Equipment protecting enclosures

Abstract

Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful intermediates and products, such as energy, fuels, foods or materials. For example, systems and methods are described that can be used to treat feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and / or lignocellulosic materials, in a vault in which the equipment is protected from radiation and hazardous gases by equipment enclosures. The equipment enclosures may be purged with gas.

Description

[0001]This application incorporates by reference the full disclosure of the following co-pending provisional applications: U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 711,801 and U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 711,807 both filed Oct. 10, 2012; the co-pending provisionals filed Mar. 8, 2013: U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,684; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,773; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,731; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,735; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,740; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,744; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,746; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,750; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,752; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,754; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,775; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,780; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,761; U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 774,723; and U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 793,336, filed Mar. 15, 2013.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Many potential lignocellulosic feedstocks are available today, including agricultural residues, woody biomass, municipal waste, oilseeds / cakes and seaweed, to name a few. At present, these materials are often under-utilized, being used, for example, as animal feed, biocompost materials, burned in a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Significantly reduces radiation exposure to processing equipment, mitigating damage and downtime, while maintaining a controlled atmosphere to prevent ozone-induced degradation, thus enhancing the efficiency and reliability of biomass conversion processes.

Problems solved by technology

At present, these materials are often under-utilized, being used, for example, as animal feed, biocompost materials, burned in a co-generation facility or even landfilled.

This produces a compact matrix that is difficult to access by enzymes and other chemical, biochemical and / or biological processes.

Cellulosic biomass materials (e.g., biomass material from which the lignin has been removed) is 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 hydrolyzing enzymes.

Radiation in the vault can cause damage to processing equipment in the vault or the radiation can create reactive gases, e.g., ozone, which can also degrade processing equipment.

This damage can present hazards due to equipment failure as well as incurring costs due to down time and necessary repairs.

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