SBIR Phase I: Two-stage Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Bioconversion of Pretreated Biomass for Production of Fuel Ethanol and Industrial Chemicals

This Small Business Innovation Research project is to develop a novel two-stage hydrolysis and fermentation process for conversion of purified cellulose to ethanol. The process would be part of a larger biomass refining system in which lignocellulosic biomass would first be fractionated into a hemicellulose / lignin stream and a purified cellulose stream. The specific objectives of this project are to identify optimal conditions for simultanous saccharification and fermentation of partially hydrolyzed cellulose to ethanol and to evaluate the economics of the overall process. The commercial application of this project is in the area of biomass processing. The successful completion of the tasks in Phase I and the follow on Phase II project is expected to lead to economically viable production of fuel ethanol and industrial chemicals from biomass.