Low Cost Innovative Greener/Safer Process for Converting Cellulose to Glucose

The current dependence of the United States on foreign oil has sparked enormous interest in the use of biofuels, specifically cellulosic biofuels. Cellulosic biofuels are a carbon neutral, renewable resource, and their use could drastically curtail total carbon dioxide emissions while also reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Worldwide biomass energy resources are estimated at 2 x 1021 J per year; this compares to the total worldwide energy reserve of about 2 x 1022 J stored in crude oil. Therefore, biomass grown over the course of a decade sequesters the energetic equivalent to the entire worldwide reserve of crude oil and represents an enormous reserve of energy that has yet to be significantly tapped. In addition, the United States itself has large reserves of cellulosic biomass, and it presents a potential route to energy independence.Compact Membrane Systems (CMS) has identified a potential attractive alternative pretreatment process. Pretreatment costs are typically very high. CMS proposes to enhance Ionic Liquid pretreatment process. Key to success of the CMS innovative Ionic Liquid (IL) pretreatment process is very high recovery of IL. CMS has identified and provided preliminary data for successful membrane recovery of IL at potentially low cost.In Phase I CMS will both demonstrate the pretreatment process and also using novel membrane process the needed recovery of key IL starting materials. Using basic data from these tasks we will quantify cost savings of CMS process. Target costs are being less than 70% of best available biomass pretreatment.