bag can be made of a bioerodible polymer.

The bioerodible polymer can be selected from the group consisting of: polylactic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate, polycaprolactone, polyhydroxybutyrate-hexanoate, polybutylene succinate, polybutyrate succinate adipate, polyesteramide, polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate, mixtures thereof, and laminates thereof.

The bag can be made of a starch film.

In any of the methods or systems ed herein, the combination can be placed in a fermentation vessel that includes impellers, and Where the combination is maintained under conditions Where the bag is torn open by the impellers.

In any of the methods or systems provided herein, the microorganism or microorganisms can include a strain of Trichoderma reesei, e.g., a high-yielding cellulase- producing mutant of Trichoderma reesez’, e.g., the RUT-C30 strain.

In any of the s or systems ed herein, the recalcitrance of the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material can have been reduced relative to the material in its native state. Such ent to reduce recalcitrance can be bombardment with electrons, sonication, oxidation, pyrolysis, steam explosion, chemical ent, mechanical treatment, freeze ng, or combinations of such ents. Preferably, the recalcitrance of the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass has been reduced by exposure to an electron beam.

In any of the methods or systems provided, the conversion can be rification, and the t can be a sugar solution or suspension. The methods can fiarther include isolating a sugar from the sugar solution or suspension. The sugar isolated can be xylose.

In any of the systems or methods provided herein, the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass can be: paper, paper products, paper waste, paper pulp, pigmented papers, loaded papers, coated papers, filled papers, magazines, printed , printer paper, polycoated paper, card stock, cardboard, paperboard, , wood, particle board, forestry wastes, sawdust, aspen wood, wood chips, grasses, switchgrass, miscanthus, cord grass, reed canary grass, grain residues, rice hulls, oat hulls, wheat chaff, barley hulls, agricultural waste, , canola straw, wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rice straw, jute, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, abaca, corn cobs, corn stover, soybean stover, corn fiber, alfalfa, hay, coconut hair, sugar processing residues, bagasse, beet pulp, agave bagasse, algae, seaweed, manure, sewage, offal, arracacha, buckwheat, banana, barley, cassava, kudzu, oca, sago, sorghum, potato, sweet , taro, yams, beans, favas, lentils, peas, or mixtures of any of these. The cellulosic or lignocellulosic material can include com cobs. The cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass can be comminuted, e.g., by dry milling, or by wet milling. The cellulosic or lignocellulosic material can be treated to reduce its bulk density, or to increase its surface area. The cellulosic or lignocellulosic material can have an average particle size of less than about 1 mm, or an average le size of from about 0.25 mm to 2.5 mm.

It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed in this Summary, and it is ed to cover modifications that are within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The ing will be apparent from the following more particular description of example embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating embodiments of the present invention. is a diagram illustrating the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose.

Cellulosic substrate (A) is converted by endocellulase (i) to cellulose (B), which is converted by exocellulase (ii) to cellobiose (C), which is converted to e (D) by cellobiase (beta- glucosidase) (iii). is a flow diagram illustrating sion of a biomass feedstock to one or more products. Feedstock is physically pretreated (e.g., to reduce its size) (200), optionally treated to reduce its recalcitrance (210), saccharified to form a sugar solution (220), the solution is transported (230) to a cturing plant (e.g., by pipeline, railcar) (or if saccharification is performed en route, the feedstock, enzyme and water is transported), the saccharified feedstock is bio-processed to produce a desired product (e.g., alcohol) (240), and the product can be processed r, e.g., by distillation, to produce a final product (250). Treatment for recalcitrance can be modified by measuring lignin content (201) and setting or adjusting process parameters (205). Saccharifying the feedstock (220) can be modified by mixing the feedstock with medium and the enzyme (221). is a flow diagram rating the treatment of a first biomass (300), addition of a cellulase producing organism (310), addition of a second biomass (320), and processing the resulting sugars to make products (e.g., l(s), pure ) (330). The first d biomass can optionally be split, and a portion added as the second biomass (A). is a flow diagram illustrating the production of enzymes. A cellulase- producing organism is added to growth medium (400), a treated first biomass (405) is added (A) to make a mixture (410), a second biomass portion is added (420), and the resulting sugars are sed to make products (e.g., alcohol(s), pure sugars) (430). Portions of the first biomass (405) can also be added (B) to the second biomass (420).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Provided herein are methods of conducting biological, microbiological, and biochemical reactions by using one or more structures or containers, which can have pores or other gs, or can be degradable. The ure can be a bag, net or mesh, shell (e.g., rigid or semi-rigid shell), a membrane, or combinations of these structures (e.g., one or more structures of one or more types can be disposed within a structure of the same or another type).

The structures can hold various parts or ingredients involved in biological, microbiological, and mical ons. Containing the al in this manner allows parts or ingredients, 6.g. , biomass, such as treated s, to be y added or removed at any point and in any sequence during such reactions. The invention also allows simplification of purification of products (such as e.g., sugars or other products of saccharification or fermentation), and can aid in the maintenance of the level of a metabolite, sugar, or nutrient.

For instance, the structures can be used to provide one or more nutrients to microorganisms. The nutrients can be placed in the ure, and the structure placed in a liquid medium containing microorganisms. The nutrients are ed from the ure into the medium to be accessed by the microorganisms. Alternatively, the microorganisms can be placed within the structure, and the structure placed in a liquid medium that contains the nutrients.

In a preferred embodiment, the structure can contain biomass which is to be acted on by microorganisms, or ts of microorganisms, such as enzymes or signal molecules. For instance, the biomass can be placed in the structure, which is then placed in a liquid medium with the microorganisms. Substances from the biomass are able to leach out of the structure and be accessed by the microorganisms and s secreted by the microorganisms, and enzymes produced by the microorganisms can migrate into the structures and act on the biomass.

In r aspect, the invention relates to producing enzymes using a microorganism in the presence of a biomass material. The biomass material acts in the enzyme production process as an inducer for cellulase synthesis, producing a cellulase complex having an activity that is tailored to the particular biomass material, which in some implementations is the same material that is to be saccharif1ed by the cellulase complex.

The invention also features a method that includes contacting a cellulosic or lignocellulosic material disposed in a structure or carrier, in a medium, with an additive to produce a product. The additive can, for example, be a microorganism, an , an acid, a base or es of any of these. The additives can be added in any order. The product can be, for e, a molecule, a protein, a sugar a fuel or mixtures of any of these. The ts can be produced in any order. For example, a protein can be first produced ed by a sugar and finally by a filel. ally, the protein can be an enzyme.

The migration of substances into and out of the structure can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The structure can slowly degrade over time in the medium, the ure can be made of a porous material that releases the nutrients into the medium, the structure can be made of a material that is consumed by the microorganisms, the ure can be made of a material that is torn open by the impellers in the bottom of a fermentation vessel, or the structure can be made of a material that swells and bursts in the medium.

In an embodiment of the process described herein, a biomass can be disposed in, on, or placed into the structure or carrier. The biomass can be treated before or after being placed into the structure or carrier. Additives, nutrients and products can also be disposed in the structure or carrier with or without the biomass. For example, a biomass with an antibiotic, a microbe, an enzyme and a sugar can be disposed in the structure, and may be combined in any amounts and in any ce during the process.

Optionally, the biomass can be outside of the structure or carrier. For example, a microbe can be disposed in, within (i.e., built into the structure or r), or on the structure or carrier, which is ted with a medium containing the biomass. As another example, there may be one kind of biomass in the structure or carrier and a second kind of biomass outside the structure or carrier. There may be multiple ses inside and outside of the structure or carrier added in any combination and sequence during the process.

In another embodiment of the process, there may be multiple structures or carriers placed in or contacted with a medium. These can be placed in the medium in any sequence and combination during the s. The structure or carriers can be, for example, with respect to each, other made of the same material or different materials, have the same shape or different shapes, and may be used in any combination.

For example, multiple structures or carriers can be disposed within another structure or carrier. The various structures or carriers can be of the same type, or can be of different types.

Multiple structures or carriers can be sequentially disposed, each inside another, e.g., similar to “nesting dolls.” For example, it may be convenient to have biomaterial disposed in a plurality of structures or carriers of a uniform size and volume, each containing the same or a similar amount of biomass. In this way, whole number amounts or units of the structure or carrier can be contacted with the medium, with the number of units used depending on the batch size in the process. Such uniform volume structures or carriers may also be more convenient to store, for example, if they are designed as approximately cuboid in shape so that they can be easily stacked. ally, in some implementations, a structure or carrier containing biomass can be ted with a medium in combination with a structure or r that is ed to slowly release an additive, e.g. an , contained within the structure or r. For e, controlled release may be effected by having a controlled pore size (e.g., a pore size smaller than lOum, e.g., smaller than lum, smaller than .

As another example, one or more biomass-containing structures or carriers, and one or more microbe-containing structures or carriers can be contacted simultaneously or sequentially with a medium.

As a further example, in some ses one or more biomass-containing structures or carriers, and one or more additive-containing degradable structures or carriers are contacted with an aqueous medium.

In another embodiment of the process, the ure or carrier can be removed at any point in the process and in any sequence. For example, the structure or carrier including its contents can be d after producing a product, and/or additional structures or carriers ing their contents can be added during production of a product.

As another example, a biomass disposed in a structure or r is contacted with an aqueous medium, and a microbe is added to the aqueous medium, which then produces a product. Subsequently, the s-containing structure or carrier can be removed, and a second amount of biomass in a structure or carrier can be added to produce more product. ally, the microbe can be d before or after addition of the second biomass.

In yet another example, a biomass can be disposed in a structure or carrier and contacted with an aqueous medium containing a microbe the combination of which produces a first product. The microbe can be optionally removed (e.g., by filtration or centrifugation) or killed (e.g., by application of antibiotics, heat, or ultraviolet light) and subsequently a ent microbe can be added, which causes a second product to be produced.

In a further example, a biomass can be disposed in a first structure or carrier. The first structure or carrier can be ed in a second structure or r containing a microbe.

The two structures or carriers can be disposed in a medium. The second structure or carrier is designed to contain the microbes (e.g., has pore sizes below about Sum, below about 1 um, below about 0.4 um, below about 0.2 um). The combination produces a product that optionally can flow out of the second structure or r. Once product is produced, the first and second structures and contents can be d leaving media with product dispersed and/or dissolved within it. The combination of the first and second structures or carriers with their contents can be optionally used in another medium to e more product.

The processes bed herein include processing of biomass and biomass materials and the intermediates and products resulting from such sing. During at least a part of the processing, the s material can be disposed in a structure or carrier.

The processes described herein include producing enzymes using a microorganism in the presence of a biomass material, 6.g. a cellulosic or lignocellulosic material. Enzymes made by the processes described herein contain or manufacture various cellulolytic enzymes (cellulases), ligninases or various small le biomass-destroying metabolites. These s may be a complex of enzymes that act synergistically to degrade crystalline cellulose or the lignin portions of biomass. Examples of cellulolytic enzymes include: endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases, and cellobiases (beta-glucosidases).

As shown in for example, during saccharification a cellulosic substrate (A) is initially hydrolyzed by endoglucanases (i) at random locations producing oligomeric intermediates (e.g., ose) (B). These intermediates are then substrates for exo-splitting glucanases (ii) such as cellobiohydrolase to e cellobiose from the ends of the cellulose r. Cellobiose is a water-soluble nked dimer of glucose. Finally cellobiase (iii) cleaves iose (C) to yield glucose (D). Therefore, the endoglucanases are particularly effective in attacking the crystalline portions of cellulose and increasing the effectiveness of exocellulases to produce cellobiose, which then requires the specificity of the cellobiose to produce glucose. Therefore, it is evident that depending on the nature and structure of the cellulosic substrate, the amount and type of the three different s may need to be modified.

In some implementations, the enzyme is produced by a fungus, e.g., by strains of the cellulolytic ntous fungus Trichoderma reesez’. For example, high-yielding ase mutants of Trichoderma reesez’ may be used, e.g., RUT-NGl4, PC3-7, QM94l4 and/or Rut-C30.

Such strains are described, for example, in “Selective Screening Methods for the Isolation of High Yielding Cellulase Mutants of Trichoderma reesez’,” Montenecourt, BS. and igh, D.E., Adv. Chem. Ser. 18 1, 289-301 (1979), the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other ase-producing microorganisms may also be used.

As will be discussed fiarther below, once the enzyme has been produced, it can be used to saccharify biomass, in some cases the same type of biomass material that has been used to produce the enzyme. The s for converting the biomass al to a desired product or intermediate generally includes other steps in addition to this rif1cation step. Such steps are described, e.g., in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2012/0100577 Al, filed October 18, 2011 and published April 26, 2012, the full disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

For example, referring to a process for manufacturing an alcohol can include, for example, optionally mechanically treating a feedstock, e.g., to reduce its size (200), before and/or after this treatment, optionally treating the feedstock with another al treatment to fiarther reduce its recalcitrance (210), then saccharifying the ock, using the enzyme complex, to form a sugar solution (220). Optionally, the method may also include transporting, e.g. truck or barge, the on (or the feedstock, enzyme and water, if , by pipeline, railcar, saccharif1cation is performed en route) to a manufacturing plant (230). In some cases the saccharif1ed ock is further bioprocessed (e.g., fermented) to produce a desired product e.g., alcohol (240). This resulting product may in some implementations be processed further, e.g., by distillation (250), to produce a final product. One method of reducing the itrance of the feedstock is by electron bombardment of the feedstock. If desired, the steps of measuring lignin content of the feedstock (201) and setting or adjusting process parameters based on this measurement (205) can be performed at s stages of the process, as described in US. Pat.

App. Pub. 2010/0203495 Al by Medoff and Masterman, published August 12, 2010, the complete sure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Saccharifying the ock (220) can also be modified by mixing the feedstock with medium and the enzyme (221).

For example, referring to a first biomass is optionally treated (300), for example to reduce its size and/or recalcitrance, and placed into a structure or r. Optionally, the first biomass can first be placed into a first structure or carrier and then treated. The biomass containing structure or carrier is then contacted with an aqueous medium and a cellulase producing organism (310). After an adequate time has passed for the cells to grow to a desired stage and enough enzymes have been produced, a second biomass, optionally disposed in a second structure or carrier, may be added (320). Optionally, the structure or carrier ning the first biomass can be removed prior to or at any point after addition of the second biomass.

The action of the enzyme on the second and any remaining first biomass produces mixed sugars which can be fiarther processed to useful products (330). Optionally, the second structure or carrier containing the second biomass can be removed prior to or after the production of the useful product. The first and second biomass can be portions of the same biomass material. For example, a portion of the s can be placed into a structure or carrier and contacted with a medium containing the cellulase ing organism. Once some enzymes have been produced; the enzyme containing media can be combined with the second biomass (A). Optionally, the first and second biomass may be pretreated to reduce recalcitrance. The first and second biomass can also be contained in a single structure or carrier. The structure or carrier can form a liner for a bioreactor. Multiple biomass containing ures or r can also be used. The aqueous media will be discussed below. In some cases, rather than adding the second biomass to the reactor, the enzyme is harvested, stored, and used in a later saccharification process.

Referring now to the cellulase-producing organism (400) can be grown in a grth medium for a time to reach a specific growth phase. For example, this growth period could extend over a period of days or even weeks. Pretreated first biomass (405) is placed in a structure or carrier and can then be contacted with the enzyme producing cells (410) so that after a time enzymes are produced. Enzyme production may also take place over an extended period of time. The enzyme containing solution may then be combined with a second biomass (420).

Optionally, before on of the second s or at any point after addition of the second biomass, the structure or carrier containing the first biomass can be removed. The action of the enzyme on the second and remaining first s produces mixed sugars which can be further processed to useful products (430). The first and second biomass can be portions of the same biomass or can be r but not identical (e.g., pretreated and non-pretreated) material (B).

Again, if desired the enzyme can be harvested and stored rather than being used immediately with a second biomass.

Along with the methods discussed above, the cellulose producing organism may be harvested prior to being combined with the first pretreated biomass. Harvesting may include partial or almost te removal of the solvent and growth media ents. For example the cells may be collected by filgation and then washed with water or another solution.

In r embodiment, after enzyme is produced, the structure or carrier can be removed from the enzyme-containing medium and the enzyme can be concentrated.

Concentration may be by any useful method including chromatography, centrifilgation, filtration, is, extraction, evaporation of solvents, spray drying and adsorption onto a solid support.

The concentrated enzyme can be stored for a time and then be used by addition to a second biomass to produce useful products.

In another implementation of the , the enzyme is produced by the ed microorganism in a liquid (6.g. , aqueous) medium, in the presence of the biomass material. In order to contain the biomass material within the medium the biomass material is disposed in a structure or carrier, for example a mesh bag or other porous container with openings or pores.

The pore size is such that preferably at least 80% (more ably at least 90%, at least 95% or at least 99%) of the insoluble portion of the biomass material is ed within the structure or r during enzyme production. For instance, at least 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% ofthe insoluble n of the biomass material is retained within the structure or carrier during enzyme production.

It is red that the pore size or mesh size of the container be such that substantially none of the insoluble portion of the s material flows out of the container during enzyme production. It is also preferred that the pore size be large enough to allow molecules such as , soluble polysaccharides, proteins and biomolecules to pass. Preferably the pore size is large enough that large molecules such as proteins do not foul or block the pores during the course of enzyme production.

Thus, it is generally preferred that the nominal pore size or mesh size be smaller than most of all of the particles of the biomass material. In some implementations the absolute pore size is smaller than 50% (preferably smaller than 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 98% or 99%) of the particles of the biomass material. For ce, the absolute pore size can be smaller that 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, or 59% ofthe particles ofthe biomass al. Preferably the absolute pore size can be smaller than 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% of the particles of the biomass material.

The aqueous media used in the above described methods can contain added yeast extract, corn steep, peptones, amino acids, ammonium salts, phosphate salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, calcium salts, iron salts, manganese salts, zinc salts and cobalt salts. In addition to these components, the growth media typically contains 0 to 10% glucose (e.g., 1 to % glucose) as a carbon source. The inducer media can contain, in addition to the biomass discussed preViously, other inducers. For example, some known inducers are lactose, pure cellulose and sophorose. Various components can be added and removed during the processing to optimize the d production of useful products.

The concentration of the biomass typically used for inducing enzyme tion is greater than 0.1 wt % (e.g., greater than or equal to 1%) and less than or equal to 50 wt % (less than or equal to 40 wt %, less than or equal to 30 wt %, less than or equal to 20 wt %, less than or equal to 10 wt %, less than or equal to 5 wt %). For instance, the concentration of biomass used for enzyme induction can be 0.1 wt %, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, or 1.0 wt %. The concentration of biomass can be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 wt %. The concentration of biomass can be 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 wt %.

Any of the processes described herein may be performed as a batch, a fed-batch or a continuous process. The processes are especially useful for industrial scale production, e.g., having a culture medium of at least 50 liters, preferably at least 100 liters, more preferably at least 500 liters, even more ably at least 1,000 , in particular at least 5,000 liters or 50,000 liters or 500,000 liters. The process may be carried out aerobically or anaerobically.

Some enzymes are produced by submerged cultivation and some by surface cultivation.

In any of the s bed herein, the enzyme can be manufactured and stored and then used to in saccharif1cation reactions at a later date and/or in a different on.

Any of the processes described herein may be conducted with agitation. In some cases, agitation may be performed using jet mixing as described in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2010/0297705 Al, filed May 18, 2010 and published on November 25, 2012, US. Pat. App.

Pub. 2012/0100572 A1, filed November 10, 2011 and published on April 26, 2012, US. Pat.

App. Pub. 2012/0091035 A1, filed November 10, 2011 and published on April 19, 2012, the full disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. atures for the growth of enzyme-producing organisms are chosen to enhance organism growth. For example for Trichoderma reesez’ the optimal temperature is lly between 20 and 40°C (e.g., 30°C), and the temperature for enzyme production can be optimized for that part of the process. For example for derma reesez’ the optimal temperature for enzyme production is between 20 and 40°C (e.g., 27°C).

STRUCTURE OR CARRIER The structure or r can be, for e, a bag, net, ne, shell or combinations of any of these.

The structure or carrier can be made with a thermoplastic resin, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polybutylene, a thermoplastic polyester, a polyether, a plastic polyurethane, polyvinylchloride, polyvinylidene difluoride, a polyamide or any combination of these.

The structure or r can also be made of woven or non-woven fibers. Some preferred synthetic fiber or non-fiber materials are, for example, ter, aramid, efin, PTFE, polyphenlene sulfide, polyurethane, polyimide, acrylic, nylon and any combination of these.

The structure of carrier can also be made from biodegradable and/or water soluble polymers, for example, aliphatic polyesters, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), poly hydroxybutyrate, polyhydroxyvalerate, polyhydroxyhexanoate, polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate, polybutylene succinate adipate, polycaprolactone, polyvinyl alcohol, polyanhydrides, starch derivatives, cellulose esters, cellulose acetate, nitrocellulose and any ation of these.

Other materials contemplated for the structure or carrier e, for example, metal (e. g., aluminum, copper), an alloy (e.g, brass, stainless steel), a ceramic (e.g., glass, alumina), a thermosetting r (6.g. , bakelite), a composite material (6.g. , fiberglass), a biopolymer and any combination of these. Any structural material, for example, as disclosed above, can be combined to provide the structure or carrier.

The structure or carrier can be made of a biodegradable, bioerodible, and/or water soluble polymer. Such a polymer can be chosen to degrade and release the material within it at or near a ated time. The polymer can be selected so that it will serve as a carbon source or nutritive source for the rganisms being cultured. Polyhydroxyalkanoates, for instance, are readily consumed by many composting fungi and bacteria. PHAs can be a good choice for a structure or carrier designed to release its contents into a culture of such organisms.

Alternatively, the ure or carrier can be configured and made from materials intended to be torn apart by the impellers of a fermentation system. The tation mixing cycle can be scheduled to in the structure or carroer in an intact state for a period of time, and then altered to cause the structure or carrier to come in contact with the impellers.

The container or carrier can be of any suitable shape, for example, a toroid, sphere, cube, oval, cuboid, dog bone, cylindrical, hexagonal prism, cone, square based pyramid, envelope or combinations of these.

The container or ure can have a sealable and in some cases resealable opening such as a zipper, VelcroTM hook and loop fastener, heat seal, clips, pressure sensitive adhesive, buttons or tie (e.g. with a string or drawstring).

The structure or container may be rigid, semi-rigid or non-rigid. A non-rigid container is expected to be generally flexible in most ions. A semi-rigid container can be ed to be at flexible in most directions. In some implementations, the ner comprises a flexible, fabric bag.

The bag may have some rigid components such as a frame made of a metal wire or rigid r. The container or carrier can have a surface texturing, for e, grooves, corrugation, and quilting.

The container can have partitions, for example, it can have different pouches made with the same or different materials and/or there may be two or more structures or carriers nested within each other.

The container or carrier may be designed so as to float on top of the medium or be partially submerged therein, or it may be designed to be fully submerged in the . For e, the bag may have hooks, loops or adhesives to allow it to attach to the wall of a bioreactor, tank or other container. It may also have weights to hold part or all of it submerged in the medium, and/or buoyant parts to keep parts of it above the medium. The container or carrier can be designed to be free in the .

The structures or carriers can have pores. With respect to pore size, it is known that permeable materials may contain a distribution of pore sizes. Typically the pore size is rated as absolute or nominal. An absolute pore size rating specifies the pore size at which a challenge material or organism of a particular size will be retained with 100% efficiency. A nominal pore size describes the ability of the permeable material to retain the majority of the particulates (e.g. 60 to 98%). Both ratings depend on process conditions such as the differential pressure, the temperature or the tration.

In some implementations, the container has a nominal pore size or mesh size of less than about 10 mm, e.g., less than 1000 um, 750 um, 500 um, 250 um, 100 um, 75 um, 50 um, 25 um, 10 um, 1um, 0.1 um, 10 nm or even less than 1 nm. In some implementations, the container has a nominal pore size or mesh larger than 1 nm, e.g., larger than 10 nm, 0.1 um, 10 um, 25 um, 50 um, 75 um, 100 um, 250 um, 500 um, 750 um, 1 mm or even 10 mm.

If the structure or carrier is made of a polymer, the pores may be formed by stretching the polymer, either uniaxially or biaxially. Such s for formulating and stretching polymers to make films with a particular pore size are known in the art.

The structure or carrier may be designed to allow for the insertion of, for example, a mixing device, a ring device, a sampling device or combinations of any of these. The design may e, for example a le g or fitting configured to receive such a device. The monitoring device can be, for example, a pH probe, an oxygen probe, a temperature probe, a chemical probe or any combinations of these. Optionally, the monitoring device can be remotely operated (e.g., by a wireless connection) and can be free or ed to the structure.

The carrier or structure can have a tagging , for example, a tag with an identifying alphanumerical label or identifying color.

In some implementations, it is preferred that the structure or carrier have sufficient surface area, for example, to allow good exchange n the contents of the ure or carrier and the medium or other external components, for example between the additive and the biomass material. It can also be ageous to have a high surface area to present a large area to which a microorganism, e.g., a cellulase-producing sm, can ally attach.

MEDIUM In the methods described herein, the structure or carrier is contacted or placed in a medium. The medium can be, for example, a liquid, a gas, a chemical solution, a suspension, a colloid, an emulsion, a non-homogenous multiphase system (6.g. , a hydrophilic phase layered with a hydrophobic phase) and any combinations of these. The medium can be further manipulated during or after the process; for example, it can be purified and reused by, for example, by filtration, centrifugation and/or irradiation. Optionally, the medium can contain, for e, nutrients, particulates (e.g., inorganic or organic containing), oligomers (e.g., viscosity modifiers), carbon s, surfactants (e.g., anti-foam agents), lipids, fats, extracts (e.g., yeast ' ‘ 2 l 2 l 2 l 2 l l l extract, case1n extracts and or vegetable extracts), metal ions (e.g., Fe Mn Cu Na , Mg , , , , Ca2+ K1+), anions, n1trogen sources (e.g., am1no ac1ds, ammon1a, urea), Vitamins, prote1ns (e.g.,. . . . . . . . peptones, enzymes), buffers (e.g., phosphates) added in any ation and sequence.

ADDITIVES Additives used in the processes disclosed herein can include, by way of example, a microorganism, a nutrient, a spore, an enzyme, an acid, a base, a gas, an antibiotic, a pharmaceutical and any combinations of these. The additives can be added in any sequence and combination during the process. The additives can be disposed in a structure or carrier or out of the structure or carrier in any combination or sequence.

ENZYMES In one embodiment of the process, the additive is an enzyme produced by tous filngi or bacteria. s are produced by a wide y of fiangi, bacteria, yeasts, and other microorganisms, and there are many methods for optimizing the production and use of cellulases.

Filamentous fungi, or bacteria that produce cellulase, lly require a carbon source and an inducer for production of cellulase. In prior art processes the carbon source is typically e and the inducer is typically pure cellulose. Apart from the cost of pure glucose and pure cellulose, the secreted enzyme ed by this method can be inferior for rifying biomass. Without being bound by any theory, it is believed that the reason for this is that the enzymes produced are particularly suited for saccharification of the substrate used for inducing its production, and thus if the inducer is cellulose the enzymes may not be well suited for degrading lignocellulosic material.

The cellulase-producing organism’s growth rate and state is determined by particular grth conditions. When the host cell culture is introduced into the tation , containing a carbon source, the inoculated culture passes through a number of . Initially grth does not occur. This period is referred to as the lag phase and may be considered a period of adaptation. During the next phase referred to as the “exponential phase” the growth rate of the host cell culture lly increases and the carbon source is consumed. After a period ofmaximum growth the rate ceases and the e enters stationary phase. After a fiarther period of time the culture enters the death phase and the number of viable cells declines.

Where in the growth phase the cellulase is expressed depends on the cellulase and host cell. For example, the cellulase may be expressed in the exponential phase, in the transient phase between the exponential phase and the stationary phase, or alternatively in the stationary phase and/or just before sporulation. The cellulase may also be produced in more than one of the above mentioned phases.

When contacted with a biomass, the cellulase producing organism will tend to produce enzymes that release molecules advantageous to the sm’s growth, such as glucose.

This is done through the phenomenon of enzyme induction. Since there are a variety of ates in a ular biomaterial, there are a variety of cellulases, for example, the endoglucanase, exoglucanase and cellobiase discussed previously. By selecting a particular lignocellulosic al as the inducer the relative concentrations and/or activities of these s can be modulated so that the resulting enzyme complex will work efficiently on the lignocellulosic material used as the inducer or a similar material. For example, a biomaterial with a higher portion of crystalline cellulose may induce a more effective or higher amount of endoglucanase than a biomaterial with little crystalline cellulose.

Since cellulose is insoluble and impermeable to organisms, it has been suggested that when cellulose is used as an r, a soluble accharide(s) such as cellobiose is actually the direct inducer of cellulase. Expression at a basal level allows a small amount of cellulase to hydrolyze cellulose to soluble oligosaccharides or to an inducer. Once the inducer enters the cell, it triggers cale transcription of the cellulase gene mediated by activator proteins and activating elements. After ose is degraded a large amount of glucose is liberated, which causes catabolite repression.

Lignocellulosic materials comprise different combinations of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Cellulose is a linear polymer of glucose forming a fairly stiff linear ure without significant coiling. Due to this structure and the disposition of hydroxyl groups that can en bond, cellulose contains crystalline and non-crystalline portions. The crystalline portions can also be of different types, noted as I(alpha) and I(beta) for example, depending on the location of en bonds between strands. The polymer lengths themselves can vary lending more variety to the form of the ose. Hemicellulose is any of several heteropolymers, such as xylan, glucuronoxylan, arabinoxylans, and xyloglucan. The primary sugar monomer t is xylose, although other monomers such as mannose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose and e are present. Typically hemicellulose forms branched structures with lower molecular weights than cellulose. Hemicellulose is therefore an ous material that is generally susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis. Lignin is a complex high lar weight heteropolymer generally. Although all s show ion in their composition, they have been described as an amorphous dendritic network polymer of phenyl propene units. The s of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in a specific biomaterial depends on the source of the biomaterial. For example wood derived biomaterial can be about 38-49% cellulose, 7-26% WO 96699 hemicellulose and 23-34% lignin depending on the type. Grasses typically are 33-38% cellulose, 24-32% hemicellulose and 17-22% lignin. Clearly lignocellulosic biomass constitutes a large class of substrates.

The diversity of biomass materials may be fiarther increased by pretreatment, for example, by changing the crystallinity and molecular weights of the rs. The variation in the composition of the biomass may also increase due to geographical and al variation, z'.e., where and when the material was collected.

One of ordinary skill in the art can optimize the production of enzymes by microorganisms by adding yeast extract, corn steep, peptones, amino acids, ammonium salts, phosphate salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, calcium salts, iron salts, ese salts, zinc salts, cobalt salts, or other additives and/or nutrients and/or carbon sources. Various components can be added and removed during the processing to optimize the desired production of useful products.

Temperature, pH and other conditions optimal for growth of microorganisms and production of enzymes are lly known in the art.

BIOMASS MATERIALS As used herein, the term ss materials” includes lignocellulosic, cellulosic, starchy, and microbial materials.

Lignocellulosic materials include, but are not limited to, wood, particle board, forestry wastes (e.g., sawdust, aspen wood, wood chips), grasses, (e.g., grass, thus, cord grass, reed canary grass), grain residues, (e.g., rice hulls, oat hulls, wheat chaff, barley hulls), agricultural waste (e.g., silage, canola straw, wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rice straw, jute, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, abaca, corn cobs, corn stover, soybean stover, corn fiber, alfalfa, hay, coconut hair), sugar processing residues (e.g., e, beet pulp, agave bagasse), algae, seaweed, manure, , and mixtures of any of these.

In some cases, the lignocellulosic material includes comcobs. Ground or hammermilled comcobs can be spread in a layer of relatively uniform thickness for irradiation, and after irradiation are easy to disperse in the medium for r processing. To facilitate harvest and collection, in some cases the entire corn plant is used, including the corn stalk, corn kernels, and in some cases even the root system of the plant.

Advantageously, no additional nts (other than a nitrogen source, 6.g. urea or ammonia) are required during fermentation of comcobs or osic or lignocellulosic materials containing significant amounts of comcobs.

Comcobs, before and after comminution, are also easier to convey and disperse, and have a lesser tendency to form explosive mixtures in air than other cellulosic or ellulosic materials such as hay and grasses. 2012/071092 Cellulosic materials include, for example, paper, paper products, paper waste, paper pulp, pigmented papers, loaded papers, coated papers, filled papers, magazines, printed matter (e. g., books, catalogs, manuals, labels, calendars, greeting cards, brochures, prospectuses, newsprint), printer paper, polycoated paper, card stock, cardboard, paperboard, materials having a high oc-cellulose content such as cotton, and mixtures of any of these. For example paper products as described in US. App. No. 13/396,365 zine ocks” by Medoff et al., filed February 14, 2012), the fill disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Cellulosic materials can also include ellulosic materials which have been de- lignified.

Starchy materials include starch itself, e.g., corn starch, wheat starch, potato starch or rice starch, a derivative of starch, or a material that includes starch, such as an edible food product or a crop. For example, the starchy material can be arracacha, buckwheat, , barley, a, kudzu, oca, sago, sorghum, r household potatoes, sweet potato, taro, yams, or one or more beans, such as favas, lentils or peas. Blends of any two or more starchy als are also starchy als. Mixtures of starchy, osic and or lignocellulosic materials can also be used. For example, a biomass can be an entire plant, a part of a plant or different parts of a plant, e.g., a wheat plant, cotton plant, a corn plant, rice plant or a tree. The y materials can be treated by any of the methods described .

Microbial materials include, but are not limited to, any naturally occurring or genetically modified rganism or organism that contains or is capable of providing a source of carbohydrates (e.g., ose), for example, protists, e.g., animal protists (e.g., protozoa such as flagellates, amoeboids, ciliates, and sporozoa) and plant protists (e.g., algae such alveolates, chlorarachniophytes, cryptomonads, euglenids, glaucophytes, haptophytes, red algae, stramenopiles, and viridaeplantae). Other es include seaweed, plankton (e.g., macroplankton, mesoplankton, microplankton, nanoplankton, picoplankton, and femptoplankton), lankton, bacteria (e.g., gram positive bacteria, gram negative bacteria, and extremophiles), yeast and/or mixtures of these. In some instances, microbial biomass can be obtained from natural sources, e.g., the ocean, lakes, bodies of water, e.g., salt water or fresh water, or on land. Alternatively or in addition, microbial biomass can be obtained from culture systems, e.g., large scale dry and wet culture and fermentation systems.

The biomass material can also include offal, and similar sources of material.

In other embodiments, the biomass materials, such as cellulosic, starchy and lignocellulosic feedstock materials, can be obtained from transgenic rganisms and plants that have been modified with respect to a wild type variety. Such modifications may be, for example, through the iterative steps of ion and breeding to obtain desired traits in a plant.

Furthermore, the plants can have had genetic material removed, modified, silenced and/or added with respect to the wild type variety. For example, cally modified plants can be produced by recombinant DNA methods, where genetic modifications e introducing or modifying specific genes from parental varieties, or, for example, by using transgenic ng wherein a specific gene or genes are uced to a plant from a different s of plant and/or bacteria.

Another way to create genetic variation is through mutation breeding wherein new alleles are artificially created from endogenous genes. The artificial genes can be created by a variety of ways including treating the plant or seeds with, for example, chemical mutagens (e.g., using alkylating agents, epoxides, alkaloids, peroxides, formaldehyde), irradiation (e.g., X-rays, gamma rays, neutrons, beta particles, alpha particles, protons, deuterons, UV radiation) and temperature shocking or other external stressing and subsequent selection techniques. Other methods of providing modified genes is through error prone PCR and DNA shuffling followed by insertion of the desired modified DNA into the desired plant or seed. s of introducing the desired genetic variation in the seed or plant include, for example, the use of a bacterial carrier, biolistics, calcium ate precipitation, electroporation, gene splicing, gene silencing, lipofection, microinjection and viral carriers. Additional genetically d materials have been described in US. Application Serial No 13/396,369 filed ry 14, 2012 the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Any of the methods described herein can be practiced with mixtures of any biomass materials described .

BIOMASS MATERIAL PREPARATION -- MECHANICAL TREATMENTS The biomass can be in a dry form, for example with less than about 35% moisture content (e.g., less than about 20 %, less than about 15 %, less than about 10 % less than about 5 %, less than about 4%, less than about 3 %, less than about 2 % or even less than about 1 %).

The biomass can also be delivered in a wet state, for example as a wet solid, a slurry or a suspension with at least about 10 wt% solids (e.g., at least about 20 wt%, at least about 30 wt. %, at least about 40 wt%, at least about 50 wt%, at least about 60 wt%, at least about 70 wt%).

The processes disclosed herein can e low bulk y materials, for example cellulosic or lignocellulosic feedstocks that have been physically pretreated to have a bulk density of less than about 0.75 g/cm3, e.g., less than about 0.7, 0.65, 0.60, 0.50, 0.35, 0.25, 0.20, 0.15, 0.10, 0.05 or less, e.g., less than about 0.025 g/cm3.

Bulk density is ined using ASTM D1895B. Briefly, the method involves filling a measuring cylinder n volume with a sample and obtaining a weight of the . The bulk density is calculated by dividing the weight of the sample in grams by the known volume of the cylinder in cubic centimeters. If desired, low bulk y materials can be densified, for example, by methods described in US.

Pat. No. 7,971,809 to Medoff, the full disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 2012/071092 In some cases, the pre-treatment processing includes screening of the biomass material. Screening can be through a mesh or perforated plate with a desired g size, for example, less than about 6.35 mm (1/4 inch, 0.25 inch), (e.g., less than about 3.18 mm (1/8 inch, 0.125 inch), less than about 1.59 mm (1/16 inch, 0.0625 inch), is less than about 0.79 mm (1/32 inch, 0.03125 inch), e.g., less than about 0.51 mm (1/50 inch, 0.02000 inch), less than about 0.40 mm (1/64 inch, 25 inch), less than about 0.23 mm (0.009 inch), less than about 0.20 mm (1/ 128 inch, 0.0078125 inch), less than about 0.18 mm (0.007 inch), less than about 0.13 mm (0.005 inch), or even less than about 0.10 mm (1/256 inch, 0.00390625 inch)). In one configuration the desired biomass falls through the perforations or screen and thus biomass larger than the perforations or screen are not irradiated. These larger materials can be re- processed, for example by comminuting, or they can simply be removed from processing. In another configuration material that is larger than the ations is irradiated and the smaller material is removed by the screening process or recycled. In this kind of a configuration, the conveyor itself (for example a part of the conveyor) can be ated or made with a mesh. For example, in one particular embodiment the biomass material may be wet and the perforations or mesh allow water to drain away from the biomass before irradiation.

Screening of material can also be by a manual method, for example by an operator or mechanoid (e.g., a robot equipped with a color, reflectivity or other ) that removes unwanted material. Screening can also be by magnetic screening wherein a magnet is disposed near the conveyed material and the magnetic material is removed magnetically.

Optional pre-treatment processing can include heating the material. For example a n of the conveyor can be sent through a heated zone. The heated zone can be created, for e, by IR radiation, microwaves, tion (e.g., gas, coal, oil, biomass), resistive g and/or inductive coils. The heat can be applied from at least one side or more than one side, can be continuous or periodic and can be for only a portion of the material or all the material. For example, a portion of the conveying trough can be heated by use of a heating jacket. Heating can be, for example, for the purpose of drying the material. In the case of drying the material, this can also be facilitated, with or without g, by the movement of a gas (6.g. air, oxygen, nitrogen, He, C02, Argon) over and/or through the biomass as it is being conveyed.

Optionally, pre-treatment processing can e cooling the material. Cooling material is described in US Pat. No. 7,900,857 to Medoff, the disclosure of which in incorporated herein by reference. For example, cooling can be by supplying a cooling fluid, for example water (6.g. with glycerol), or en (e.g. to the bottom of the conveying , , liquid en) trough. Alternatively, a cooling gas, for example, chilled nitrogen can be blown over the biomass als or under the conveying system.

Another optional pre-treatment sing method can include adding a material to the s. The additional material can be added by, for example, by showering, sprinkling and or pouring the material onto the biomass as it is conveyed. Materials that can be added include, for example, metals, ceramics and/or ions as described in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2010/01051 19 Al (filed October 26, 2009) and US. Pat. App. Pub. 2010/0159569 A1 (filed December 16, 2009), the entire sures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Optional materials that can be added include acids and bases. Other als that can be added are oxidants (e.g., peroxides, chlorates), polymers, polymerizable monomers (e.g., ning unsaturated bonds), water, catalysts, enzymes and/or sms. Materials can be added, for example, in pure form, as a solution in a solvent (e.g., water or an organic solvent) and/or as a on. In some cases the solvent is volatile and can be made to evaporate e.g., by heating and/or blowing gas as previously described. The added material may form a uniform coating on the biomass or be a homogeneous mixture of ent components (e.g., biomass and additional material). The added material can modulate the subsequent irradiation step by increasing the efficiency of the irradiation, damping the irradiation or changing the effect of the irradiation (e.g., from electron beams to X-rays or heat). The method may have no impact on the irradiation but may be useful for fiarther downstream processing. The added material may help in conveying the al, for e, by lowering dust levels.

Biomass can be delivered to the conveyor by a belt conveyor, a pneumatic conveyor, a screw or, a hopper, a pipe, manually or by a combination of these. The biomass can, for example, be dropped, poured and/or placed onto the or by any of these methods. In some embodiments the material is delivered to the conveyor using an enclosed material bution system to help maintain a low oxygen atmosphere and/or control dust and fines. Lofted or air suspended s fines and dust are undesirable because these can form an explosion hazard or damage the window foils of an electron gun (if such a device is used for treating the material).

The material can be leveled to form a uniform thickness between about 0.03 12 and 5 inches (e.g., between about 0.0625 and 2.000 inches, between about 0. 125 and 1 inches, between about 0. 125 and 0.5 inches, between about 0.3 and 0.9 inches, between about 0.2 and 0.5 inches between about 0.25 and 1.0 inches, between about 0.25 and 0.5 inches, 0.100 +/- 0.025 inches, 0.150 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.200 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.250 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.300 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.350 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.400 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.450 --/- 0.025 , 0.500 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.550 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.600 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.700 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.750 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.800 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.850 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.900 --/- 0.025 inches, 0.900 --/- 0.025 inches.

Generally, it is preferred to convey the material as quickly as possible through the electron beam to maximize throughput. For example the material can be conveyed at rates of at least 1 ft/min, e.g., at least 2 ft/min, at least 3 , at least 4 ft/min, at least 5 ft/min, at least 10 ft/min, at least 15 ft/min, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 ft/min. The rate of conveying is related to the beam t, for example, for a 14 inch thick biomass and 100 mA, the conveyor can move at about 20 ft/min to provide a useful irradiation dosage, at 50 mA the conveyor can move at about ft/min to provide approximately the same irradiation dosage.

After the biomass material has been conveyed through the radiation zone, optional post-treatment processing can be done. The optional post-treatment processing can, for example, be a process described with respect to the pre-irradiation processing. For example, the s can be screened, heated, cooled, and/or combined with additives. Uniquely to post-irradiation, quenching of the radicals can occur, for example, quenching of radicals by the addition of fluids or gases (e.g., oxygen, nitrous oxide, a, liquids), using pressure, heat, and/or the addition of radical scavengers. For example, the biomass can be conveyed out of the enclosed conveyor and exposed to a gas (e.g., oxygen) where it is quenched, forming caboxylated groups. In one embodiment the biomass is exposed during irradiation to the reactive gas or fluid. Quenching of biomass that has been irradiated is described in US. Pat. No. 8,083,906 to Medoff, the entire disclosure of which is incorporate herein by reference.

If desired, one or more mechanical ents can be used in addition to irradiation to fiarther reduce the recalcitrance of the biomass material. These processes can be d before, during and or after ation.

In some cases, the mechanical treatment may include an l preparation of the ock as received, e.g., size reduction of als, such as by comminution, e.g, cutting, grinding, shearing, pulverizing or chopping. For example, in some cases, loose feedstock (e.g., recycled paper, starchy materials, or switchgrass) is prepared by ng or shredding. ical ent may reduce the bulk density of the biomass material, increase the surface area of the biomass material and/or decrease one or more dimensions of the biomass material.

Alternatively, or in addition, the feedstock al can first be physically treated by one or more of the other physical treatment methods, 6.g. al treatment, radiation, tion, oxidation, pyrolysis or steam explosion, and then ically treated. This sequence can be advantageous since materials treated by one or more of the other treatments, 6.g. irradiation or sis, tend to be more brittle and, therefore, it may be easier to further change the structure of the material by mechanical treatment. For example, a feedstock material can be conveyed through ng radiation using a conveyor as described herein and then mechanically treated. Chemical treatment can remove some or all of the lignin (for example al pulping) and can partially or completely hydrolyze the material. The methods also can be used with pre-hydrolyzed material. The methods also can be used with material that has not been pre hydrolyzed The methods can be used with mixtures of hydrolyzed and non-hydrolyzed materials, for example with about 50% or more non-hydrolyzed material, with about 60% or more non- hydrolyzed material, with about 70% or more drolyzed material, with about 80% or more non-hydrolyzed material or even with 90% or more non-hydrolyzed material.

In addition to size reduction, which can be performed lly and/or later in sing, mechanical treatment can also be advantageous for “opening up,3, “stressing,” breaking or shattering the biomass materials, making the cellulose of the als more susceptible to chain scission and/or disruption of crystalline structure during the physical treatment.

Methods of mechanically treating the biomass material include, for example, milling or ng. Milling may be med using, for example, a mill, ball mill, colloid mill, conical or cone mill, disk mill, edge mill, Wiley mill, grist mill or other mill. Grinding may be med using, for example, a g/impact type grinder. Some exemplary grinders include stone grinders, pin grinders, coffee grinders, and burr grinders. ng or milling may be provided, for example, by a reciprocating pin or other element, as is the case in a pin mill. Other mechanical treatment methods include mechanical ripping, tearing, shearing or chopping, other methods that apply pressure to the fibers, and air attrition milling. le mechanical treatments further include any other technique that continues the tion of the internal structure of the material that was initiated by the previous processing steps.

Mechanical feed preparation s can be configured to produce streams with specific characteristics such as, for example, specific maximum sizes, ic length-to-width, or specific surface areas ratios. Physical preparation can se the rate of reactions, improve the movement of material on a conveyor, improve the irradiation profile of the material, improve the ion uniformity of the material, or reduce the processing time required by opening up the materials and making them more accessible to processes and/or reagents, such as reagents in a solution.

The bulk density of feedstocks can be lled (e.g., increased). In some situations, it can be desirable to prepare a low bulk density material, 6.g. the material (e.g., , by densifying densif1cation can make it easier and less costly to transport to another site) and then ing the material to a lower bulk density state (e.g., after transport). The material can be densif1ed, for example from less than about 0.2 g/cc to more than about 0.9 g/cc (e.g., less than about 0.3 to more than about 0.5 g/cc, less than about 0.3 to more than about 0.9 g/cc, less than about 0.5 to more than about 0.9 g/cc, less than about 0.3 to more than about 0.8 g/cc, less than about 0.2 to more than about 0.5 g/cc). For example, the material can be densif1ed by the methods and equipment sed in US. Pat. No. 7,932,065 to Medoff and International Publication No. WO 2008/073186 (which was filed October 26, 2007, was published in English, and which designated the United States), the filll disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Densifled materials can be processed by any of the methods described herein, or any material processed by any of the methods described herein can be subsequently densif1ed.

In some embodiments, the material to be processed is in the form of a fibrous material that includes fibers provided by shearing a fiber source. For example, the shearing can be performed with a rotary knife cutter.

For example, a fiber source, e.g., that is recalcitrant or that has had its recalcitrance level reduced, can be sheared, e.g., in a rotary knife cutter, to provide a first fibrous material.

The first fibrous material is passed through a first screen, e.g., having an average opening size of 1.59 mm or less (1/16 inch, 0.0625 inch), provide a second fibrous material. If desired, the fiber source can be cut prior to the shearing, e.g., with a shredder. For e, when a paper is used as the fiber source, the paper can be first cut into strips that are, e.g. 1/4- to 1/2-inch wide, using a shredder, e.g., a r-rotating screw shredder, such as those manufactured by Munson (Utica, N.Y.). As an alternative to shredding, the paper can be reduced in size by cutting to a d size using a guillotine cutter. For example, the guillotine cutter can be used to cut the paper into sheets that are, e.g, 10 inches wide by 12 inches long.

In some embodiments, the shearing of the fiber source and the passing of the resulting first fibrous material through a first screen are performed concurrently. The ng and the passing can also be performed in a batch-type process.

For example, a rotary knife cutter can be used to concurrently shear the fiber source and screen the first fibrous material. A rotary knife cutter includes a hopper that can be loaded with a shredded fiber source prepared by shredding a fiber source. The shredded fiber source.

In some implementations, the ock is physically d prior to saccharification and/or fermentation. Physical treatment processes can include one or more of any of those described herein, such as mechanical treatment, chemical ent, irradiation, sonication, oxidation, pyrolysis or steam explosion. Treatment methods can be used in combinations of two, three, four, or even all of these technologies (in any order). When more than one treatment method is used, the methods can be d at the same time or at different times. Other ses that change a molecular structure of a biomass feedstock may also be used, alone or in combination with the processes disclosed herein.

Mechanical treatments that may be used, and the characteristics of the mechanically d biomass materials, are described in fiarther detail in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2012/0100577 A1, filed r 18, 2011, the fill disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

TREATMENT OF BIOMASS MATERIAL -- LE BOMBARDMENT One or more treatments with energetic particle bombardment can be used to process raw feedstock from a wide variety of different s to t useful substances from the ock, and to provide partially degraded organic material which functions as input to filrther processing steps and/or sequences. Particle bombardment can reduce the molecular weight WO 96699 and/or crystallinity of feedstock. In some ments, energy deposited in a material that releases an electron from its atomic orbital can be used to treat the als. The dment may be provided by heavy charged particles (such as alpha particles or protons), electrons (produced, for example, in beta decay or on beam accelerators), or electromagnetic radiation (for example, gamma rays, x rays, or ultraviolet rays). Alternatively, ion produced by radioactive substances can be used to treat the feedstock. Any combination, in any order, or concurrently of these treatments may be utilized. In another approach, electromagnetic radiation (e.g., produced using electron beam emitters) can be used to treat the feedstock.

Each form of energy ionizes the s via particular ctions. Heavy d particles primarily ionize matter via Coulomb scattering; fiarthermore, these interactions produce energetic electrons that may further ionize matter. Alpha particles are identical to the nucleus of a helium atom and are produced by the alpha decay of various radioactive nuclei, such as es of bismuth, polonium, astatine, radon, um, radium, several actinides, such as actinium, thorium, uranium, neptunium, curium, califomium, americium, and ium.

When particles are utilized, they can be neutral (uncharged), positively charged or negatively charged. When charged, the charged les can bear a single positive or ve charge, or multiple charges, e.g., one, two, three or even four or more charges. In instances in which chain on is desired, positively charged les may be desirable, in part, due to their acidic nature. When particles are utilized, the particles can have the mass of a resting electron, or greater, e.g., 500, 1000, 1500, or 2000 or more times the mass of a resting electron. For example, the particles can have a mass of from about 1 atomic unit to about 150 atomic units, e.g., from about 1 atomic unit to about 50 atomic units, or from about 1 to about 25, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12 or 15 atomic units. Accelerators used to accelerate the particles can be electrostatic DC, electrodynamic DC, RF linear, magnetic induction linear or continuous wave. For example, cyclotron type accelerators are available from IBA (Ion Beam Accelerators, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), such as the RhodotronTM system, while DC type accelerators are available from RDI, now IBA Industrial, such as the DynamitronTM. Ions and ion accelerators are discussed in Introductory Nuclear Physics, Kenneth S. Krane, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1988), Krsto Prelec, FIZIKA B 6 (1997) 4, 177-206; Chu, William T., “Overview of Light-Ion Beam Therapy”, Columbus-Ohio, ICRU-IAEA Meeting, 18-20 Mar. 2006; Iwata, Y. et al., “Altemating-Phase- Focused IH-DTL for Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerators”, Proceedings of EPAC 2006, Edinburgh, Scotland; and r, C. M. et al., “Status of the Superconducting ECR Ion Source Venus”, Proceedings of EPAC 2000, Vienna, Austria.

The doses applied depend on the desired effect and the particular feedstock. For e, high doses can break chemical bonds within feedstock components and low doses can increase chemical bonding (e.g., cross-linking) within feedstock components.

In some instances when chain scission is desirable and/or polymer chain fianctionalization is desirable, particles heavier than ons, such as protons, helium nuclei, argon ions, silicon ions, neon ions, carbon ions, phosphorus ions, oxygen ions or nitrogen ions can be utilized. When ring-opening chain scission is desired, positively charged particles can be utilized for their Lewis acid properties for enhanced ring-opening chain scission. For example, when oxygen-containing fianctional groups are desired, treatment in the presence of oxygen or even ent with oxygen ions can be performed. For example, when nitrogen-containing fianctional groups are desirable, ent in the presence of nitrogen or even treatment with nitrogen ions can be performed.

OTHER FORMS OF ENERGY ons interact via Coulomb scattering and bremsstrahlung ion produced by changes in the velocity of ons. Electrons may be produced by radioactive nuclei that o beta decay, such as isotopes of iodine, cesium, technetium, and iridium. Alternatively, an electron gun can be used as an electron source via onic emission. omagnetic radiation interacts via three processes: photoelectric absorption, Compton scattering, and pair production. The dominating interaction is determined by the energy of the incident radiation and the atomic number of the material. The summation of interactions contributing to the absorbed radiation in cellulosic material can be expressed by the mass absorption coefficient.

Electromagnetic radiation is subclassif1ed as gamma rays, x rays, ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, microwaves, or radiowaves, ing on the wavelength.

For example, gamma ion can be employed to treat the materials. Gamma radiation has the advantage of a significant penetration depth into a variety of material in the . Sources of gamma rays include radioactive nuclei, such as isotopes of , calcium, technetium, chromium, gallium, indium, iodine, iron, krypton, samarium, selenium, sodium, thalium, and xenon.

Sources of x rays include electron beam collision with metal targets, such as tungsten or molybdenum or alloys, or compact light sources, such as those produced commercially by Lyncean.

Sources for ultraviolet radiation include deuterium or cadmium lamps.

Sources for infrared radiation e re, zinc, or selenide window ceramic lamps.

Sources for aves include klystrons, Slevin type RF sources, or atom beam sources that employ hydrogen, oxygen, or en gases.

Various other devices may be used in the methods disclosed herein, including field ionization sources, electrostatic ion separators, field ionization generators, thermionic emission sources, microwave discharge ion sources, recirculating or static rators, dynamic linear accelerators, van de Graaff accelerators, and folded tandem rators. Such devices are disclosed, for example, in US. Pat. No. 7,931,784 B2, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TREATMENT OF BIOMASS MATERIAL -- ELECTRON BOMBARDMENT The feedstock may be treated with on bombardment to modify its structure and thereby reduce its recalcitrance. Such treatment may, for example, reduce the average molecular weight of the feedstock, change the crystalline structure of the feedstock, and/or increase the surface area and/or porosity of the feedstock.

Electron bombardment via an electron beam is generally preferred, because it provides very high throughput and because the use of a vely low voltage/high power electron beam device eliminates the need for expensive concrete vault shielding, as such devices are “self-shielded” and provide a safe, efficient process. While the “self-shielded” devices do include shielding (e.g. metal plate shielding), they do not require the construction of a te vault, y reducing capital expenditure and often allowing an existing manufacturing facility to be used without expensive modification. Electron beam accelerators are available, for example, from IBA (Ion Beam Applications, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), Titan ation (San Diego, California, USA), and NHV Corporation (Nippon High Voltage, Japan). on bombardment may be performed using an electron beam device that has a nominal energy of less than 10 MeV, e.g., less than 7 MeV, less than 5 MeV, or less than 2 MeV, e.g., from about 0.5 to 1.5 MeV, from about 0.8 to 1.8 MeV, from about 0.7 to 1 MeV, or from about 1 to 3 MeV. In some implementations the nominal energy is about 500 to 800 keV.

The electron beam may have a relatively high total beam power (the ed beam power of all rating heads, or, if multiple rators are used, of all accelerators and all heads), e.g., at least 25 kW, e.g., at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 65, 70, 80, 100, 125, or 150 kW. In some cases, the power is even as high as 500 kW, 750 kW, or even 1000 kW or more. In some cases the electron beam has a beam power of 1200 kW or more.

This high total beam power is usually achieved by utilizing multiple accelerating heads. For example, the electron beam device may include two, four, or more rating heads. The use of multiple heads, each of which has a relatively low beam power, prevents excessive temperature rise in the material, thereby preventing burning of the material, and also increases the uniformity of the dose through the thickness of the layer of al.

In some implementations, it is desirable to cool the material during electron bombardment. For example, the material can be cooled while it is being conveyed, for example by a screw extruder or other conveying equipment. 2012/071092 To reduce the energy required by the recalcitrance-reducing process, it is desirable to treat the material as quickly as possible. In general, it is preferred that treatment be performed at a dose rate of r than about 0.25 Mrad per second, e.g., greater than about 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, or even greater than about 20 Mrad per , e.g., about 0.25 to 2 Mrad per second. Higher dose rates generally require higher line speeds, to avoid thermal decomposition of the material. In one implementation, the accelerator is set for 3 MeV, 50 mAmp beam current, and the line speed is 24 feet/minute, for a sample ess of about 20 mm (e.g., comminuted corn cob material with a bulk density of 0.5 g/cm3).

In some embodiments, electron bombardment is performed until the material receives a total dose of at least 0.5 Mrad, e.g., at least 5, 10, 20, 30 or at least 40 Mrad. In some embodiments, the treatment is performed until the material receives a dose of from about 0.5 Mrad to about 150 Mrad, about 1 Mrad to about 100 Mrad, about 2 Mrad to about 75 Mrad, 10 Mrad to about 50 Mrad, e.g., about 5 Mrad to about 50 Mrad, from about 20 Mrad to about 40 Mrad, about 10 Mrad to about 35 Mrad, or from about 25 Mrad to about 30 Mrad. In some implementations, a total dose of 25 to 35 Mrad is preferred, applied ideally over a couple of seconds, e.g., at 5 Mrad/pass with each pass being applied for about one second. Applying a dose of greater than 7 to 8 Mrad/pass can in some cases cause thermal ation of the feedstock material.

Using multiple heads as discussed above, the al can be d in multiple passes, for example, two passes at 10 to 20 Mrad/pass, e.g., 12 to 18 Mrad/pass, separated by a few seconds of cool-down, or three passes of 7 to 12 Mrad/pass, e.g., 9 to 11 Mrad/pass. As discussed above, treating the material with several relatively low doses, rather than one high dose, tends to prevent overheating of the material and also increases dose uniformity through the thickness of the material. In some implementations, the material is stirred or otherwise mixed during or after each pass and then ed into a uniform layer again before the next pass, to fiarther enhance treatment uniformity.

In some embodiments, electrons are accelerated to, for example, a speed of greater than 75 percent of the speed of light, e.g., r than 85, 90, 95, or 99 percent of the speed of light.

In some ments, any processing described herein occurs on lignocellulosic material that remains dry as acquired or that has been dried, e.g., using heat and/or reduced re. For example, in some ments, the cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic material has less than about five percent by weight retained water, measured at 25°C and at fifty percent relative humidity. on bombardment can be applied while the cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic material is exposed to air, oxygen-enriched air, or even oxygen itself, or blanketed by an inert gas such as nitrogen, argon, or helium. When maximum oxidation is desired, an oxidizing environment is utilized, such as air or oxygen and the distance from the beam source is optimized to maximize ve gas formation, e.g., ozone and/or oxides of nitrogen.

In some embodiments, two or more electron sources are used, such as two or more ionizing sources. For example, samples can be treated, in any order, with a beam of electrons, followed by gamma radiation and UV light having ngths from about 100 nm to about 280 nm. In some embodiments, samples are treated with three ionizing radiation sources, such as a beam of electrons, gamma radiation, and energetic UV light. The biomass is conveyed through the treatment zone where it can be bombarded with electrons. It is generally preferred that the bed of biomass material has a relatively uniform thickness, as previously described, while being treated.

It may be advantageous to repeat the treatment to more thoroughly reduce the recalcitrance of the biomass and/or fiarther modify the biomass. In particular the process parameters can be adjusted after a first (e.g., second, third, fourth or more) pass depending on the recalcitrance of the material. In some ments, a conveyor can be used which includes a circular system where the biomass is conveyed multiple times through the s processes described above. In some other embodiments multiple treatment devices (e.g., electron beam generators) are used to treat the biomass multiple (e.g., 2, 3, 4 or more) times. In yet other embodiments, a single on beam generator may be the source of multiple beams (e.g., 2, 3, 4 or more beams) that can be used for ent of the biomass.

The effectiveness in changing the molecular/supermolecular structure and/or reducing the recalcitrance of the biomass biomass depends on the electron energy used and the dose applied, while exposure time depends on the power and dose.

In some embodiments, the treatment (with any electron source or a combination of sources) is med until the material receives a dose of at least about 0.05 Mrad, e.g., at least about 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 125, 150, 175, or 200 Mrad. In some embodiments, the ent is performed until the material receives a dose of between 0.1-100 Mrad, 1-200, 5-200, , 5-150, 5-100, 5-50, 5-40, 10-50, -75, 15-50, 20-35 Mrad.

In some embodiments, the ent is performed at a dose rate of between 5.0 and 1500.0 kilorads/hour, e.g., between 10.0 and 750.0 kilorads/hour or between 50.0 and 350.0 kilorads/hours. In other embodiments the ent is performed at a dose rate of between 10 and 10000 kilorads/hr, between 100 and 1000 kilorad/hr, or between 500 and 1000 kilorads/hr.

ELECTRON SOURCES Electrons interact via Coulomb scattering and bremsstrahlung radiation produced by changes in the velocity of electrons. ons may be produced by radioactive nuclei that undergo beta decay, such as isotopes of iodine, cesium, technetium, and iridium. Alternatively, 2012/071092 an electron gun can be used as an electron source via thermionic on and rated through an accelerating potential. An electron gun generates electrons, accelerates them through a large potential (e.g., greater than about 500 thousand, greater than about lmillion, greater than about 2 n, greater than about 5 million, greater than about 6 million, greater than about 7 million, greater than about 8 n, greater than about 9 million, or even greater than 10 million volts) and then scans them ically in the x-y plane, where the electrons are initially accelerated in the z direction down the tube and extracted through a foil window. Scanning the electron beam is useful for increasing the irradiation surface when irradiating materials, e.g., a biomass, that is conveyed through the scanned beam. Scanning the electron beam also distributes the thermal load homogenously on the window and helps reduce the foil window rupture due to local g by the electron beam. Window foil e is a cause of significant down-time due to subsequent necessary s and re-starting the electron gun.

Various other irradiating devices may be used in the methods disclosed herein, including field ionization sources, electrostatic ion separators, field ionization generators, thermionic emission sources, microwave discharge ion sources, recirculating or static accelerators, dynamic linear accelerators, van de Graaff accelerators, and folded tandem accelerators. Such devices are disclosed, for example, in US. Pat. No. 784 to Medoff, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by nce.

A beam of electrons can be used as the radiation source. A beam of electrons has the advantages of high dose rates (e.g., l, 5, or even 10 Mrad per second), high throughput, less containment, and less confinement equipment. Electron beams can also have high electrical efficiency (e.g., 80%), ng for lower energy usage relative to other radiation methods, which can translate into a lower cost of ion and lower greenhouse gas emissions corresponding to the smaller amount of energy used. Electron beams can be generated, e.g., by electrostatic generators, cascade tors, transformer generators, low energy rators with a scanning system, low energy accelerators with a linear cathode, linear accelerators, and pulsed accelerators.

Electrons can also be more efficient at causing changes in the molecular ure of biomass materials, for example, by the mechanism of chain scission. In addition, electrons having energies of 0.5-10 MeV can penetrate low density materials, such as the biomass als described herein, e.g., materials having a bulk density of less than 0.5 g/cm3, and a depth of 03-10 cm. Electrons as an ionizing radiation source can be useful, e.g., for relatively thin piles, layers or beds of materials, e.g., less than about 0.5 inch, e.g., less than about 0.4 inch, 0.3 inch, 0.25 inch, or less than about 0.1 inch. In some embodiments, the energy of each electron of the electron beam is from about 0.3 MeV to about 2.0 MeV (million electron volts), e.g., from about 0.5 MeV to about 1.5 MeV, or from about 0.7 MeV to about 1.25 MeV.

Methods of irradiating materials are discussed in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2012/0100577 A1, filed October 18, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by nce.

Electron beam irradiation devices may be procured commercially from Ion Beam Applications (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), the Titan Corporation (San Diego, California, USA), and NHV Corporation (Nippon High Voltage, Japan). Typical electron energies can be 0.5 MeV, 1 MeV, 2 MeV, 4.5 MeV, 7.5 MeV, or 10 MeV. Typical electron beam irradiation device power can be 1 KW, 5 KW, 10 KW, 20 KW, 50 KW, 60 KW, 70 KW, 80 KW, 90 KW, 100 KW, 125 KW, 150 KW, 175 KW, 200 KW, 250 KW, 300 KW, 350 KW, 400 KW, 450 KW, 500 KW, 600 KW, 700 KW, 800 KW, 900 KW or even 1000 KW.

Tradeoffs in ering electron beam irradiation device power specifications include cost to operate, capital costs, depreciation, and device footprint. Tradeoffs in considering exposure dose levels of electron beam irradiation would be energy costs and environment, safety, and health (ESH) concerns. lly, generators are housed in a vault, e.g., of lead or concrete, especially for production from X-rays that are generated in the s.

Tradeoffs in considering electron energies include energy costs.

The electron beam irradiation device can produce either a fixed beam or a scanning beam. A scanning beam may be advantageous with large scan sweep length and high scan speeds, as this would effectively replace a large, fixed beam width. Further, ble sweep widths of 0.5 m, 1 m, 2 m or more are available. The scanning beam is preferred in most embodiments describe herein because of the larger scan width and reduced possibility of local heating and failure of the windows.

TREATMENT OF BIOMASS MATERIAL -- SONICATION, PYROLYSIS, OXIDATION, STEAM EXPLOSION If desired, one or more sonication, pyrolysis, oxidative, or steam explosion processes can be used in addition to or instead of other treatments to r reduce the recalcitrance of the biomass material. These processes can be applied , during and or after another treatment or treatments. These processes are described in detail in US. Pat. No. 7,932,065 to Medoff, the filll disclosure of which is orated herein by reference.

USE OF TREATED S MATERIAL Using the methods described herein, a starting biomass material (6.g. , plant biomass, animal biomass, paper, and municipal waste s) can be used as ock to produce useful intermediates and products such as organic acids, salts of organic acids, anhydrides, esters of organic acids and fuels, e.g., fuels for al combustion engines or feedstocks for fiJel cells.

Systems and processes are described herein that can use as feedstock cellulosic and/or ellulosic materials that are readily available, but often can be difficult to process, e.g., municipal waste streams and waste paper streams, such as streams that include newspaper, kraft paper, corrugated paper or mixtures of these.

In order to convert the ock to a form that can be readily processed, the glucan- or xylan-containing cellulose in the feedstock can be hydrolyzed to low molecular weight carbohydrates, such as sugars, by a saccharifying agent, e.g., an enzyme or acid, a process referred to as saccharif1cation. The low molecular weight ydrates can then be used, for example, in an existing manufacturing plant, such as a single cell protein plant, an enzyme manufacturing plant, or a fuel plant, 6.g. , an ethanol manufacturing facility.

The feedstock can be hydrolyzed using an enzyme, e.g., by combining the materials and the enzyme in a solvent, e.g., in an aqueous solution.

Alternatively, the enzymes can be ed by organisms that break down biomass, such as the cellulose and/or the lignin portions of the biomass, contain or cture various cellulolytic s (cellulases), ligninases or various small molecule biomass-degrading metabolites. These enzymes may be a complex of enzymes that act synergistically to e crystalline cellulose or the lignin portions of biomass. Examples of cellulolytic enzymes include: ucanases, cellobiohydrolases, and cellobiases (beta-glucosidases).

During saccharif1cation a cellulosic substrate can be initially hydrolyzed by endoglucanases at random locations producing oligomeric intermediates. These intermediates are then substrates for exo-splitting glucanases such as cellobiohydrolase to produce iose from the ends of the cellulose polymer. Cellobiose is a water-soluble 1,4-linked dimer of glucose. Finally, cellobiase cleaves cellobiose to yield glucose. The efficiency (e.g., time to hydrolyze and/or completeness of hydrolysis) of this process depends on the recalcitrance of the cellulosic material.

INTERMEDIATES AND TS Using the processes described herein, the biomass material can be ted to one or more products, such as energy, fuels, foods and materials. c examples of products include, but are not limited to, hydrogen, sugars (e.g., glucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, ose, fructose, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides), alcohols (e.g., monohydric ls or ic alcohols, such as ethanol, n-propanol, isobutanol, sec-butanol, tert-butanol or n-butanol), hydrated or hydrous alcohols (e.g., containing greater than 10%, 20%, % or even greater than 40% water), biodiesel, organic acids, hydrocarbons (e.g, methane, , propane, isobutene, pentane, n-hexane, biodiesel, bio-gasoline and mixtures thereof), co- products (e.g., proteins, such as cellulolytic proteins (enzymes) or single cell proteins), and es of any of these in any combination or relative concentration, and optionally in combination with any ves (e.g, fuel additives). Other examples include carboxylic acids, salts of a carboxylic acid, a mixture of carboxylic acids and salts of carboxylic acids and esters of carboxylic acids (e.g., methyl, ethyl and n-propyl esters), ketones (e.g., acetone), aldehydes (e.g., acetaldehyde), alpha and beta unsaturated acids (e.g., c acid) and olef1ns (e.g., ethylene).

Other alcohols and alcohol derivatives include propanol, propylene glycol, l,4-butanediol, l,3- propanediol, sugar alcohols and polyols (e.g., glycol, glycerol, erythritol, ol, arabitol, xylitol, l, mannitol, sorbitol, galactitol, iditol, inositol, volemitol, isomalt, ol, lactitol, maltotriitol, etraitol, and polyglycitol and other s), and methyl or ethyl esters of any of these alcohols. Other products include methyl te, methylmethacrylate, lactic acid, citric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, succinic acid, valeric acid, c acid, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, glutaric acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, glycolic acid, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, and mixtures thereof, salts of any of these acids, mixtures of any of the acids and their respective salts.

Any combination of the above products with each other, and/or of the above products with other products, which other products may be made by the processes described herein or otherwise, may be ed together and sold as products. The products may be combined, e.g., mixed, blended or co-dissolved, or may simply be packaged or sold together.

Any of the products or ations of products described herein may be sanitized or sterilized prior to selling the products, e.g., after purification or isolation or even after packaging, to neutralize one or more potentially undesirable contaminants that could be present in the product(s). Such sanitation can be done with electron bombardment, for example, be at a dosage of less than about 20 Mrad, e.g., from about 0.1 to 15 Mrad, from about 0.5 to 7 Mrad, or from about 1 to 3 Mrad.

The processes described herein can produce s by-product streams useful for generating steam and electricity to be used in other parts of the plant (co-generation) or sold on the open market. For example, steam ted from g by-product streams can be used in a distillation process. As another example, electricity generated from burning by-product streams can be used to power electron beam generators used in pretreatment.

The ducts used to generate steam and electricity are derived from a number of s throughout the process. For example, anaerobic digestion of ater can produce a biogas high in methane and a small amount of waste biomass (sludge). As another example, post-saccharification and/or post-distillate solids (e.g., unconverted lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose remaining from the pretreatment and primary processes) can be used, e.g., burned, as a fuel.

Many of the products obtained, such as ethanol or n-butanol, can be ed as a filel for powering cars, trucks, tractors, ships or trains, e.g., as an internal combustion filel or as a fuel cell feedstock. Many of the products obtained can also be utilized to power aircraft, such as , e.g., having jet engines or helicopters. In addition, the products described herein can be utilized for electrical power generation, e.g., in a conventional steam generating plant or in a fuel cell plant.

Other intermediates and products, including food and pharmaceutical products, are described in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2010/0124583 A1, published May 20, 2010, to Medoff, the fill disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

SACCHARIFICATION The treated biomass materials can be saccharified, generally by combining the material and a cellulase enzyme in a fluid , e.g., an s solution. In some cases, the material is boiled, steeped, or cooked in hot water prior to saccharification, as described in US.

Pat. App. Pub. 2012/0100577 A1 by Medoff and Masterman, published on April 26, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein.

The saccharif1cation process can be partially or completely performed in a tank (6.g. a tank having a volume of at least 4000, 40,000, or 500,000 L) in a manufacturing plant, and/or can be partially or completely performed in transit, e.g., in a rail car, tanker truck, or in a supertanker or the hold of a ship. The time required for complete saccharif1cation will depend on the process conditions and the biomass material and enzyme used. If saccharification is performed in a manufacturing plant under controlled conditions, the cellulose may be substantially ly converted to sugar, e.g., glucose in about 12-96 hours. If saccharif1cation is performed partially or completely in transit, saccharif1cation may take longer.

It is generally preferred that the tank contents be mixed during saccharif1cation, e.g., using jet mixing as described in International App. No. l , filed May 18, 2010, which was published in English as WC 2010/135380 and designated the United States, the filll disclosure of which is incorporated by nce herein.

The addition of surfactants can enhance the rate of saccharif1cation. Examples of surfactants include nic surfactants, such as a Tween® 20 or Tween® 80 polyethylene glycol tants, ionic surfactants, or amphoteric surfactants.

It is generally red that the concentration of the sugar solution resulting from saccharif1cation be vely high, e.g., greater than 40%, or r than 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 or even greater than 95% by weight. Water may be removed, e.g., by ation, to se the concentration of the sugar solution. This reduces the volume to be shipped, and also inhibits microbial growth in the solution.

Alternatively, sugar solutions of lower concentrations may be used, in which case it may be desirable to add an antimicrobial additive, e.g., a broad spectrum otic, in a low concentration, e.g., 50 to 150 ppm. Other suitable antibiotics include amphotericin B, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, icin, hygromycin B, kanamycin, in, penicillin, puromycin, streptomycin. Antibiotics will inhibit growth of microorganisms during transport and storage, and can be used at appropriate concentrations, e.g., between 15 and 1000 ppm by weight, e.g., between 25 and 500 ppm, or n 50 and 150 ppm. If desired, an antibiotic can be included even if the sugar concentration is relatively high. Alternatively, other additives with anti-microbial of preservative properties may be used. ably the antimicrobial additive(s) are food-grade.

A relatively high concentration solution can be obtained by limiting the amount of water added to the biomass material with the enzyme. The concentration can be lled, 6.g. by controlling how much saccharif1cation takes place. For example, tration can be increased by adding more biomass material to the solution. In order to keep the sugar that is being produced in solution, a surfactant can be added, e.g., one of those sed above.

Solubility can also be increased by increasing the temperature of the on. For example, the solution can be maintained at a temperature of 40-50°C, 60-80°C, or even higher.

RIFYING AGENTS Suitable olytic enzymes include cellulases from species in the genera Bacillus, uS, Myceliophthora, Cephalosporz'um, Scytalz'dz'um, Penicillium, ASpergz'lluS, Pseudomonas, Humicola, Fusarium, Thielavz'a, Acremonium, ChrySOSporz'um and Trichoderma, especially those produced by a strain ed from the species ASpergz'lluS (see, e.g., EP Pub.

No. 0 458 162), Humicola insolenS (reclassified as Scytalz'clz'um thermophilum, see, e.g., US. Pat.

No. 4,435,307), CaprinuS cinereuS, Fusarium oxySporum, Myceliophthora thermophila, Merlpl'luS giganteus, vz'a terrestriS, Acremonium Sp. (including, but not limited to, A. perSl'cz'num, A. acremonium, A. brachypem'um, A. dichromosporum, A. obclavatum, A. tonz'ae, A. roseogriseum, A. incoloratum, and A. furatum). Preferred strains include Humicola insolenS DSM 1800, Fusarium oxySporum DSM 2672, Myceliophthora phila CBS 117.65, Cephalosporz'um Sp. RYM-202, Acremonium Sp. CBS 478.94, Acremonium Sp.

CBS 265.95, Acremonium persicinum CBS 169.65, Acremonium acremonium AHU 9519, Cephalosporz'um Sp. CBS 535.71, Acremonium brachypem'um CBS 866.73, Acremonium mosporum CBS 683.73, Acremonium obclavatum CBS 311.74, Acremonium pinkertoniae CBS 157.70, nium roseogriseum CBS 134.56, Acremonium incoloratum CBS 146.62, and Acremom’umfuratum CBS 299.70H. Cellulolytic enzymes may also be obtained from Sporz'um, ably a strain of ChrySOSporz'um lucknowense. Additional strains that can be used include, but are not limited to, Trichoderma (particularly T. viride, T. reesez’, and T. koningii), alkalophilic Bacillus (see, for example, US. Pat. No. 3,844,890 and EP Pub. No. 0 458 162), and Streptomyces (see, e.g., EP Pub. No. 0 458 162).

Many microorganisms that can be used to saccharify biomass material and produce sugars can also be used to ferment and convert those sugars to useful products.

SUGARS In the ses described herein, for example after saccharif1cation, sugars (e.g, glucose and xylose) can be isolated. For example sugars can be isolated by precipitation, crystallization, chromatography (6.g. , ted moving bed chromatography, high pressure tography), centrifilgation, extraction, any other isolation method known in the art, and combinations thereof.

HYDROGENATION AND OTHER CHEMICAL ORMATIONS The processes described herein can include hydrogenation. For example glucose and xylose can be hydrogenated to sorbitol and xylitol respectively. Hydrogenation can be accomplished by use of a catalyst (e.g., Pt/gamma-A1203, Ru/C, Raney Nickel, or other catalysts know in the art) in combination with H2 under high re (e.g., 10 to 12000 psi). Other types of chemical ormation of the products from the processes described herein can be used, for example production of organic sugar derived products such (e.g., furfural and furfural-derived products). Chemical transformations of sugar derived products are described in US Prov. App.

No. 61/667,481, filed July 3, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FERMENTATION Yeast and Zymomonas ia, for example, can be used for fermentation or conversion of sugar(s) to alcohol(s). Other microorganisms are discussed below. The optimum pH for fermentations is about pH 4 to 7. For example, the optimum pH for yeast is from about pH 4 to 5, while the optimum pH for nas is from about pH 5 to 6. l fermentation times are about 24 to 168 hours (e.g., 24 to 96 hrs) with temperatures in the range of 20°C to 40°C (e.g., 26°C to 40°C), however thermophilic microorganisms prefer higher atures.

In some ments, e.g., when anaerobic organisms are used, at least a portion of the fermentation is ted in the absence of oxygen, e.g., under a blanket of an inert gas such as N2, Ar, He, CO2 or mixtures thereof Additionally, the mixture may have a constant purge of an inert gas flowing through the tank during part of or all of the fermentation. In some cases, anaerobic condition, can be achieved or maintained by carbon dioxide production during the fermentation and no additional inert gas is needed.

In some embodiments, all or a portion of the fermentation process can be interrupted before the low molecular weight sugar is completely converted to a product (e.g., ethanol). The intermediate fermentation products include sugar and carbohydrates in high concentrations. The sugars and carbohydrates can be isolated via any means known in the art. These intermediate fermentation products can be used in preparation of food for human or animal consumption.

WO 96699 Additionally or alternatively, the ediate fermentation products can be ground to a fine particle size in a stainless-steel laboratory mill to produce a ike substance.

Jet mixing may be used during fermentation, and in some cases saccharification and fermentation are med in the same tank.

Nutrients for the microorganisms may be added during saccharification and/or fermentation, for e the ased nutrient packages described in US. Pat. App. Pub. 2012/0052536, filed July 15, 2011, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

“Fermentation” includes the s and products that are disclosed in US. Prov.

App. No. 61/579,559, filed December 22, 2012, and US. Prov. App. No. 61/579,576, filed December 22, 2012, the contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their Mobile fermenters can be utilized, as described in International App. No. (which was filed July 20, 2007, was published in English as WO 2008/01 1598 and designated the United States), the contents of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. Similarly, the saccharification equipment can be mobile. r, saccharification and/or fermentation may be performed in part or entirely during transit.

FERMENTATION AGENTS The microorganism(s) used in fermentation can be naturally-occurring microorganisms and/or engineered microorganisms. For example, the rganism can be a bacterium (including, but not limited to, e.g., a cellulolytic bacterium), a , (including, but not d to, e.g., a yeast), a plant, a protist, e.g. a protozoa or a fungus-like protest (including, but not limited to, e.g., a slime mold), or an alga. When the organisms are compatible, mixtures of organisms can be utilized.

Suitable fermenting microorganisms have the ability to convert carbohydrates, such as glucose, fructose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, galactose, oligosaccharides or polysaccharides into fermentation products. ting microorganisms include strains of the genus Saccharomyces spp. (including, but not limited to, S. cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), S. distatz'cas, S. avaram), the genus Klayveromyces, (including, but not limited to, K. marxz’anas, K. fragilis), the genus Candida (including, but not limited to, C. pseudotropz'calz’s, and C. brassz'cae), Pichia stz’pz’tz’s (a relative of Candida shehatae), the genus Clavz'spora (including, but not limited to, C. lasitam'ae and C. opantz'ae), the genus Pachysolen (including, but not limited to, P. hz'las), the genus Bretannomyces (including, but not d to, e.g., B. clausem'z' (Philippidis, G. P., 1996, Cellulose bioconversion technology, in ok on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization, Wyman, C.E., ed., Taylor & Francis, Washington, DC, 179-212)). Other suitable microorganisms include, for example, Zymomonas mobilis, Clostrz'dz'am spp. (including, but not limited to, C. thermocellam (Philippidis, 1996, supra), C. saccharobatylacetom’cam, C. saccharobatylicam, C. Paniceam, C. beijemckl’z’, and C. acetobatylicam), Moniliella is, Moniliella megachl'liensz's, Lactobacz'llas spp. Yarrowz'a lipolytl'ca, Aareobasidz'am 519., Trichosporonoides 519., Trigonopsz's variabilis, Trichosporon sp., Moniliellaacetoabatans sp., Typhala variabilis, Candida magnoliae, Ustz'laginomycetes sp., Pseudozyma tsakabaensz's, yeast species of genera Zygosaccharomyces, omyces, ala and Pichia, and fiJngi of the dematioid genus Torala.

For instance, Clostrz'dz'am spp. can be used to produce ethanol, butanol, butyric acid, acetic acid, and acetone. Lactobacz'llas spp., can be used to produce lactice acid.

Many such ial strains are publicly available, either commercially or h depositories such as the ATCC (American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Virginia, USA), the NRRL (Agricultural Research Sevice Culture Collection, Peoria, Illinois, USA), or the DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany), to name a few.

Commercially available yeasts include, for example, Red Star®/Lesaffre Ethanol Red (available from Red esaffre, USA), FALI® (available from Fleischmann’s Yeast, a division of Burns Philip Food Inc., USA), TART® (available from Alltech, now Lalemand), GERT STRAND® (available from Gert Strand AB, Sweden) and FERMOL® (available from DSM lties).

Many microorganisms that can be used to saccharify biomass material and produce sugars can also be used to ferment and convert those sugars to useful products.

DISTILLATION After fermentation, the ing fluids can be distilled using, for example, a “beer column” to te ethanol and other ls from the majority of water and residual .

The vapor exiting the beer column can be, e.g., 35% by weight ethanol and can be fed to a rectification column. A mixture of nearly azeotropic (92.5%) ethanol and water from the rectification column can be d to pure (99.5%) ethanol using vapor-phase molecular sieves.

The beer column bottoms can be sent to the first effect of a three-effect evaporator. The rectification column reflux condenser can provide heat for this first effect. After the first effect, solids can be separated using a centrifuge and dried in a rotary dryer. A n (25%) of the centrifuge effluent can be recycled to fermentation and the rest sent to the second and third evaporator effects. Most of the evaporator sate can be returned to the process as fairly clean condensate with a small portion split off to waste water treatment to prevent build-up of low-boiling compounds.

WO 96699 Other than in the examples herein, or unless otherwise expressly specified, all of the numerical ranges, amounts, values and percentages, such as those for amounts of materials, elemental contents, times and temperatures of reaction, ratios of amounts, and others, in the following portion of the cation and attached claims may be read as if prefaced by the word “about” even though the term “about” may not expressly appear with the value, amount, or range. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following cation and attached claims are approximations that may vary ing upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by ng ordinary rounding techniques.

Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, r, inherently contains error necessarily resulting from the rd deviation found in its underlying tive testing measurements. rmore, when numerical ranges are set forth herein, these ranges are inclusive of the recited range end points (2'.e., end points may be used). When percentages by weight are used herein, the numerical values reported are relative to the total weight.

Also, it should be understood that any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. For example, a range of “l to 10” is ed to include all sub-ranges between (and including) the recited minimum value of l and the recited m value of 10, that is, having a minimum value equal to or greater than 1 and a maximum value of equal to or less than 10. The terms “one,a) :4 a) a or “an” as used herein are intended to include “at least one” or “one or more,” unless otherwise indicated.

Any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated al does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the sure as explicitly set forth herein edes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference.

Any material, or n thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no t arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made n without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.

Throughout the specification and claims, unless the context es otherwise, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Claims (17)

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method for producing a product comprising the step of: maintaining a combination comprising a liquid medium, an additive, a structure or carrier comprising a bag, and a reduced-recalcitrance cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass disposed within the structure or carrier, under conditions that allow the passage of molecules out of and/or into the ure or carrier, and that allow the additive to t the molecules to one or more enzymes, and wherein the one or more s are manufactured and stored and then used in saccharification reactions of the same or similar biomass material at a later date and/or in a different location.

2. The method of claim 1, n the structure or carrier is porous.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the additive is selected from the group consisting of a microorganism, an enzyme, an acid, a base, a chemical solution, a nutrient, a mineral, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the additive comprises a microorganism.

5. The method of any one of claims 2-4, n the structure or r comprises a bag, and is formed of a mesh material having a maximum opening size of less than 1 mm.

6. The method of any one of claims 2-5, where the structure or carrier is a bag made of a bioerodible polymer, wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of: polylactic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, polyhydroxyalkanoate, polyhydroxybutyrate -valerate, polycaprolactone, polyhydroxybutyrate-hexanoate, polybutylene succinate, polybutyrate succinate e, polyesteramide, tylene adipate-co-terephthalate, mixtures thereof, and laminates thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the bag is made of a starch film.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, further comprising utilizing further processing to tear or rupture the structure or carrier.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the microorganism comprises a strain of Trichoderma reesei.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the strain is a high-yielding cellulaseproducing mutant of Trichoderma reesei.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the strain comprises RUT-C30.

12. The method of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the recalcitrance of the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass has been reduced by exposure to an electron beam.

13. The method of any one of claims 1-12, wherein the conversion comprises rification.

14. The method of any one of claims 1-13, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass is selected from the group consisting of: paper, paper products, paper waste, paper pulp, pigmented papers, loaded papers, coated papers, filled papers, magazines, printed matter, printer paper, polycoated paper, card stock, cardboard, paperboard, cotton, wood, particle board, forestry wastes, sawdust, aspen wood, wood chips, grasses, switchgrass, miscanthus, cord grass, reed canary grass, grain residues, rice hulls, oat hulls, wheat chaff, barley hulls, agricultural waste, silage, canola straw, wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rice straw, jute, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, abaca, corn cobs, corn stover, n , corn fiber, alfalfa, hay, coconut hair, sugar processing es, e, beet pulp, agave bagasse, algae, seaweed, manure, sewage, offal, agricultural or industrial waste, cha, eat, , barley, cassava, kudzu, oca, sago, sorghum, potato, sweet potato, taro, yams, beans, favas, lentils, peas, and mixtures of any of these.

15. The method of any one of claims 1-14, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material has an average particle size of less than about 1 mm.

16. The method ing to claim 15, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material has an average particle size of about 0.25 mm.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material has an average particle size of about 2.5 mm