(608e) Pretreatment Scale Up for Co-Located Systems

Biomass pretreatment is a critical step in the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to ethanol. The goal of pretreatment is to break down and remove lignin and hemicellulose to allow improved access of hydrolytic enzymes to the cellulose structure. Pretreatment is often thought of as the most expensive process in lignocellulosic conversion to biofuels, similarly, pretreatment likely contains the greatest potential for efficiency improvements. Because of pretreatments importance to biofuels production, we wish to highlight how pretreatment scale up, from the lab to our current demonstration system was accomplished.  We will focus on the pretreatment development train: 300ml, 1gal, 50gal, 300gal, 10ton/day reactor systems, and design considerations for the 100-1000ton/day pretreatment reactor. Discussion points will include: the techniques used for optimization (response surface designs, dosage responses, and data acquisition), startup experience (fouling and process control), experience with various pretreatment chemistries, front end cost comparisons, current engineering metrics, and commercial design targets.