Delignification of biomass with sequential base treatment

1. A method for the production of a saccharification product, the method comprising:

a) providing a cellulosic feedstock comprising lignin;

b) contacting, in water, the feedstock of (a) with at least one metal carbonate at a time of 0 hour at a temperature of no more than 200° C. to produce a first delignification slurry;

c) contacting the first delignification slurry with a nucleophilic base at a concentration of no more than 8% on a mass basis at a time of at least 0+0.5 hour and at a temperature of no more than 200° C. to form a second delignification slurry comprising a lignin-containing liquid fraction and a polysaccharide-enriched solid fraction;

d) separating the lignin-containing liquid fraction from the polysaccharide-enriched solid fraction; and

e) contacting at least a portion of the polysaccharide-enriched solid fraction with an enzyme consortium to produce a saccharification product comprising xylose and glucose monomers wherein the overall yield of xylose and glucose monomers in the saccharification product are individually at least about 50%; wherein said enzyme consortium consists essentially of cellulases and xylanases and wherein saccharification occurs under the conditions of a pH of about 4.5 to about 5.7 and a temperature of about 45° C. to about 55° C.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellulosic feedstock is selected from the group consisting of switchgrass, corn grain, corn cobs, corn husks, corn stover, grasses, wheat, wheat straw, hay, barley, barley straw, rice straw, sugar cane bagasse, sorghum, soy, components obtained from processing of grains, trees, branches, roots, leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shrubs and bushes, vegetables, fruits, flowers, and animal manure, and a combination of these.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the nucleophilic base comprises a soluble metal hydroxide.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the nucleophilic base is selected from the group consisting of lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, cesium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the metal carbonate is selected from the group consisting of lithium carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the contacting of step (c) is at a time of between 0.5 and 20 hours inclusive.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the ratio of the concentration of nucleophilic base to the concentration of metal carbonate in the second delignification slurry of step (c) is from about 0.1:1 to about 1.0:1 on a weight basis.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the initial reaction conditions include an initial pH range from about 9.0 to about 11.0 and a reaction temperature of about 30° C. to about 200° C.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary reaction conditions include a reaction temperature of about 25° C. to about 200° C.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the lignin-containing liquid fraction is pyrolyzed to form a metal carbonate-containing ash.

11. The method claim 1 wherein the metal carbonate of step (b) is supplied by the metal carbonate-containing ash of claim 10 .