Ammonium carboxylate production from sugarcane trash using long-term air-lime pretreatment followed by mixed-culture fermentation

Long-term air-lime pretreatment/mixed-culture fermentation (ALP/MCF) is a novel bioprocessing strategy by which agriculture residues and herbaceous perennials (e.g., sugarcane trash, sugarcane bagasse, switchgrass, and corn stover) are converted into carboxylate salts. In the MixAlco™ process, the resulting salts are readily transformed into a wide variety of liquid transportation fuels (e.g., ethanol, butanol, mixed alcohols, gasoline, jet fuel) and commodity chemicals (e.g., acetic acid, acetone, ethyl acetate) via well-established petrochemical processes. The ALP/MCF bioprocessing strategy relieves logistics issues of biomass storage, simplifies bioconversion through ultimate consolidated bioprocessing (UCBP), and provides a biomass-biocrude-bioproduct route for both developed and developing countries.