An overview of key pretreatment processes for biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol

OpenAIRE

Maurya, Devendra Prasad; Singla, Ankit; Negi, Sangeeta

2015-01-01

Second-generation bioethanol can be produced from various lignocellulosic biomasses such as wood, agricultural or forest residues. Lignocellulosic biomass is inexpensive, renewable and abundant source for bioethanol production. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol could be a promising technology though the process has several challenges and limitations such as biomass transport and handling, and efficient pretreatment methods for total delignification of lignocellulosics. P...

Method of saccharifying cellulose

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, E.A.; Demain, A.L.; Madia, A.

1983-05-13

A method is disclosed of saccharifying cellulose by incubation with the cellulase of Clostridium thermocellum in a broth containing an efficacious amount of thiol reducing agent. Other incubation parameters which may be advantageously controlled to stimulate saccharification include the concentration of alkaline earth salts, pH, temperature, and duration. By the method of the invention, even native crystalline cellulose such as that found in cotton may be completely saccharified.

Pretreatments employed in lignocellulosic materials for bioethanol production: an overview

OpenAIRE

Danay Carrillo-Nieves; Lourdes Zumalacárregui-de Cárdenas; Olga Sánchez-Collazo; Georgina Michelena-Alvarez; Hector Yznaga-Blanco; José Luis Martínez-Hernández; Cristóbal Noé-Aguilar

2014-01-01

Lignocellulosic materials are raw materials with high cellulose content and they constitute the most abun- dant sources of biomass on planet. They are attractive for their low cost and high availability in diverse climates and places for the bioethanol production, however, the main impediment for its use is the appro- priate selection from the technological and economic point of view of the stages of pretreatments and hydrolysis, that allow the breaking down of the lignocellulosic matrix to o...

Biological Production of a Hydrocarbon Fuel Intermediate Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from a Process Relevant Lignocellulosic Derived Sugar (Poster)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, W.; Mittal, A.; Mohagheghi, A.; Johnson, D. K.

2014-04-01

PHAs are synthesized by many microorganisms to serve as intracellular carbon storage molecules. In some bacterial strains, PHB can account for up to 80% of cell mass. In addition to its application in the packaging sector, PHB also has great potential as an intermediate in the production of hydrocarbon fuels. PHB can be thermally depolymerized and decarboxylated to propene which can be upgraded to hydrocarbon fuels via commercial oligomerization technologies. Cupriavidus necator is the microorganism that has been most extensively studied and used for PHB production on an industrial scale; However the substrates used for producing PHB are mainly fructose, glucose, sucrose, fatty acids, glycerol, etc., which are expensive. In this study, we demonstrate production of PHB from a process relevant lignocellulosic derived sugar stream, i.e., saccharified slurry from pretreated corn stover. The strain was first investigated in shake flasks for its ability to utilize glucose, xylose and acetate. In addition, the strain was also grown on pretreated lignocellulose hydrolyzate slurry and evaluated in terms of cell growth, sugar utilization, PHB accumulation, etc. The mechanism of inhibition in the toxic hydrolysate generated by the pretreatment and saccharification process of biomass, was also studied.

A comprehensive review on pre-treatment strategy for lignocellulosic food industry waste: Challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravindran, Rajeev; Jaiswal, Amit Kumar

2016-01-01

Lignocellulose is a generic term used to describe plant biomass. It is the most abundant renewable carbon resource in the world and is mainly composed of lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses. Most of the food and food processing industry waste are lignocellulosic in nature with a global estimate of up to 1.3 billion tons/year. Lignocellulose, on hydrolysis, releases reducing sugars which is used for the production of bioethanol, biogas, organic acids, enzymes and biosorbents. However, structural conformation, high lignin content and crystalline cellulose hinder its use for value addition. Pre-treatment strategies facilitate the exposure of more cellulose and hemicelluloses for enzymatic hydrolysis. The present article confers about the structure of lignocellulose and how it influences enzymatic degradation emphasising the need for pre-treatments along with a comprehensive analysis and categorisation of the same. Finally, this article concludes with a detailed discussion on microbial/enzymatic inhibitors that arise post pre-treatment and strategies to eliminate them. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as a strategy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Terán Hilares, Ruly; Ramos, Lucas; da Silva, Silvio Silvério

2018-01-01

to accelerate certain chemical reactions. The application of cavitation energy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is an interesting strategy proposed for integration in biorefineries for the production of bio-based products. Moreover, the use of an HC-assisted process...... was demonstrated as an attractive alternative when compared to other conventional pretreatment technologies. This is not only due to high pretreatment efficiency resulting in high enzymatic digestibility of carbohydrate fraction, but also, by its high energy efficiency, simple configuration, and construction...... of systems, besides the possibility of using on the large scale. This paper gives an overview regarding HC technology and its potential for application on the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The parameters affecting this process and the perspectives for future developments in this area are also...

Biological Production of a Hydrocarbon Fuel Intermediate Polyhydroxybutyrate (Phb) from a Process Relevant Lignocellulosic Derived Sugar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Wei; Mohagheghi, Ali; Mittal, Ashutosh; Pilath, Heidi; Johnson, David K.

2015-03-22

PHAs are synthesized by many microorganisms to serve as intracellular carbon storage molecules. In some bacterial strains, PHB can account for up to 80% of cell mass. In addition to its application in the packaging sector, PHB also has great potential as an intermediate in the production of hydrocarbon fuels. PHB can be thermally depolymerized and decarboxylated to propene which can be upgraded to hydrocarbon fuels via commercial oligomerization technologies. In recent years a great effort has been made in bacterial production of PHB, yet the production cost of the polymer is still much higher than conventional petrochemical plastics. The high cost of PHB is because the cost of the substrates can account for as much as half of the total product cost in large scale fermentation. Thus searching for cheaper and better substrates is very necessary for PHB production. In this study, we demonstrate production of PHB by Cupriavidus necator from a process relevant lignocellulosic derived sugar stream, i.e., saccharified hydrolysate slurry from pretreated corn stover. Good cell growth was observed on slurry saccharified with advanced enzymes and 40~60% of PHB was accumulated in the cells. The mechanism of inhibition in the toxic hydrolysate generated by pretreatment and saccharification of biomass, will be discussed.

Comparison of different pretreatment methods for lignocellulosic materials. Part I: conversion of rye straw to valuable products.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, Thomas; Wörmeyer, Kai; Lima, Juan Carlos Ixcaraguá; Bockemühl, Vera; Antranikian, Garabed; Brunner, Gerd; Smirnova, Irina

2011-04-01

The conversion of lignocellulose to valuable products requires I: a fractionation of the major components hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin, II: an efficient method to process these components to higher valued products. The present work compares liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment to the soda pulping process and to the ethanol organosolv pretreatment using rye straw as a single lignocellulosic material. The organosolv pretreated rye straw was shown to require the lowest enzyme loading in order to achieve a complete saccharification of cellulose to glucose. At biomass loadings of up to 15% (w/w) cellulose conversion of LHW and organosolv pretreated lignocellulose was found to be almost equal. The soda pulping process shows lower carbohydrate and lignin recoveries compared to the other two processes. In combination with a detailed analysis of the different lignins obtained from the three pretreatment methods, this work gives an overview of the potential products from different pretreatment processes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethanol production by Clostridium thermocellum grown on hydrothermally and organosolv-pretreated lignocellulosic materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoermeyer, H F; Bonn, G; Bobleter, O; Tailliez, P; Millet, J; Girard, H; Aubert, J P

1988-12-01

Two strains of the thermophilic anaerobe Clostridium thermocellum, the wild type NCIB 10682 and its ethanol-hyperproductive mutant 647, were tested for their ability to grow on natural lignocellulosic materials (poplar wood, wheat straw) which had been pretreated by either hydrothermolysis or an organosolv process. For both materials and both strains, the dependencies of substrate accessibility on the pretreatment temperature were established in terms of cellulose hydrolysis and of product formation. In addition to the non-pH-controlled shake flask assays, in vitro experiments with cell-free culture supernatant and in vivo cellulolyses under pH regulation in a laboratory fermenter indicated that lignocellulosics pretreated at approx. 230/sup 0/C were degraded efficiently by the Clostridium strains investigated.

Bioethanol from lignocellulose - pretreatment, enzyme immobilization and hydrolysis kinetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsai, Chien Tai

, the cost of enzyme is still the bottle neck, re-using the enzyme is apossible way to reduce the input of enzyme in the process. In the point view of engineering, the prediction of enzymatic hydrolysis kinetics under different substrate loading, enzyme combination is usful for process design. Therefore...... lignocellulose is the required high cellulase enzyme dosages that increase the processing costs. One method to decrease the enzyme dosage is to re-use BG, which hydrolyze the soluble substrate cellobiose. Based on the hypothesis that immobilized BG can be re-used, how many times the enzyme could be recycled...... liquid and pretreatment time can be reduced, the influence of substrate concentration, pretreatment time and temperature were investigated and optimized. Pretreatment of barley straw by [EMIM]Ac, correlative models were constructed using 3 different pretreatment parameters (temperature, time...

Optimization of Saccharification Conditions of Lignocellulosic Biomass under Alkaline Pre-Treatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafał Łukajtis

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Pre-treatment is a significant step in the production of second-generation biofuels from waste lignocellulosic materials. Obtaining biofuels as a result of fermentation processes requires appropriate pre-treatment conditions ensuring the highest possible degree of saccharification of the feed material. An influence of the following process parameters were investigated for alkaline pre-treatment of Salix viminalis L.: catalyst concentration (NaOH, temperature, pre-treatment time and granulation. For this purpose, experiments were carried out in accordance to the Box-Behnken design for four factors. In the saccharification process of the pre-treated biomass, cellulolytic enzymes immobilized on diatomaceous earth were used. Based on the obtained results, a mathematical model for the optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment prediction is proposed. The optimal conditions of alkaline pre-treatment are established as follows: granulation 0.75 mm, catalyst concentration 7%, pre-treatment time 6 h and temperature 65 °C if the saccharification efficiency and cost analysis are considered. An influence of the optimized pre-treatment on both the chemical composition and structural changes for six various lignocellulosic materials (energetic willow, energetic poplar, beech, triticale, meadow grass, corncobs was investigated. SEM images of raw and pre-treated biomass samples are included in order to follow the changes in the biomass structure during hydrolysis.

Effects of thermo-chemical pre-treatment on anaerobic biodegradability and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernandes, T.; Klaasse Bos, G.J.; Zeeman, G.; Sanders, J.P.M.; Lier, van J.B.

2009-01-01

The effects of different thermo-chemical pre-treatment methods were determined on the biodegradability and hydrolysis rate of lignocellulosic biomass. Three plant species, hay, straw and bracken were thermo-chemically pre-treated with calcium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate and maleic acid. After

Deconstruction of ionic liquid pretreated lignocellulosic biomass using mono-component cellulases and hemicellulases and commercial mixtures

Science.gov (United States)

Lignocellulosic biomass is comprised of cellulose and hemicellulose, sources of polysaccharides, and lignin, a macromolecule with extensive aromaticity. Lignocellulose requires pretreatment before biochemical conversion to its monomeric sugars which can provide a renewable carbon based feedstock for...

Comparison of different pretreatment methods for separation hemicellulose from straw during the lignocellulosic bioethanol production

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhuber, Katharina; Krennhuber, Klaus; Steinmüller, Viktoria; Kahr, Heike; Jäger, Alexander

2013-04-01

The combustion of fossil fuels is responsible for 73% of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and consequently contributes to global warming. This fact has enormously increased the interest in the development of methods to reduce greenhouse gases. Therefore, the focus is on the production of biofuels from lignocellulosic agricultural residues. The feedstocks used for 2nd generation bioethanol production are lignocellulosic raw materials like different straw types or energy crops like miscanthus sinensis or arundo donax. Lignocellulose consists of hemicellulose (xylose and arabinose), which is bonded to cellulose (glucose) and lignin. Prior to an enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides and fermentation of the resulting sugars, the lignocelluloses must be pretreated to make the sugar polymers accessible to enzymes. A variety of pretreatment methods are described in the literature: thermophysical, acid-based and alkaline methods.In this study, we examined and compared the most important pretreatment methods: Steam explosion versus acid and alkaline pretreatment. Specific attention was paid to the mass balance, the recovery of C 5 sugars and consumption of chemicals needed for pretreatment. In lab scale experiments, wheat straw was either directly pretreated by steam explosion or by two different protocols. The straw was either soaked in sulfuric acid or in sodium hydroxide solution at different concentrations. For both methods, wheat straw was pretreated at 100°C for 30 minutes. Afterwards, the remaining straw was separated by vacuum filtration from the liquid fraction.The pretreated straw was neutralized, dried and enzymatically hydrolyzed. Finally, the sugar concentrations (glucose, xylose and arabinose) from filtrate and from hydrolysate were determined by HPLC. The recovery of xylose from hemicellulose was about 50% using the sulfuric acid pretreatment and less than 2% using the sodium hydroxide pretreatment. Increasing concentrations of sulfuric acid

Improved pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using enzymatically-generated peracetic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, DeLu Tyler; Jing, Qing; AlDajani, Waleed Wafa; Duncan, Shona; Tschirner, Ulrike; Schilling, Jonathan; Kazlauskas, Romas J

2011-04-01

Release of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass is inefficient because lignin, an aromatic polymer, blocks access of enzymes to the sugar polymers. Pretreatments remove lignin and disrupt its structure, thereby enhancing sugar release. In previous work, enzymatically generated peracetic acid was used to pretreat aspen wood. This pretreatment removed 45% of the lignin and the subsequent saccharification released 97% of the sugars remaining after pretreatment. In this paper, the amount of enzyme needed is reduced tenfold using first, an improved enzyme variant that makes twice as much peracetic acid and second, a two-phase reaction to generate the peracetic acid, which allows enzyme reuse. In addition, the eight pretreatment cycles are reduced to only one by increasing the volume of peracetic acid solution and increasing the temperature to 60 °C and the reaction time to 6h. For the pretreatment step, the weight ratio of peracetic acid to wood determines the amount of lignin removed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as a strategy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Terán Hilares, Ruly; Ramos, Lucas; da Silva, Silvio Silvério; Dragone, Giuliano; Mussatto, Solange I; Santos, Júlio César Dos

2018-06-01

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is a process technology with potential for application in different areas including environmental, food processing, and biofuels production. Although HC is an undesirable phenomenon for hydraulic equipment, the net energy released during this process is enough to accelerate certain chemical reactions. The application of cavitation energy to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is an interesting strategy proposed for integration in biorefineries for the production of bio-based products. Moreover, the use of an HC-assisted process was demonstrated as an attractive alternative when compared to other conventional pretreatment technologies. This is not only due to high pretreatment efficiency resulting in high enzymatic digestibility of carbohydrate fraction, but also, by its high energy efficiency, simple configuration, and construction of systems, besides the possibility of using on the large scale. This paper gives an overview regarding HC technology and its potential for application on the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The parameters affecting this process and the perspectives for future developments in this area are also presented and discussed.

Saccharification of recalcitrant biomass and integration options for lignocellulosic sugars from Catchlight Energy's sugar process (CLE Sugar).

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Johnway; Anderson, Dwight; Levie, Benjamin

2013-01-28

Woody biomass is one of the most abundant biomass feedstocks, besides agriculture residuals in the United States. The sustainable harvest residuals and thinnings alone are estimated at about 75 million tons/year. These forest residuals and thinnings could produce the equivalent of 5 billion gallons of lignocellulosic ethanol annually. Softwood biomass is the most recalcitrant biomass in pretreatment before an enzymatic hydrolysis. To utilize the most recalcitrant lignocellulosic materials, an efficient, industrially scalable and cost effective pretreatment method is needed. Obtaining a high yield of sugar from recalcitrant biomass generally requires a high severity of pretreatment with aggressive chemistry, followed by extensive conditioning, and large doses of enzymes. Catchlight Energy's Sugar process, CLE Sugar, uses a low intensity, high throughput variation of bisulfite pulping to pretreat recalcitrant biomass, such as softwood forest residuals. By leveraging well-proven bisulfite technology and the rapid progress of enzyme suppliers, CLE Sugar can achieve a high yield of total biomass carbohydrate conversion to monomeric lignocellulosic sugars. For example, 85.8% of biomass carbohydrates are saccharified for un-debarked Loblolly pine chips (softwood), and 94.0% for debarked maple chips (hardwood). Furan compound formation was 1.29% of biomass feedstock for Loblolly pine and 1.10% for maple. At 17% solids hydrolysis of pretreated softwood, an enzyme dose of 0.075 g Sigma enzyme mixture/g dry pretreated (unwashed) biomass was needed to achieve 8.1% total sugar titer in the hydrolysate and an overall prehydrolysate liquor plus enzymatic hydrolysis conversion yield of 76.6%. At a much lower enzyme dosage of 0.044 g CTec2 enzyme product/g dry (unwashed) pretreated softwood, hydrolysis at 17% solids achieved 9.2% total sugar titer in the hydrolysate with an overall sugar yield of 85.0% in the combined prehydrolysate liquor and enzymatic hydrolysate. CLE Sugar has

SIMULTANEOUS PRETREATMENT OF LIGNOCELLULOSE AND HYDROLYSIS OF STARCH IN MIXTURES TO SUGARS

OpenAIRE

Hamzeh Hoseinpour; Keikhosro Karimi; Hamid Zilouei; Mohammad J. Taherzadeh

2010-01-01

Mixtures of starch and lignocelluloses are available in many industrial, agricultural, and municipal wastes and residuals. In this work, dilute sulfuric acid was used for simultaneous pretreatment of lignocellulose and hydrolysis of starch, to obtain a maximum amount of fermentable sugar after enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase and β-glucosidase. The acid treatment was carried out at 70-150°C with 0-1% (v/v) acid concentration and 5-15% (w/v) solids concentration for 0-40 minutes. Under the ...

Disruption of sugarcane bagasse lignocellulosic structure by means of dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment with microwave-assisted heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wei-Hsin; Tu, Yi-Jian; Sheen, Herng-Kuang

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Pretreatment of dilute sulfuric acid on bagasse using microwave heating. → An increase in reaction temperature destroyed bagasse significantly. → Pretreated bagasse particles were characterized by fragmentation and swelling. → When the temperature was 190 o C, the fragmentation of particles became pronounced. → The influence of heating time on bagasse structure was not significant. - Abstract: Disruption of lignocellulosic structure of biomass plays a key role in producing bioethanol from lignocelluloses. This study investigated the impact of dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment on bagasse structure using microwave heating. Three reaction temperatures of 130, 160 and 190 o C with two heating times of 5 and 10 min were considered and a number of instruments were employed to analyze the properties of the bagasse particles. On account of microwave irradiation into the solution with dielectric heating, the experiments indicated that an increase in reaction temperature destroyed the lignocellulosic structure of bagasse in a significant way. The pretreated bagasse particles were simultaneously characterized by fragmentation and swelling. When the reaction temperature was as high as 190 o C, the fragmentation of particles became fairly pronounced so that the specific surface area of the pretreated material grew substantially. Meanwhile, almost all hemicellulose was removed from bagasse and the crystalline structure of cellulose disappeared. In contrast, the feature of lignin was remained clearly. However, a comparison between the heating times of 5 and 10 min revealed that the influence of the heating time on the lignocellulosic structure was not significant, indicating that the pretreatment with 5 min was sufficiently long.

Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass by the concentrated phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide (PHP) for enzymatic hydrolysis: evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks and particle sizes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qing; Wang, Zhanghong; Shen, Fei; Hu, Jinguang; Sun, Fubao; Lin, Lili; Yang, Gang; Zhang, Yanzong; Deng, Shihuai

2014-08-01

In order to seek a high-efficient pretreatment path for converting lignocellulosic feedstocks to fermentable sugars by enzymatic hydrolysis, the concentrated H₃PO₄ plus H₂O₂ (PHP) was attempted to pretreat different lignocellulosic biomass for evaluating the pretreatment flexibility on feedstocks. Meanwhile, the responses of pretreatment to particle sizes were also evaluated. When the PHP-pretreatment was employed (final H₂O₂ and H₃PO₄ concentration of 1.77% and 80.0%), 71-96% lignin and more than 95% hemicellulose in various feedstocks (agricultural residues, hardwood, softwood, bamboo, and their mixture, and garden wastes mixture) can be removed. Consequently, more than 90% glucose conversion was uniformly achieved indicating PHP greatly improved the pretreatment flexibility to different feedstocks. Moreover, when wheat straw and oak chips were PHP-pretreated with different sizes, the average glucose conversion reached 94.9% and 100% with lower coefficient of variation (7.9% and 0.0%), which implied PHP-pretreatment can significantly weaken the negative effects of feedstock sizes on subsequent conversion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel marine bacterium Isoptericola sp. JS-C42 with the ability to saccharifying the plant biomasses for the aid in cellulosic ethanol production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Velayudhan Satheeja Santhi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The ever growing demands for food products such as starch and sugar produces; there is a need to find the sources for saccharification for cellulosic bioethanol production. This study provides the first evidence of the lignocellulolytic and saccharifying ability of a marine bacterium namely Isoptericola sp. JS-C42, a Gram positive actinobacterium with the cocci cells embedded on mycelia isolated from the Arabian Sea, India. It exhibited highest filter paper unit effect, endoglucanase, exoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, β-glucosidase, xylanase and ligninase effect. The hydrolytic potential of the enzymes displayed the efficient saccharification capability of steam pretreated biomass. It was also found to degrade the paddy, sorghum, Acacia mangium and Ficus religiosa into simple reducing sugars by its efficient lignocellulose enzyme complex with limited consumption of sugars. Production of ethanol was also achieved with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Overall, it offers a great potential for the cellulosic ethanol production in an economically reliable and eco-friendly point-of-care.

A novel marine bacterium Isoptericola sp. JS-C42 with the ability to saccharifying the plant biomasses for the aid in cellulosic ethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhi, Velayudhan Satheeja; Gupta, Ashutosh; Saranya, Somasundaram; Jebakumar, Solomon Robinson David

2014-06-01

The ever growing demands for food products such as starch and sugar produces; there is a need to find the sources for saccharification for cellulosic bioethanol production. This study provides the first evidence of the lignocellulolytic and saccharifying ability of a marine bacterium namely Isoptericola sp. JS-C42, a Gram positive actinobacterium with the cocci cells embedded on mycelia isolated from the Arabian Sea, India. It exhibited highest filter paper unit effect, endoglucanase, exoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, β-glucosidase, xylanase and ligninase effect. The hydrolytic potential of the enzymes displayed the efficient saccharification capability of steam pretreated biomass. It was also found to degrade the paddy, sorghum, Acacia mangium and Ficus religiosa into simple reducing sugars by its efficient lignocellulose enzyme complex with limited consumption of sugars. Production of ethanol was also achieved with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Overall, it offers a great potential for the cellulosic ethanol production in an economically reliable and eco-friendly point-of-care.

Biodelignification of lignocellulose substrates: An intrinsic and sustainable pretreatment strategy for clean energy production.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandel, Anuj K; Gonçalves, Bruna C M; Strap, Janice L; da Silva, Silvio S

2015-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass (LB) is a promising sugar feedstock for biofuels and other high-value chemical commodities. The recalcitrance of LB, however, impedes carbohydrate accessibility and its conversion into commercially significant products. Two important factors for the overall economization of biofuel production is LB pretreatment to liberate fermentable sugars followed by conversion into ethanol. Sustainable biofuel production must overcome issues such as minimizing water and energy usage, reducing chemical usage and process intensification. Amongst available pretreatment methods, microorganism-mediated pretreatments are the safest, green, and sustainable. Native biodelignifying agents such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Pycnoporous cinnabarinus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Cyathus stercoreus can remove lignin, making the remaining substrates amenable for saccharification. The development of a robust, integrated bioprocessing (IBP) approach for economic ethanol production would incorporate all essential steps including pretreatment, cellulase production, enzyme hydrolysis and fermentation of the released sugars into ethanol. IBP represents an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, low energy and low capital approach for second-generation ethanol production. This paper reviews the advancements in microbial-assisted pretreatment for the delignification of lignocellulosic substrates, system metabolic engineering for biorefineries and highlights the possibilities of process integration for sustainable and economic ethanol production.

Impact of Pretreatment Technologies on Saccharification and Isopentenol Fermentation of Mixed Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shi, Jian; George, Kevin W.; Sun, Ning; He, Wei; Li, Chenlin; Stavila, Vitalie; Keasling, Jay D.; Simmons, Blake A.; Lee, Taek Soon; Singh, Seema

2015-02-28

In order to enable the large-scale production of biofuels or chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass, a consistent and affordable year-round supply of lignocellulosic feedstocks is essential. Feedstock blending and/or densification offers one promising solution to overcome current challenges on biomass supply, i.e., low energy and bulk densities and significant compositional variations. Therefore, it is imperative to develop conversion technologies that can process mixed pelleted biomass feedstocks with minimal negative impact in terms of overall performance of the relevant biorefinery unit operations: pretreatment, fermentable sugar production, and fuel titers. We processed the mixture of four feedstocks—corn stover, switchgrass, lodgepole pine, and eucalyptus (1:1:1:1 on dry weight basis)—in flour and pellet form using ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, dilute sulfuric acid (DA), and soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatments. Commercial enzyme mixtures, including cellulases and hemicellulases, were then applied to these pretreated feedstocks at low to moderate enzyme loadings to determine hydrolysis efficiency. Results show significant variations on the chemical composition, crystallinity, and enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated feedstocks across the different pretreatment technologies studied. The advanced biofuel isopentenol was produced during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of pretreated feedstocks using an engineered Escherichia coli strain. Results show that IL pretreatment liberates the most sugar during enzymatic saccharification, and in turn led to the highest isopentenol titer as compared to DA and SAA pretreatments. This study provides insights on developing biorefinery technologies that produce advanced biofuels based on mixed feedstock streams.

An Efficient Process for Pretreatment of Lignocelluloses in Functional Ionic Liquids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Jia Dong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Aims. The complex structure of the lignocelluloses is the main obstacle in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into valuable products. Ionic liquids provide the opportunities for their efficient pretreatment for biomass. Therefore, in this work, pretreatment of corn stalk was carried out in ultrasonic-assisted ionic liquid including 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMIM]Cl, 1-H-3-methylimidazolium chloride [HMIM]Cl, and 1-(1-propylsulfonic-3-imidazolium chloride [HSO3-pMIM]Cl at 70°C for 2 h. We compared the pretreatments by ionic liquid with and without the addition of deionized water. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM were employed to analyze the chemical characteristics of regenerated cellulose-rich materials. Results. [HMIM]Cl and [HSO3-pMIM]Cl were effective in lignin extraction to obtain cellulose-rich materials. FTIR analysis and SEM analysis indicated the effective lignin removal and the reduced crystallinity of cellulose-rich materials. Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose-rich materials was performed efficiently. High yields of reducing sugar and glucose were obtained when the corn stalk was pretreated by [HMIM]Cl and [HSO3-pMIM]Cl. Conclusions. Ionic liquids provided the ideal environment for lignin extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stalk and [HMIM]Cl and [HSO3-pMIM]Cl proved the most efficient ionic liquids. This simple and environmentally acceptable method has a great potential for the preparation of bioethanol for industrial production.

Chemical and physicochemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Brodeur, Gary; Yau, Elizabeth; Badal, Kimberly; Collier, John; Ramachandran, K B; Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

2011-01-01

Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction) of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have shown that pretreatment can improve sugar yields to higher than 90% theoretical yield for biomass such as wood, grasses, and corn. This paper reviews different leading pretreatment technologies along with their latest developments and highlights their advantages and disadvantages with respect to subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. The effects of different technologies on the components of biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) are also reviewed with a focus on how the treatment greatly enhances enzymatic cellulose digestibility.

Low temperature lignocellulose pretreatment: effects and interactions of pretreatment pH are critical for maximizing enzymatic monosaccharide yields from wheat straw

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mads; Johansen, Katja S.; Meyer, Anne S.

2011-01-01

Background: The recent development of improved enzymes and pentose-using yeast for cellulosic ethanol processes calls for new attention to the lignocellulose pretreatment step. This study assessed the influence of pretreatment pH, temperature, and time, and their interactions on the enzymatic...... alkaline pretreatments. Alkaline pretreatments also solubilized most of the lignin. Conclusions: Pretreatment pH exerted significant effects and factor interactions on the enzymatic glucose and xylose releases. Quite extreme pH values were necessary with mild thermal pretreatment strategies (T...... glucose and xylose yields from mildly pretreated wheat straw in multivariate experimental designs of acid and alkaline pretreatments. Results: The pretreatment pH was the most significant factor affecting both the enzymatic glucose and xylose yields after mild thermal pretreatments at maximum 140 degrees...

Chemical and Physicochemical Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

OpenAIRE

Brodeur, Gary; Yau, Elizabeth; Badal, Kimberly; Collier, John; Ramachandran, K. B.; Ramakrishnan, Subramanian

2011-01-01

Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction) of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have sh...

Chemical and Physicochemical Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

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Gary Brodeur

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Overcoming the recalcitrance (resistance of plant cell walls to deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass is a key step in the production of fuels and chemicals. The recalcitrance is due to the highly crystalline structure of cellulose which is embedded in a matrix of polymers-lignin and hemicellulose. The main goal of pretreatment is to overcome this recalcitrance, to separate the cellulose from the matrix polymers, and to make it more accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. Reports have shown that pretreatment can improve sugar yields to higher than 90% theoretical yield for biomass such as wood, grasses, and corn. This paper reviews different leading pretreatment technologies along with their latest developments and highlights their advantages and disadvantages with respect to subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation. The effects of different technologies on the components of biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin are also reviewed with a focus on how the treatment greatly enhances enzymatic cellulose digestibility.

Lignocellulosic Biomass Transformations via Greener Oxidative Pretreatment Processes: Access to Energy and Value-Added Chemicals.

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Den, Walter; Sharma, Virender K; Lee, Mengshan; Nadadur, Govind; Varma, Rajender S

2018-01-01

Anthropogenic climate change, principally induced by the large volume of carbon dioxide emission from the global economy driven by fossil fuels, has been observed and scientifically proven as a major threat to civilization. Meanwhile, fossil fuel depletion has been identified as a future challenge. Lignocellulosic biomass in the form of organic residues appears to be the most promising option as renewable feedstock for the generation of energy and platform chemicals. As of today, relatively little bioenergy comes from lignocellulosic biomass as compared to feedstock such as starch and sugarcane, primarily due to high cost of production involving pretreatment steps required to fragment biomass components via disruption of the natural recalcitrant structure of these rigid polymers; low efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of refractory feedstock presents a major challenge. The valorization of lignin and cellulose into energy products or chemical products is contingent on the effectiveness of selective depolymerization of the pretreatment regime which typically involve harsh pyrolytic and solvothermal processes assisted by corrosive acids or alkaline reagents. These unselective methods decompose lignin into many products that may not be energetically or chemically valuable, or even biologically inhibitory. Exploring milder, selective and greener processes, therefore, has become a critical subject of study for the valorization of these materials in the last decade. Efficient alternative activation processes such as microwave- and ultrasound irradiation are being explored as replacements for pyrolysis and hydrothermolysis, while milder options such as advanced oxidative and catalytic processes should be considered as choices to harsher acid and alkaline processes. Herein, we critically abridge the research on chemical oxidative techniques for the pretreatment of lignocellulosics with the explicit aim to rationalize the objectives of the biomass pretreatment step and the

Connecting lignin-degradation pathway with pretreatment inhibitor sensitivity of Cupriavidus necator

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Wei eWang

2014-05-01

Full Text Available To produce lignocellulosic biofuels economically, the complete release of monomers from the plant cell wall components, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, through pretreatment and hydrolysis (both enzymatic and chemical, and the efficient utilization of these monomers as carbon sources, is crucial. In addition, the identification and development of robust microbial biofuel production strains that can tolerate the toxic compounds generated during pretreatment and hydrolysis is also essential. In this work, Cupriavidus necator was selected due to its capabilities for utilizing lignin monomers and producing polyhydroxylbutyrate (PHB, a bioplastic as well as an advanced biofuel intermediate. We characterized the growth kinetics of C. necator in pretreated corn stover slurry as well as individually in the presence of 11 potentially toxic compounds in the saccharified slurry. We found that C. necator was sensitive to the saccharified slurry produced from dilute acid pretreated corn stover. Five out of 11 compounds within the slurry were characterized as toxic to C. necator, namely ammonium acetate, furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF, benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid. Aldehydes (e.g., furfural and HMF were more toxic than the acetate and the lignin degradation products benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid; furfural was identified as the most toxic compound. Although toxic to C. necator at high concentration, ammonium acetate, benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid could be utilized by C. necator with a stimulating effect on C. necator growth. Consequently, the lignin degradation pathway of C. necator was reconstructed based on genomic information and literature. The efficient conversion of intermediate catechol to downstream products of cis,cis-muconate or 2-hydroxymuconate-6-semialdehyde may help improve the robustness of C. necator to benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid as well as improve PHB productivity.

Connecting Lignin-Degradation Pathway with Pre-Treatment Inhibitor Sensitivity of Cupriavidus necator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Yang, S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hunsinger, G. B. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pienkos, P. T. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Johnson, D. K. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-05-27

In order to produce lignocellulosic biofuels economically, the complete release of monomers from the plant cell wall components, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, through pre-treatment and hydrolysis (both enzymatic and chemical), and the efficient utilization of these monomers as carbon sources, is crucial. In addition, the identification and development of robust microbial biofuel production strains that can tolerate the toxic compounds generated during pre-treatment and hydrolysis is also essential. In this work, Cupriavidus necator was selected due to its capabilities for utilizing lignin monomers and producing polyhydroxylbutyrate (PHB), a bioplastic as well as an advanced biofuel intermediate. We characterized the growth kinetics of C. necator in pre-treated corn stover slurry as well as individually in the pre-sence of 11 potentially toxic compounds in the saccharified slurry. We found that C. necator was sensitive to the saccharified slurry produced from dilute acid pre-treated corn stover. Five out of 11 compounds within the slurry were characterized as toxic to C. necator, namely ammonium acetate, furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid. Aldehydes (e.g., furfural and HMF) were more toxic than the acetate and the lignin degradation products benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid; furfural was identified as the most toxic compound. Although toxic to C. necator at high concentration, ammonium acetate, benzoic acid, and p-coumaric acid could be utilized by C. necator with a stimulating effect on C. necator growth. Consequently, the lignin degradation pathway of C. necator was reconstructed based on genomic information and literature. The efficient conversion of intermediate catechol to downstream products of cis,cis-muconate or 2-hydroxymuconate-6-semialdehyde may help improve the robustness of C. necator to benzoic acid and p-coumaric acid as well as improve PHB productivity.

Biodetoxification of toxins generated from lignocellulose pretreatment using a newly isolated fungus, Amorphotheca resinae ZN1, and the consequent ethanol fermentation

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Wang Wei

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Degradation of the toxic compounds generated in the harsh pretreatment of lignocellulose is an inevitable step in reducing the toxin level for conducting practical enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation processes. Various detoxification methods have been tried and many negative outcomes were found using these methods, such as the massive freshwater usage and wastewater generation, loss of the fine lignocellulose particles and fermentative sugars and incomplete removal of inhibitors. An alternate method, biodetoxification, which degrades the toxins as part of their normal metabolism, was considered a promising option for the removal of toxins without causing the above problems. Results A kerosene fungus strain, Amorphotheca resinae ZN1, was isolated from the microbial community growing on the pretreated corn stover material. The degradation of the toxins as well as the lignocelluloses-derived sugars was characterized in different ways, and the results show that A. resinae ZN1 utilized each of these toxins and sugars as the sole carbon sources efficiently and grew quickly on the toxins. It was found that the solid-state culture of A. resinae ZN1 on various pretreated lignocellulose feedstocks such as corn stover, wheat straw, rice straw, cotton stalk and rape straw degraded all kinds of toxins quickly and efficiently. The consequent simultaneous saccharification and ethanol fermentation was performed at the 30% (wt/wt solid loading of the detoxified lignocellulosic feedstocks without a sterilization step, and the ethanol titer in the fermentation broth reached above 40 g/L using food crop residues as feedstocks. Conclusions The advantages of the present biodetoxification by A. resinae ZN1 over the known detoxification methods include zero energy input, zero wastewater generation, complete toxin degradation, processing on solid pretreated material, no need for sterilization and a wide lignocellulose feedstock spectrum

Lignocellulosic Biomass Transformations via Greener Oxidative Pretreatment Processes: Access to Energy and Value-Added Chemicals

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Walter Den

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Anthropogenic climate change, principally induced by the large volume of carbon dioxide emission from the global economy driven by fossil fuels, has been observed and scientifically proven as a major threat to civilization. Meanwhile, fossil fuel depletion has been identified as a future challenge. Lignocellulosic biomass in the form of organic residues appears to be the most promising option as renewable feedstock for the generation of energy and platform chemicals. As of today, relatively little bioenergy comes from lignocellulosic biomass as compared to feedstock such as starch and sugarcane, primarily due to high cost of production involving pretreatment steps required to fragment biomass components via disruption of the natural recalcitrant structure of these rigid polymers; low efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of refractory feedstock presents a major challenge. The valorization of lignin and cellulose into energy products or chemical products is contingent on the effectiveness of selective depolymerization of the pretreatment regime which typically involve harsh pyrolytic and solvothermal processes assisted by corrosive acids or alkaline reagents. These unselective methods decompose lignin into many products that may not be energetically or chemically valuable, or even biologically inhibitory. Exploring milder, selective and greener processes, therefore, has become a critical subject of study for the valorization of these materials in the last decade. Efficient alternative activation processes such as microwave- and ultrasound irradiation are being explored as replacements for pyrolysis and hydrothermolysis, while milder options such as advanced oxidative and catalytic processes should be considered as choices to harsher acid and alkaline processes. Herein, we critically abridge the research on chemical oxidative techniques for the pretreatment of lignocellulosics with the explicit aim to rationalize the objectives of the biomass

Lignocellulosic Biomass Transformations via Greener Oxidative Pretreatment Processes: Access to Energy and Value-Added Chemicals

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Den, Walter; Sharma, Virender K.; Lee, Mengshan; Nadadur, Govind; Varma, Rajender S.

2018-01-01

Anthropogenic climate change, principally induced by the large volume of carbon dioxide emission from the global economy driven by fossil fuels, has been observed and scientifically proven as a major threat to civilization. Meanwhile, fossil fuel depletion has been identified as a future challenge. Lignocellulosic biomass in the form of organic residues appears to be the most promising option as renewable feedstock for the generation of energy and platform chemicals. As of today, relatively little bioenergy comes from lignocellulosic biomass as compared to feedstock such as starch and sugarcane, primarily due to high cost of production involving pretreatment steps required to fragment biomass components via disruption of the natural recalcitrant structure of these rigid polymers; low efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of refractory feedstock presents a major challenge. The valorization of lignin and cellulose into energy products or chemical products is contingent on the effectiveness of selective depolymerization of the pretreatment regime which typically involve harsh pyrolytic and solvothermal processes assisted by corrosive acids or alkaline reagents. These unselective methods decompose lignin into many products that may not be energetically or chemically valuable, or even biologically inhibitory. Exploring milder, selective and greener processes, therefore, has become a critical subject of study for the valorization of these materials in the last decade. Efficient alternative activation processes such as microwave- and ultrasound irradiation are being explored as replacements for pyrolysis and hydrothermolysis, while milder options such as advanced oxidative and catalytic processes should be considered as choices to harsher acid and alkaline processes. Herein, we critically abridge the research on chemical oxidative techniques for the pretreatment of lignocellulosics with the explicit aim to rationalize the objectives of the biomass pretreatment step and the

SIMULTANEOUS PRETREATMENT OF LIGNOCELLULOSE AND HYDROLYSIS OF STARCH IN MIXTURES TO SUGARS

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Hamzeh Hoseinpour

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Mixtures of starch and lignocelluloses are available in many industrial, agricultural, and municipal wastes and residuals. In this work, dilute sulfuric acid was used for simultaneous pretreatment of lignocellulose and hydrolysis of starch, to obtain a maximum amount of fermentable sugar after enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase and β-glucosidase. The acid treatment was carried out at 70-150°C with 0-1% (v/v acid concentration and 5-15% (w/v solids concentration for 0-40 minutes. Under the optimum conditions, obtained at 130°C, 1% acid, and 7.5% solids loading for 30 min, the starch was almost completely converted to glucose. However, the acid treatment was not successful for efficient hydrolysis of pure cellulose. A mixture of pine softwood and potato as representatives of lignocellulosic and starch components, respectively, were treated at the optimum conditions for acid hydrolysis of starch. The dilute-acid treatment resulted in 1.2, 60.5, and 23.6% hydrolysis of glucan, xylan, and mannan of pine wood and 67% of potato starch to fermentable sugars. After the acid treatment, the solid residue of the mixture was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysis under the optimum conditions resulted in conversion of 76% of the glucan in the treated softwood. Therefore, using acid treatment of the mixture is a promising process for pretreatment of wood in addition to the hydrolysis of starch.

Selection of the best chemical pretreatment for lignocellulosic substrate Prosopis juliflora.

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Naseeruddin, Shaik; Srilekha Yadav, K; Sateesh, L; Manikyam, Ananth; Desai, Suseelendra; Venkateswar Rao, L

2013-05-01

Pretreatment is a pre-requisite step in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass required to remove lignin and increase the porosity of the substrate for saccharification. In the present study, chemical pretreatment of Prosopis juliflora was performed using alkali (NaOH, KOH, and NH3), reducing agents (Na2S2O4, Na2SO3) and NaClO2 in different concentration ranges at room temperature (30±2 °C) to remove maximum lignin with minimum sugar loss. Further, biphasic acid hydrolysis of the various pretreated substrates was performed at mild temperatures. Considering the amount of holocellulose hydrolyzed and inhibitors released during hydrolysis, best chemical pretreatment was selected. Among all the chemicals investigated, pretreatment with sodium dithionite at concentration of 2% (w/v) removed maximum lignin (80.46±1.35%) with a minimum sugar loss (2.56±0.021%). Subsequent biphasic acid hydrolysis of the sodium dithionite pretreated substrate hydrolyzed 40.09±1.22% of holocellulose and released minimum amount of phenolics (1.04±0.022 g/L) and furans (0.41±0.012 g/L) in the hydrolysate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Aqueous Ammonia Soaking Pretreatment on Methane Generation Using Different Lignocellulosic Biomasses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antonopoulou, Georgia; Gavala, Hariklia N.; Skiadas, Ioannis

2015-01-01

In the present study aqueous ammonia soaking (AAS) has been tested as a pretreatment method for the anaerobic digestion of three lignocellulosic biomasses of different origin: one agricultural residue: sunflower straw, one perennial crop: grass and a hardwood: poplar sawdust.The methane production...

Physical and chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosics in pineapple (Ananus comosus) peels dried for investment

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Sukkaew, Adulsman; Boonsong, Panthip; Thongpradistha, Sriubol; Intan, Maimoon

2017-08-01

Pineapple (Ananus comosus) Peels, once known as waste from agricultural, can be a problem when we eliminate in agriculture and industry. The current technology can help preliminarily to solve this problem. The sustainable solution to this problem is lignocellulosics pretreatments for converted saccharide as a carbon source for ethanol production. The objective of this study is the investigation of pineapple peels pretreatment to produce fermentable sugar by drying and digesting 5% sulfuric acid (H2SO4). And study of cost economic passed selection for investment. The result found that the best investment of drying was 100 °C at 11 hours for the sulphuric acid which could be easily crushed into a fine powder. Moreover, digestion of pineapple peels gave the best total sugar 252.2 g/l by 5% H2SO4 incubated for 60 minutes at room temperature. The pineapple peels were digested by 5%H2SO4 concentration by incubating for 60 minutes at room temperature, finding to be the best condition and the lowest investment. Finally, the optimisation of investment and management for lignocellulosic pretreatment will improve efficiency of strategy for economic and energy development.

Adhesion improvement of lignocellulosic products by enzymatic pre-treatment.

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Widsten, Petri; Kandelbauer, Andreas

2008-01-01

Enzymatic bonding methods, based on laccase or peroxidase enzymes, for lignocellulosic products such as medium-density fiberboard and particleboard are discussed with reference to the increasing costs of presently used petroleum-based adhesives and the health concerns associated with formaldehyde emissions from current composite products. One approach is to improve the self-bonding properties of the particles by oxidation of their surface lignin before they are fabricated into boards. Another method involves using enzymatically pre-treated lignins as adhesives for boards and laminates. The application of this technology to achieve wet strength characteristics in paper is also reviewed.

2nd generation lignocellulosic bioethanol: is torrefaction a possible approach to biomass pretreatment?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chiaramonti, David; Rizzo, Andrea Maria; Prussi, Matteo [University of Florence, CREAR - Research Centre for Renewable Energy and RE-CORD, Florence (Italy); Tedeschi, Silvana; Zimbardi, Francesco; Braccio, Giacobbe; Viola, Egidio [ENEA - Laboratory of Technology and Equipment for Bioenergy and Solar Thermal, Rotondella (Italy); Pardelli, Paolo Taddei [Spike Renewables s.r.l., Florence (Italy)

2011-03-15

Biomass pretreatement is a key and energy-consuming step for lignocellulosic ethanol production; it is largely responsible for the energy efficiency and economic sustainability of the process. A new approach to biomass pretreatment for the lignocellulosic bioethanol chain could be mild torrefaction. Among other effects, biomass torrefaction improves the grindability of fibrous materials, thus reducing energy demand for grinding the feedstock before hydrolysis, and opens the biomass structure, making this more accessible to enzymes for hydrolysis. The aim of the preliminary experiments carried out was to achieve a first understanding of the possibility to combine torrefaction and hydrolysis for lignocellulosic bioethanol processes, and to evaluate it in terms of sugar and ethanol yields. In addition, the possibility of hydrolyzing the torrefied biomass has not yet been proven. Biomass from olive pruning has been torrefied at different conditions, namely 180-280 C for 60-120 min, grinded and then used as substrate in hydrolysis experiments. The bioconversion has been carried out at flask scale using a mixture of cellulosolytic, hemicellulosolitic, {beta}-glucosidase enzymes, and a commercial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The experiments demonstrated that torrefied biomass can be enzymatically hydrolyzed and fermented into ethanol, with yields comparable with grinded untreated biomass and saving electrical energy. The comparison between the bioconversion yields achieved using only raw grinded biomass or torrefied and grinded biomass highlighted that: (1) mild torrefaction conditions limit sugar degradation to 5-10%; and (2) torrefied biomass does not lead to enzymatic and fermentation inhibition. Energy consumption for ethanol production has been preliminary estimated, and three different pretreatment steps, i.e., raw biomass grinding, biomass-torrefaction grinding, and steam explosion were compared. Based on preliminary results, steam explosion still has a

Cellulose accessibility limits the effectiveness of minimum cellulase loading on the efficient hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic substrates

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Saddler Jack N

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract A range of lignocellulosic feedstocks (including agricultural, softwood and hardwood substrates were pretreated with either sulfur dioxide-catalyzed steam or an ethanol organosolv procedure to try to establish a reliable assessment of the factors governing the minimum protein loading that could be used to achieve efficient hydrolysis. A statistical design approach was first used to define what might constitute the minimum protein loading (cellulases and β-glucosidase that could be used to achieve efficient saccharification (defined as at least 70% glucan conversion of the pretreated substrates after 72 hours of hydrolysis. The likely substrate factors that limit cellulose availability/accessibility were assessed, and then compared with the optimized minimum amounts of protein used to obtain effective hydrolysis. The optimized minimum protein loadings to achieve efficient hydrolysis of seven pretreated substrates ranged between 18 and 63 mg protein per gram of glucan. Within the similarly pretreated group of lignocellulosic feedstocks, the agricultural residues (corn stover and corn fiber required significantly lower protein loadings to achieve efficient hydrolysis than did the pretreated woody biomass (poplar, douglas fir and lodgepole pine. Regardless of the substantial differences in the source, structure and chemical composition of the feedstocks, and the difference in the pretreatment technology used, the protein loading required to achieve efficient hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates was strongly dependent on the accessibility of the cellulosic component of each of the substrates. We found that cellulose-rich substrates with highly accessible cellulose, as assessed by the Simons' stain method, required a lower protein loading per gram of glucan to obtain efficient hydrolysis compared with substrates containing less accessible cellulose. These results suggest that the rate-limiting step during hydrolysis is not the catalytic

Aromatic inhibitors derived from ammonia-pretreated lignocellulose hinder bacterial ethanologenesis by activating regulatory circuits controlling inhibitor efflux and detoxification

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David H. Keating

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Efficient microbial conversion of lignocellulosic hydrolysates to biofuels is a key barrier to the economically viable deployment of lignocellulosic biofuels. A chief contributor to this barrier is the impact on microbial processes and energy metabolism of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors, including phenolic carboxylates, phenolic amides (for ammonia-pretreated biomass, phenolic aldehydes, and furfurals. To understand the bacterial pathways induced by inhibitors present in ammonia-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, which are less well studied than acid-pretreated biomass hydrolysates, we developed and exploited synthetic mimics of ammonia-pretreated corn stover hydrolysate (ACSH. To determine regulatory responses to the inhibitors normally present in ACSH, we measured transcript and protein levels in an Escherichia coli ethanologen using RNA-seq and quantitative proteomics during fermentation to ethanol of synthetic hydrolysates containing or lacking the inhibitors. Our study identified four major regulators mediating these responses, the MarA/SoxS/Rob network, AaeR, FrmR, and YqhC. Induction of these regulons was correlated with a reduced rate of ethanol production, buildup of pyruvate, depletion of ATP and NAD(PH, and an inhibition of xylose conversion. The aromatic aldehyde inhibitor 5-hydroxymethylfurfural appeared to be reduced to its alcohol form by the ethanologen during fermentation, whereas phenolic acid and amide inhibitors were not metabolized. Together, our findings establish that the major regulatory responses to lignocellulose-derived inhibitors are mediated by transcriptional rather than translational regulators, suggest that energy consumed for inhibitor efflux and detoxification may limit biofuel production, and identify a network of regulators for future synthetic biology efforts.

Evaluation of Alkali-Pretreated Soybean Straw for Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Production

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Seonghun Kim

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Soybean straw is a renewable resource in agricultural residues that can be used for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. To enhance enzymatic digestibility and fermentability, the biomass was prepared with an alkali-thermal pretreatment (sodium hydroxide, 121°C, 60 min. The delignification yield was 34.1~53%, in proportion to the amount of sodium hydroxide, from 0.5 to 3.0 M. The lignin and hemicellulose contents of the pretreated biomass were reduced by the pretreatment process, whereas the proportion of cellulose was increased. Under optimal condition, the pretreated biomass consisted of 74.0±0.1% cellulose, 10.3±0.1% hemicellulose, and 10.1±0.6% lignin. During enzymatic saccharification using Cellic® CTec2 cellulase, 10% (w/v of pretreated soybean straw was hydrolyzed completely and converted to 67.3±2.1 g/L glucose and 9.4±0.5 g/L xylose with a 90.9% yield efficiency. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of the pretreated biomass by Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303-1A produced 30.5±1.2 g/L ethanol in 0.5 L fermented medium containing 10% (w/v pretreated biomass after 72 h. The ethanol productivity was 0.305 g ethanol/g dry biomass and 0.45 g ethanol/g glucose after fermentation, with a low concentration of organic acid metabolites. Also, 82% of fermentable sugar was used by the yeast for ethanol fermentation. These results show that the combination of alkaline pretreatment and biomass hydrolysate is useful for enhancing bioethanol productivity using delignified soybean straw.

Fermentative hydrogen production from agroindustrial lignocellulosic substrates

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Reginatto, Valeria; Antônio, Regina Vasconcellos

2015-01-01

To achieve economically competitive biological hydrogen production, it is crucial to consider inexpensive materials such as lignocellulosic substrate residues derived from agroindustrial activities. It is possible to use (1) lignocellulosic materials without any type of pretreatment, (2) lignocellulosic materials after a pretreatment step, and (3) lignocellulosic materials hydrolysates originating from a pretreatment step followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. According to the current literature data on fermentative H2 production presented in this review, thermophilic conditions produce H2 in yields approximately 75% higher than those obtained in mesophilic conditions using untreated lignocellulosic substrates. The average H2 production from pretreated material is 3.17 ± 1.79 mmol of H2/g of substrate, which is approximately 50% higher compared with the average yield achieved using untreated materials (2.17 ± 1.84 mmol of H2/g of substrate). Biological pretreatment affords the highest average yield 4.54 ± 1.78 mmol of H2/g of substrate compared with the acid and basic pretreatment - average yields of 2.94 ± 1.85 and 2.41 ± 1.52 mmol of H2/g of substrate, respectively. The average H2 yield from hydrolysates, obtained from a pretreatment step and enzymatic hydrolysis (3.78 ± 1.92 mmol of H2/g), was lower compared with the yield of substrates pretreated by biological methods only, demonstrating that it is important to avoid the formation of inhibitors generated by chemical pretreatments. Based on this review, exploring other microorganisms and optimizing the pretreatment and hydrolysis conditions can make the use of lignocellulosic substrates a sustainable way to produce H2. PMID:26273246

Alkaline/peracetic acid as a pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol fuel production

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Lincoln Cambraia

Peracetic acid is a lignin oxidation pretreatment with low energy input by which biomass can be treated in a silo type system for improving enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic materials for ethanol production. Experimentally, ground hybrid poplar wood and sugar cane bagasse are placed in plastic bags and a peracetic acid solution is added to the biomass in different concentrations based on oven-dry biomass. The ratio of solution to biomass is 6:1; after initial mixing of the resulting paste, a seven-day storage period at about 20°C is used in this study. As a complementary method, a series of pre-pretreatments using stoichiometric amounts of sodium hydroxide and ammonium hydroxide based on 4-methyl-glucuronic acid and acetyl content in the biomass is been performed before addition of peracetic acid. The alkaline solutions are added to the biomass in a ratio of 14:1 solution to biomass; the slurry is mixed for 24 hours at ambient temperature. The above procedures give high xylan content substrates. Consequently, xylanase/beta-glucosidase combinations are more effective than cellulase preparations in hydrolyzing these materials. The pretreatment effectiveness is evaluated using standard enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF) procedures. Hybrid poplar wood pretreated with 15 and 21% peracetic acid based on oven-dry weight of wood gives glucan conversion yields of 76.5 and 98.3%, respectively. Sugar cane bagasse pretreated with the same loadings gives corresponding yields of 85.9 and 93.1%. Raw wood and raw bagasse give corresponding yields of 6.8 and 28.8%, respectively. The combined 6% NaOH/15% peracetic acid pretreatments increase the glucan conversion yields from 76.5 to 100.0% for hybrid poplar wood and from 85.9 to 97.6% for sugar cane bagasse. Respective ethanol yields of 92.8 and 91.9% are obtained from 6% NaOH/15% peracetic acid pretreated materials using recombinant Zymomonas mobilis CP4/pZB5. Peracetic acid

Ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine. Preliminary evaluation of mass balance and process energy efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, J.Y. [USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI (United States). Forest Products Lab.; Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering; Zhu, Wenyuan [South China Univ. of Technology, Guangzhou (China). State Key Lab Pulp and Paper Engineering; OBryan, Patricia; Dien, Bruce S. [USDA Agricultural Research Service, Peoria, IL (United States). National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research; Tian, Shen [Capital Normal Univ., Beijing (China). College of Life Science; Gleisner, Rolland [USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI (United States). Forest Products Lab.; Pan, X.J. [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Biological Systems Engineering

2010-05-15

Lodgepole pine from forest thinnings is a potential feedstock for ethanol production. In this study, lodgepole pine was converted to ethanol with a yield of 276 L per metric ton of wood or 72% of theoretical yield. The lodgepole pine chips were directly subjected to sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) pretreatment and then disk-milled; the recovered cellulose substrate was quasi-simultaneously saccharified enzymatically and fermented to ethanol using commercial cellulases and Saccharomyces cerevisiae D5A. The liquor stream from the pretreatment containing hydrolyzed sugars mainly from hemicelluloses was fermented by the same yeast strain after detoxification using an XAD resin column. The SPORL pretreatment was conducted at 180 C for a period of 25 min with a liquor-to-wood ratio of 3:1 (v/w) in a laboratory digester. Three levels of sulfuric acid charge (0.0%, 1.4%, and 2.2% on an oven dried wood basis in w/w) and three levels of sodium bisulfite charge (0.0%, 4.0%, and 8.0% in w/w) were applied. Mechanical and thermal energy consumption for milling and pretreatment were determined. These data were used to determine the efficiency of sugar recoveries and net ethanol energy production values and to formulate a preliminary mass and energy balance. (orig.)

Ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine: preliminary evaluation of mass balance and process energy efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, J Y; Zhu, Wenyuan; Obryan, Patricia; Dien, Bruce S; Tian, Shen; Gleisner, Rolland; Pan, X J

2010-05-01

Lodgepole pine from forest thinnings is a potential feedstock for ethanol production. In this study, lodgepole pine was converted to ethanol with a yield of 276 L per metric ton of wood or 72% of theoretical yield. The lodgepole pine chips were directly subjected to sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) pretreatment and then disk-milled; the recovered cellulose substrate was quais-simultaneously saccharified enzymatically and fermented to ethanol using commercial cellulases and Saccharomyces cerevisiae D5A. The liquor stream from the pretreatment containing hydrolyzed sugars mainly from hemicelluloses was fermented by the same yeast strain after detoxification using an XAD resin column. The SPORL pretreatment was conducted at 180 degrees C for a period of 25 min with a liquor-to-wood ratio of 3:1 (v/w) in a laboratory digester. Three levels of sulfuric acid charge (0.0%, 1.4%, and 2.2% on an oven dried wood basis in w/w) and three levels of sodium bisulfite charge (0.0%, 4.0%, and 8.0% in w/w) were applied. Mechanical and thermal energy consumption for milling and pretreatment were determined. These data were used to determine the efficiency of sugar recoveries and net ethanol energy production values and to formulate a preliminary mass and energy balance.

Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic agroindustrial waste for methane production.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellera, Frantseska-Maria; Gidarakos, Evangelos

2018-01-01

This study investigates the effect of different chemical pretreatments on the solubilization and the degradability of different solid agroindustrial waste, namely winery waste, cotton gin waste, olive pomace and juice industry waste. Eight different reagents were investigated, i.e. sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ), sodium chloride (NaCl), citric acid (H 3 Cit), acetic acid (AcOH), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), acetone (Me 2 CO) and ethanol (EtOH), under three condition sets resulting in treatments of varying intensity, depending on process duration, reagent dosage and temperature. Results indicated that chemical pretreatment under more severe conditions is more effective on the solubilization of lignocellulosic substrates, such as those of the present study and among the investigated reagents, H 3 Cit, H 2 O 2 and EtOH appeared to be the most effective to this regard. At the same time, although chemical pretreatment in general did not improve the methane potential of the substrates, moderate to high severity conditions were found to generally be the most satisfactory in terms of methane production from pretreated materials. In fact, moderate severity treatments using EtOH for winery waste, H 3 Cit for olive pomace and H 2 O 2 for juice industry waste and a high severity treatment with EtOH for cotton gin waste, resulted in maximum specific methane yield values. Ultimately, the impact of pretreatment parameters on the different substrates seems to be dependent on their characteristics, in combination with the specific mode of action of each reagent. The overall energy balance of such a system could probably be improved by using lower operating powers and higher solid to liquid ratios. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enzymatic conversion of lignocellulose into fermentable sugars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Henning; Kristensen, Jan Bach; Felby, Claus

2007-01-01

and hemicelluloses but these are not readily accessible to enzymatic hydrolysis and require a pretreatment, which causes an extensive modification of the lignocellulosic structure. A number of pretreatment technologies are under development and being tested in pilot scale. Hydrolysis of lignocellulose carbohydrates...

Autohydrolysis Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Bioethanol Production

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Qiang

Autohydrolysis, a simple and environmental friendly process, has long been studied but often abandoned as a financially viable pretreatment for bioethanol production due to the low yields of fermentable sugars at economic enzyme dosages. The introduction of mechanical refining can generate substantial improvements for autohydrolysis process, making it an attractive pretreatment technology for bioethanol commercialization. In this study, several lignocellulosic biomass including wheat straw, switchgrass, corn stover, waste wheat straw have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment followed by mechanical refining to evaluate the total sugar recovery at affordable enzyme dosages. Encouraging results have been found that using autohydrolysis plus refining strategy, the total sugar recovery of most feedstock can be as high as 76% at 4 FPU/g enzymes dosages. The mechanical refining contributed to the improvement of enzymatic sugar yield by as much as 30%. Three non-woody biomass (sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, and switchgrass) and three woody biomass (maple, sweet gum, and nitens) have been subjected to autohydrolysis pretreatment to acquire a fundamental understanding of biomass characteristics that affect the autohydrolysis and the following enzymatic hydrolysis. It is of interest to note that the nonwoody biomass went through substantial delignification during autohydrolysis compared to woody biomass due to a significant amount of p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. It has been found that hardwood which has a higher S/V ratio in the lignin structure tends to have a higher total sugar recovery from autohydrolysis pretreatment. The economics of bioethanol production from autohydrolysis of different feedstocks have been investigated. Regardless of different feedstocks, in the conventional design, producing bioethanol and co-producing steam and power, the minimum ethanol revenues (MER) required to generate a 12% internal rate of return (IRR) are high enough to

Identification of Inhibitors in Lignocellulosic Slurries and Determination of Their Effect on Hydrocarbon-Producing Microorganisms

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Shihui Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to identify inhibitors in pretreated lignocellulosic slurries, evaluate high-throughput screening strategies, and investigate the impact of inhibitors on potential hydrocarbon-producing microorganisms. Compounds present in slurries that could inhibit microbial growth were identified through a detailed analysis of saccharified slurries by applying a combination of approaches of high-performance liquid chromatography, GC-MS, LC-DAD-MS, and ICP-MS. Several high-throughput assays were then evaluated to generate toxicity profiles. Our results demonstrated that Bioscreen C was useful for analyzing bacterial toxicity but not for yeast. AlamarBlue reduction assay can be a useful high-throughput assay for both bacterial and yeast strains as long as medium components do not interfere with fluorescence measurements. In addition, this work identified two major inhibitors (furfural and ammonium acetate for three potential hydrocarbon-producing bacterial species that include Escherichia coli, Cupriavidus necator, and Rhodococcus opacus PD630, which are also the primary inhibitors for ethanologens. This study was strived to establish a pipeline to quantify inhibitory compounds in biomass slurries and high-throughput approaches to investigate the effect of inhibitors on microbial biocatalysts, which can be applied for various biomass slurries or hydrolyzates generated through different pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis processes or different microbial candidates.

Understanding changes in cellulose crystalline structure of lignocellulosic biomass during ionic liquid pretreatment by XRD.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jiafu; Wang, Yixun; Zhang, Liye; Zhang, Ruihong; Liu, Guangqing; Cheng, Gang

2014-01-01

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to understand the interactions of cellulose in lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids (ILs). The experiment was designed in such a way that the process of swelling and solubilization of crystalline cellulose in plant cell walls was followed by XRD. Three different feedstocks, switchgrass, corn stover and rice husk, were pretreated using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C4mim][OAc]) at temperatures of 50-130°C for 6h. At a 5 wt.% biomass loading, increasing pretreatment temperature led to a drop in biomass crystallinity index (CrI), which was due to swelling of crystalline cellulose. After most of the crystalline cellulose was swollen with IL molecules, a low-order structure was found in the pretreated samples. Upon further increasing temperature, cellulose II structure started to form in the pretreated biomass samples as a result of solubilization of cellulose in [C4mim][OAc] and subsequent regeneration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-pretreated lignocellulosic materials with Trichoderma atroviride enzymes produced in-house

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Macrelli Stefano

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Improvement of the process of cellulase production and development of more efficient lignocellulose-degrading enzymes are necessary in order to reduce the cost of enzymes required in the biomass-to-bioethanol process. Results Lignocellulolytic enzyme complexes were produced by the mutant Trichoderma atroviride TUB F-1663 on three different steam-pretreated lignocellulosic substrates, namely spruce, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse. Filter paper activities of the enzymes produced on the three materials were very similar, while β-glucosidase and hemicellulase activities were more dependent on the nature of the substrate. Hydrolysis of the enzyme preparations investigated produced similar glucose yields. However, the enzymes produced in-house proved to degrade the xylan and the xylose oligomers less efficiently than a commercial mixture of cellulase and β-glucosidase. Furthermore, accumulation of xylose oligomers was observed when the TUB F-1663 supernatants were applied to xylan-containing substrates, probably due to the low β-xylosidase activity of the enzymes. The efficiency of the enzymes produced in-house was enhanced by supplementation with extra commercial β-glucosidase and β-xylosidase. When the hydrolytic capacities of various mixtures of a commercial cellulase and a T. atroviride supernatant produced in the lab were investigated at the same enzyme loading, the glucose yield appeared to be correlated with the β-glucosidase activity, while the xylose yield seemed to be correlated with the β-xylosidase level in the mixtures. Conclusion Enzyme supernatants produced by the mutant T. atroviride TUB F-1663 on various pretreated lignocellulosic substrates have good filter paper activity values combined with high levels of β-glucosidase activities, leading to cellulose conversion in the enzymatic hydrolysis that is as efficient as with a commercial cellulase mixture. On the other hand, in order to achieve good xylan

Biogas from lignocellulosic biomass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berglund Odhner, Peter; Schabbauer, Anna [Grontmij AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Sarvari Horvath, Ilona; Mohseni Kabir, Maryam [Hoegskolan i Boraas, Boraas (Sweden)

2012-01-15

Grontmij AB has cooperated with the University of Boraas to evaluate the technological and economical possibilities for biogas production from substrates containing lignocellulose, such as forest residues, straw and paper. The state of knowledge regarding biogas production from cellulosic biomass has been summarized. The research in the field has been described, especially focusing on pretreatment methods and their results on increased gas yields. An investigation concerning commercially available pretreatment methods and the cost of these technologies has been performed. An economic evaluation of biogas production from lignocellulosic materials has provided answers to questions regarding the profitability of these processes. Pretreatment with steam explosion was economically evaluated for three feedstocks - wood, straw and paper - and a combination of steam explosion and addition of NaOH for paper. The presented costs pertain to costs for the pretreatment step as it, in this study, was assumed that the pretreatment would be added to an existing plant and the lignocellulosic substrates would be part of a co-digestion process. The results of the investigation indicate that it is difficult to provide a positive net result when comparing the cost of pretreatment versus the gas yield (value) for two of the feedstocks - forest residues and straw. This is mainly due to the high cost of the raw material. For forest residues the steam pretreatment cost exceeded the gas yield by over 50 %, mainly due to the high cost of the raw material. For straw, the production cost was similar to the value of the gas. Paper showed the best economic result. The gas yield (value) for paper exceeded the pretreatment cost by 15 %, which makes it interesting to study paper further.

Changes in lignocellulosic supramolecular and ultrastructure during dilute acid pretreatment of Populus and switchgrass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foston, Marcus; Ragauskas, Art J.

2010-01-01

Dilute acid pretreatment (DAP) is commonly employed prior to enzymatic deconstruction of cellulose to increase overall sugar and subsequent ethanol yields from downstream bioconversion processes. Typically optimization of pretreatment is evaluated by determining hemicellulose removal, subsequent reactivity towards enzymatic deconstruction, and recoverable polysaccharide yields. In this study, the affect of DAP on the supramolecular and ultrastructure of lignocellulosic biomass was evaluated. A series of dilute acidic pretreatments, employing ∼0.10-0.20 mol/m 3 H 2 SO 4 at ∼160-180 o C, for varying residence times were conducted on both Populus and switchgrass samples. The untreated and pretreated biomass samples were characterized by carbohydrate and lignin analysis, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and 13 C cross polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR spectroscopy. GPC analysis shows a reduction in the molecular weight of cellulose and change in its polydispersity index (PDI) with increasing residence time, indicating that pretreatment is actually degrading the cellulose chains. 13 C CPMAS and non-linear line-fitting of the C 4 region in the carbon spectrum of the isolated cellulose not only showed that the crystallinity index increases with residence time, but that the lateral fibril dimension (LFD) and lateral fibril aggregate dimension (LFAD) increase as well.

Powerful peracetic acid-ionic liquid pretreatment process for the efficient chemical hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Uju; Goto, Masahiro; Kamiya, Noriho

2016-08-01

The aim of this work was to design a new method for the efficient saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass (LB) using a combination of peracetic acid (PAA) pretreatment with ionic liquid (IL)-HCl hydrolysis. The pretreatment of LBs with PAA disrupted the lignin fractions, enhanced the dissolution of LB and led to a significant increase in the initial rate of the IL-HCl hydrolysis. The pretreatment of Bagasse with PAA prior to its 1-buthyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim][Cl])-HCl hydrolysis, led to an improvement in the cellulose conversion from 20% to 70% in 1.5h. Interestingly, the 1-buthyl-3-methylpyridium chloride ([Bmpy][Cl])-HCl hydrolysis of Bagasse gave a cellulose conversion greater than 80%, with or without the PAA pretreatment. For LB derived from seaweed waste, the cellulose conversion reached 98% in 1h. The strong hydrolysis power of [Bmpy][Cl] was attributed to its ability to transform cellulose I to II, and lowering the degree of polymerization of cellulose. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategies for enzyme saving during saccharification of pretreated lignocellulo-starch biomass: effect of enzyme dosage and detoxification chemicals

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M.G. Mithra

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Two strategies leading to enzyme saving during saccharification of pretreated lignocellulo-starch biomass (LCSB was investigated which included reducing enzyme dosage by varying their levels in enzyme cocktails and enhancing the fermentable sugar yield in enzyme-reduced systems using detoxification chemicals. Time course release of reducing sugars (RS during 24–120 h was significantly higher when an enzyme cocktail containing full dose of cellulase (16 FPU/g cellulose along with half dose each of xylanase (1.5 mg protein/g hemicelluloses and Stargen (12.5 μl/g biomass was used to saccharify conventional dilute sulphuric acid (DSA pretreated biomass compared to a parallel system where only one-fourth the dose of the latter two enzymes was used. The reduction in RS content in the 120 h saccharified mash to the extent of 3–4 g/L compared to the system saccharified with full complement of the three enzymes could be overcome considerably by supplementing the system (half dose of two enzymes with detoxification chemical mix incorporating Tween 20, PEG 4000 and sodium borohydride. Microwave (MW-assisted DSA pretreated biomass on saccharification with enzyme cocktail having full dose of cellulase and half dose of Stargen along with detoxification chemicals gave significantly higher RS yield than DSA pretreated system saccharified using three enzymes. The study showed that xylanase could be eliminated during saccharification of MW-assisted DSA pretreated biomass without affecting RS yield when detoxification chemicals were also supplemented. The Saccharification Efficiency and Overall Conversion Efficiency were also high for the MW-assisted DSA pretreated biomass. Since whole slurry saccharifcation of pretreated biomass is essential to conserve fermentable sugars in LCSB saccharification, detoxification of soluble inhibitors is equally important as channelling out of insoluble lignin remaining in the residue. As one of the major factors contributing

Comparative Study of the Preparation of Reducing Sugars Hydrolyzed from High-Lignin Lignocellulose Pretreated with Ionic Liquid, Alkaline Solution and Their Combination

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Hanny F. Sangian

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The ionicliquid [MMIM][DMP] was synthesized from the reactants methyl imidazole [MIM] and trimethylphosphate [TMP] and verified using 1HNMR and FTIR. Coconut coir dust was pretreated with a 1% alkaline solution.Its crystalline structure increased significantly due to the dissolution of lignin and hemicelluloses under alkaline conditions, exposing the cellulose. After NaOH and IL were employed, the XRD showed that peak (002 decreased significantly and peak (101 almost vanished. This significant decrease in crystallinity was related to the alteration of the substrate from the cellulose I structure to the cellulose II structure. The pretreated substrates were hydrolyzed to convert them to reducing sugars by pure cellulase and xylanase,and the reaction was conducted at 60°C, pH 3, for 12 or 48 hours. The yields of sugar hydrolyzed from untreated and NaOH-pretreated substrates were 0.07 and 0.12 g sugar/g lignocellulose, respectively. Pretreatment with IL or the combination of NaOH+IL resulted in yields of reducing sugars of 0.11 and 0.13 g/g, respectively. These findings showed that IL pretreatment of the high-lignin lignocellulose is a new prospect for the economical manufacture of reducing sugars and bioethanol in the coming years.

Review of pretreatment processes for lignocellulosic ethanol production, and development of an innovative method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiaramonti, David; Prussi, Matteo; Ferrero, Simone; Oriani, Luis; Ottonello, Piero; Torre, Paolo; Cherchi, Francesco

2012-01-01

Biomass pretreatment aims at separating and providing easier access to the main biomass components (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin), eventually removing lignin, preserving the hemicellulose, reducing the cellulose crystallinity and increasing the porosity of the material. Pretreatment is an essential step towards the development and industrialization of efficient 2nd generation lignocellulosic ethanol processes. The present work reviewed the main options available in pretreatment. Autohydrolysis and steam explosion were then selected for further investigation. Experimental work was carried out on batch scale reactors, using Miscanthus as biomass feedstock: the effects on sugar solubilization and degradation products generation have been examined for each of these two pretreatment systems. A new process using only water and steam as reacting media was then developed, experimentally tested, and results compared to those achieved by the autohydrolysis and steam explosion processes. Products obtained with the new pretreatment contained a lower amount of usual fermentation inhibitor compounds compared to that typically obtained in steam explosion. This result was achieved under operating conditions that at the same time allowed a good xylan yield, preventing degradation of hemicelluloses. The new pretreatment process was also able to act as an equalization step, as the solid material from the pretreatment phase had a similar composition even under different operating conditions. As regards the effect of pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis, the new process achieved yields similar to steam explosion on glucans: however, this was obtained reducing the formation of degradation products from sugars, mainly from C5 sugars. These results made the proposed pretreatment system suitable for further development and industrialization on pilot and industrial scale.

Evaluation of mountain beetle-infested lodgepole pine for cellulosic ethanol production by sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose

Science.gov (United States)

X. Luo; R. Gleisner; S. Tian; J. Negron; W. Zhu; E. Horn; X. J. Pan; J. Y. Zhu

2010-01-01

The potentials of deteriorated mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)-killed lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) trees for cellulosic ethanol production were evaluated using the sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) process. The trees were harvested from two sites in the United States Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado....

Destroying lignocellulosic matters for enhancing methane production from excess sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Xiaodi; Hu, Yuansheng; Cao, Daqi

2016-01-01

A lot of lignocellulosic matters are usually present in excess sludge, which are hardly degraded in anaerobic digestion (AD) and thus remains mostly in digested sludge. This is a reason why the conversion rate of sludge organics into energy (CH4) is often low. Obviously, the hydrolysis of AD cannot destruct the structure of lignocellulosic matters. Structural destruction of lignocellulosic matters has to be performed in AD. In this study, pretreatments with the same principles as cell disintegration of sludge were applied to destruct lignocellulosic matters so that these materials could be converted to CH4 via AD. Acid, alkali, thermal treatment and ultrasonic were used in the experiments to observe the destructed/degraded efficiency of lignocellulosic matters. Thermal treatment was found to be the most effective pretreatment. Under optimized conditions (T = 150 °C and t = 30  min), pretreated sludge had a degraded rate of 52.6% in AD, due to easy destruction and/or degradation of hemicelluloses and celluloses in pretreatment. The sludge pretreated by thermal treatment could enhance the CH4 yield (mL CH4 g(-1) VSS) by 53.6% compared to raw sludge. Economically, the thermal treatment can balance the input energy with the produced energy (steam and electricity).

The development of effective pretreatment and saccharification techniques for lignocellulosic biomass using radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Dyung Yeoup; Kim, Jin Hong; Lee, Seung Sik; Bai, Hyoung Woo; Lee, Jae Taek; Hong, Sung Hyun; Lee, Eun Mi; Kim, Mi Ja

2011-12-01

The bio-ethanol production from crop resource leads to several problems such as a shortage of provisions, soil acidification, and increase of crop price, whereas lignocellulosic biomass can overcome such problems as mentioned above. That is the reason why, the investigation of ethanol production originated from lignocellulosic materials has carried out all over the world. In present project, we focus on the new method of pretreatment using radiation as well as find out high efficiency process of saccharification through the new microorganisms and enzymes in order to achieve the price competitiveness. The enzymatic hydrolysis in lignocellulosic materials is inhibited by several factors such as crystalline of cellolose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. In order to overcome these obstacles, we devise phyco-chemical and phyco-physical treatments as a combination of 3% sulferic acid and 1000 kGy gamma irradiation and as a popping-1000 kGy gamma irradiation. Most lignocellulosic materials showed above 95% enzymatic hydrolysis using popping or popping-gamma irradiation, while the combination of dilute acid-gamma irradiation showed below 90% enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, popping treatment followed by gamma irradiation is much better than gamma irradiation followed by popping for enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusions, in case of herbaceous biomass such as wheat straw and switch grass popping treatment, popping treatment only is the best method and in case of woody biomass like a popular fiber and overseas biomass like a coconut fiber, the combination of 1000 kGy gamma irradiation-popping treatments is the most effective method for enzymatic hydrolysis. The achieving 95% of enzymatic hydrolysis is owing to modification of lignin structure, removal of hemicelluloses, and destruction of cellulose crystalline. In addition, we investigated that a new cocktail of enzymes for hydrolysis was designed for boosting enzymatic hydrolysis

The development of effective pretreatment and saccharification techniques for lignocellulosic biomass using radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Dyung Yeoup; Kim, Jin Hong; Lee, Seung Sik; Bai, Hyoung Woo; Lee, Jae Taek; Hong, Sung Hyun; Lee, Eun Mi; Kim, Mi Ja

2011-12-15

The bio-ethanol production from crop resource leads to several problems such as a shortage of provisions, soil acidification, and increase of crop price, whereas lignocellulosic biomass can overcome such problems as mentioned above. That is the reason why, the investigation of ethanol production originated from lignocellulosic materials has carried out all over the world. In present project, we focus on the new method of pretreatment using radiation as well as find out high efficiency process of saccharification through the new microorganisms and enzymes in order to achieve the price competitiveness. The enzymatic hydrolysis in lignocellulosic materials is inhibited by several factors such as crystalline of cellolose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. In order to overcome these obstacles, we devise phyco-chemical and phyco-physical treatments as a combination of 3% sulferic acid and 1000 kGy gamma irradiation and as a popping-1000 kGy gamma irradiation. Most lignocellulosic materials showed above 95% enzymatic hydrolysis using popping or popping-gamma irradiation, while the combination of dilute acid-gamma irradiation showed below 90% enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, popping treatment followed by gamma irradiation is much better than gamma irradiation followed by popping for enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusions, in case of herbaceous biomass such as wheat straw and switch grass popping treatment, popping treatment only is the best method and in case of woody biomass like a popular fiber and overseas biomass like a coconut fiber, the combination of 1000 kGy gamma irradiation-popping treatments is the most effective method for enzymatic hydrolysis. The achieving 95% of enzymatic hydrolysis is owing to modification of lignin structure, removal of hemicelluloses, and destruction of cellulose crystalline. In addition, we investigated that a new cocktail of enzymes for hydrolysis was designed for boosting enzymatic hydrolysis.

Engineering and two-stage evolution of a lignocellulosic hydrolysate-tolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for anaerobic fermentation of xylose from AFEX pretreated corn stover.

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Lucas S Parreiras

Full Text Available The inability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to ferment xylose effectively under anaerobic conditions is a major barrier to economical production of lignocellulosic biofuels. Although genetic approaches have enabled engineering of S. cerevisiae to convert xylose efficiently into ethanol in defined lab medium, few strains are able to ferment xylose from lignocellulosic hydrolysates in the absence of oxygen. This limited xylose conversion is believed to result from small molecules generated during biomass pretreatment and hydrolysis, which induce cellular stress and impair metabolism. Here, we describe the development of a xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae strain with tolerance to a range of pretreated and hydrolyzed lignocellulose, including Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX-pretreated corn stover hydrolysate (ACSH. We genetically engineered a hydrolysate-resistant yeast strain with bacterial xylose isomerase and then applied two separate stages of aerobic and anaerobic directed evolution. The emergent S. cerevisiae strain rapidly converted xylose from lab medium and ACSH to ethanol under strict anaerobic conditions. Metabolomic, genetic and biochemical analyses suggested that a missense mutation in GRE3, which was acquired during the anaerobic evolution, contributed toward improved xylose conversion by reducing intracellular production of xylitol, an inhibitor of xylose isomerase. These results validate our combinatorial approach, which utilized phenotypic strain selection, rational engineering and directed evolution for the generation of a robust S. cerevisiae strain with the ability to ferment xylose anaerobically from ACSH.

An Integrated Process of Ionic Liquid Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Immobilised Cellulase

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Mihaela Ungurean

2014-08-01

Full Text Available An integrated process of lignocellulosic biomass conversion was set up involving pretreatment by an ionic liquid (IL and hydrolysis of cellulose using cellulase immobilised by the sol-gel method, with recovery and reuse of both the IL and biocatalyst. As all investigated ILs, regardless of the nature of the anion and the cation, led to the loss of at least 50% of the hydrolytic activity of cellulase, the preferred solution involved reprecipitation of cellulose and lignin after the pretreatment, instead of performing the enzymatic hydrolysis in the same reaction system. The cellulose recovered after pretreatment with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][Ac] and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO (1:1 ratio, v/v was hydrolysed with almost double yield after 8 h of reaction time with the immobilised cellulase, compared to the reference microcrystalline cellulose. The dissolution capacity of the pretreatment mixture was maintained at satisfactory level during five reuse cycles. The immobilised cellulase was recycled in nine reaction cycles, preserving about 30% of the initial activity.

Complex effect of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid on various aspects of ethanol and fumaric acid production by immobilized cells within SSF.

Science.gov (United States)

Dotsenko, Anna S; Dotsenko, Gleb S; Senko, Olga V; Stepanov, Nikolay A; Lyagin, Ilya V; Efremenko, Elena N; Gusakov, Alexander V; Zorov, Ivan N; Rubtsova, Ekaterina A

2018-02-01

The pretreatment of softwood and hardwood samples (spruce and hornbeam wood) with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) was undertaken for further simultaneous enzymatic saccharification of renewable non-food lignocellulosic biomass and microbial fermentation of obtained sugars to ethanol and fumaric acid. A multienzyme cocktail based on cellulases and yeast or fungus cells producing ethanol and fumaric acid were the main objects of [Bmim]Cl influence studies. A complex effect of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment with [Bmim]Cl on various aspects of the process (both action of cellulases and microbial conversion of hydrolysates to target products) was revealed. Positive effects of the pretreatment with [Bmim]Cl included decreasing the lignin content in the biomass, and increasing the effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial transformation of pretreated biomass. Immobilized cells of both yeasts and fungi possessed improved productive characteristics in the biotransformation of biomass pretreated with [Bmim]Cl to ethanol and fumaric acid. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Elucidating the role of ferrous ion cocatalyst in enhancing dilute acid pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

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Wei Hui

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recently developed iron cocatalyst enhancement of dilute acid pretreatment of biomass is a promising approach for enhancing sugar release from recalcitrant lignocellulosic biomass. However, very little is known about the underlying mechanisms of this enhancement. In the current study, our aim was to identify several essential factors that contribute to ferrous ion-enhanced efficiency during dilute acid pretreatment of biomass and to initiate the investigation of the mechanisms that result in this enhancement. Results During dilute acid and ferrous ion cocatalyst pretreatments, we observed concomitant increases in solubilized sugars in the hydrolysate and reducing sugars in the (insoluble biomass residues. We also observed enhancements in sugar release during subsequent enzymatic saccharification of iron cocatalyst-pretreated biomass. Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy showed that major peaks representing the C-O-C and C-H bonds in cellulose are significantly attenuated by iron cocatalyst pretreatment. Imaging using Prussian blue staining indicated that Fe2+ ions associate with both cellulose/xylan and lignin in untreated as well as dilute acid/Fe2+ ion-pretreated corn stover samples. Analyses by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed structural details of biomass after dilute acid/Fe2+ ion pretreatment, in which delamination and fibrillation of the cell wall were observed. Conclusions By using this multimodal approach, we have revealed that (1 acid-ferrous ion-assisted pretreatment increases solubilization and enzymatic digestion of both cellulose and xylan to monomers and (2 this pretreatment likely targets multiple chemistries in plant cell wall polymer networks, including those represented by the C-O-C and C-H bonds in cellulose.

Degradation of Lignocellulosic Components in Un-pretreated Vinegar Residue Using an Artificially Constructed Fungal Consortium

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Yaoming Cui

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to degrade lignocellulosic components in un-pretreated vinegar residue (VR using a fungal consortium. Consortium-29, consisting of P. chrysosporium, T. koningii, A. niger, and A. ficuum NTG-23, was constructed using orthogonal design combined with two-way interaction analysis. After seven days of cultivation, the reducing sugar yield reached 35.57 mg per gram of dry substrate (gds-1, which was 108.01% higher than the control (17.10 mg gds-1. Additionally, the xylanase and CMCase activity reached 439.07 U gds-1 and 8.15 U gds-1, which were 432.08% and 243.88% higher than that of pure cultures of A. niger (82.52 U gds-1 and P. chrysosporium (2.37 U gds-1, respectively. The cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents decreased by 17.11%, 68.61%, and 14.44%, respectively, compared with that of the raw VR. The optimal fermentation conditions of consortium-29 were as follows: incubation temperature 25 °C, initial pH 6, initial moisture content 70%, inoculum size 1 x 10^6 spores/mL, incubation time 5 days, urea/VR 1%, and MnSO4 . H2O/VR 0.03%. This study suggests that consortium-29 is an efficient fungal consortium for un-pretreated VR degradation and has a potential application in lignocellulosic waste utilization with a low cost of operation.

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic material with fungi capable of higher lignin degradation and lower carbohydrate degradation improves substrate acid hydrolysis and the eventual conversion to ethanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuhar, S.; Nair, L.M.; Kuhad, R.C. [Delhi Univ., New Delhi (India). Dept. of Microbiology, Lignocellulose Biotechnology Laboratory

2008-04-15

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant energy resource in the world and is a potential source of carbon substrate for the production of ethanol via fermentation. However, the presence of lignin restricts access to holocellulose. It is necessary to break or remove the lignin in plant residues prior to their hydrolysis. Pretreatment is needed to liberate cellulose and hemicellulose from the lignins. This paper discussed a biological delignification method that avoided the use of toxic and corrosive chemicals. The in situ microbial delignification process used white rot fungi as a basidiomycetes for biological pretreatment. The study examined the capability of 4 basidiomycetes fungi, notably: (1) Phanerochaete chrysosporium; (2) Pycnoporus cinnabarinus; (3) fungal isolate RCK-1; and (4) fungal isolate RCK-3. The fungi were used to delignify wheat straw and improve hydrolysis procedures. Attempts were also made to ferment the acid hydrolysates from fungal-pretreated lignocellulosic materials. Results of the experiment showed that higher yields of ethanol were obtained using selective lignin-degrading fungi as a pretreatment method. 39 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

Lignosulfonate To Enhance Enzymatic Saccharification of Lignocelluloses: Role of Molecular Weight and Substrate Lignin

Science.gov (United States)

Haifeng Zhou; Hongming Lou; Dongjie Yang; J.Y. Zhu; Xueqing Qiu

2013-01-01

This study conducted an investigation of the effect of lignosulfonate (LS) on enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses. Two commercial LSs and one laboratory sulfonated kraft lignin were applied to Whatman paper, dilute acid and SPORL (sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses) pretreated aspen, and kraft alkaline and SPORL pretreated...

Lignosulfonate-mediated cellulase adsorption: enhanced enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose through weakening nonproductive binding to lignin

Science.gov (United States)

Zhaojiang Wang; JY Zhu; Yingjuan Fu; Menghua Qin; Zhiyong Shao; Jungang Jiang; Fang Yang

2013-01-01

Thermochemical pretreatment of lignocellulose is crucial to bioconversion in the fields of biorefinery and biofuels. However, the enzyme inhibitors in pretreatment hydrolysate make solid substrate washing and hydrolysate detoxification indispensable prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. Sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) is a relatively...

Fungal pretreatment of straw for enhanced biogas yield

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Xinmei; Pilar Castillo, Maria del; Schnuerer, Anna

2013-07-01

Among lignocellulosic materials from the agricultural sector, straw is considered to have the biggest potential as a biofuel and therefore also represents a big potential for biogas production. However, the degradation of lignocellulosic materials is somewhat restricted due to the high content of lignin that binds cellulose and hemicellulose and makes them unavailable for microbial degradation. Consequently, low methane yields are achieved. The biodegradability of the lignocellulosic material can be increased by a pretreatment. Optimally the pre-treatment should give an increase in the formation of sugars while avoiding the degradation or loss of carbohydrates and the formation of inhibitory by-products. The treatment should also be cost-effective. Different methods for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic material have been explored, for example thermal, acid, alkaline and oxidative pretreatments. However, they often have a high energy demand. Biological treatment with fungi represents an alternative method for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials that could be comparably more environmentally friendly, easier to operate and with low energy input. The fungal groups of interest for lignocellulose degradation are the wood decaying fungi, such as the white-, brown-rot and cellulose degraders. The purpose with this work was to increase the biogas potential of straw by using a pretreatment with fungi. Straw was incubated with fungi at aerobic conditions under certain periods of time. The growth and colonization of the straw by the fungi was expected to increase the availability of the lignocellulosic structure of the straw and thus positively affect the biogas potential. In addition also, the spent lignocellulosic material from the cultivation of edible fungi was investigated. We hypothesized that also growth of edible fungi could give a more accessible material and thus give higher biogas potential compared to the substrate before fungal growth.

Co-solvent pretreatment reduces costly enzyme requirements for high sugar and ethanol yields from lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thanh Yen; Cai, Charles M; Kumar, Rajeev; Wyman, Charles E

2015-05-22

We introduce a new pretreatment called co-solvent-enhanced lignocellulosic fractionation (CELF) to reduce enzyme costs dramatically for high sugar yields from hemicellulose and cellulose, which is essential for the low-cost conversion of biomass to fuels. CELF employs THF miscible with aqueous dilute acid to obtain up to 95 % theoretical yield of glucose, xylose, and arabinose from corn stover even if coupled with enzymatic hydrolysis at only 2 mgenzyme  gglucan (-1) . The unusually high saccharification with such low enzyme loadings can be attributed to a very high lignin removal, which is supported by compositional analysis, fractal kinetic modeling, and SEM imaging. Subsequently, nearly pure lignin product can be precipitated by the evaporation of volatile THF for recovery and recycling. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of CELF-pretreated solids with low enzyme loadings and Saccharomyces cerevisiae produced twice as much ethanol as that from dilute-acid-pretreated solids if both were optimized for corn stover. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Asparagus stem as a new lignocellulosic biomass feedstock for anaerobic digestion: increasing hydrolysis rate, methane production and biodegradability by alkaline pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaohua; Gu, Yu; Zhou, Xuefei; Zhang, Yalei

2014-07-01

Recently, anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass for methane production has attracted considerable attention. However, there is little information regarding methane production from asparagus stem, a typical lignocellulosic biomass, by anaerobic digestion. In this study, alkaline pretreatment of asparagus stem was investigated for its ability to increase hydrolysis rate and methane production and to improve biodegradability (BD). The hydrolysis rate increased with increasing NaOH dose, due to higher removal rates of lignin and hemicelluloses. However, the optimal NaOH dose was 6% (w/w) according to the specific methane production (SMP). Under this condition, the SMP and the technical digestion time of the NaOH-treated asparagus stem were 242.3 mL/g VS and 18 days, which were 38.4% higher and 51.4% shorter than those of the untreated sample, respectively. The BD was improved from 40.1% to 55.4%. These results indicate that alkaline pretreatment could be an efficient method for increasing methane production from asparagus stem. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS AFTER EXPLOSIVE AUTOHYDROLYSIS AS SUBSTRATE TO BUTANOL OBTAINING

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Tigunova

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the work was investigation of the effect of the explosive autohydrolysis on lignocellulosic biomass (saving, switchgrass biomass for consequent use as a substrate to produce biofuels such as butanol. Butanol-producing strains, switchgrass Panicum virgatum L. biomass and its components after autohydrolysis were used in study. The thermobaric pressure pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass was carried out using specially designed equipment. The effect of explosive autohydrolysis on lignocellulosic biomass for further use in producing biofuels using microbial conversion was studied. Components of lignocellulosic biomass were fractionated after undergoing thermobaric treatment. The possibility of using different raw material components after using explosive autohydrolysis processing to produce biobutanol was found. Products of switchgrass biomass autohydrolysis were shown to need further purification before fermentation from furfural formed by thermobaric pretreatment and inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. The ability of strains of the genus Clostridium to use cellulose as a substrate for fermentation was proved. It was found that using explosive autohydrolysis pretreatment to savings allowed boosting the butanol accumulation by 2 times.

Assessment of hydrothermal pretreatment of various lignocellulosic biomass with CO2 catalyst for enhanced methane and hydrogen production.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskicioglu, Cigdem; Monlau, Florian; Barakat, Abdellatif; Ferrer, Ivet; Kaparaju, Prasad; Trably, Eric; Carrère, Hélène

2017-09-01

Hydrothermal pretreatment of five lignocellulosic substrates (i.e. wheat straw, rice straw, biomass sorghum, corn stover and Douglas fir bark) were conducted in the presence of CO 2 as a catalyst. To maximize disintegration and conversion into bioenergy (methane and hydrogen), pretreatment temperatures and subsequent pressures varied with a range of 26-175 °C, and 25-102 bars, respectively. Among lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses, hydrothermal pretreatment caused the highest reduction (23-42%) in hemicelluloses while delignification was limited to only 0-12%. These reductions in structural integrity resulted in 20-30% faster hydrolysis rates during anaerobic digestion for the pretreated substrates of straws, sorghum, and corn stover while Douglas fir bark yielded 172% faster hydrolysis/digestion due to its highly refractory nature in the control. Furans and phenolic compounds formed in the pretreated hydrolyzates were below the inhibitory levels for methane and hydrogen production which had a range of 98-340 ml CH 4 /g volatile solids (VS) and 5-26 ml H 2 /g VS, respectively. Results indicated that hydrothermal pretreatment is able to accelerate the rate of biodegradation without generating high levels of inhibitory compounds while showing no discernible effect on ultimate biodegradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laccases as a Potential Tool for the Efficient Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Review

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Úrsula Fillat

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The continuous increase in the world energy and chemicals demand requires the development of sustainable alternatives to non-renewable sources of energy. Biomass facilities and biorefineries represent interesting options to gradually replace the present industry based on fossil fuels. Lignocellulose is the most promising feedstock to be used in biorefineries. From a sugar platform perspective, a wide range of fuels and chemicals can be obtained via microbial fermentation processes, being ethanol the most significant lignocellulose-derived fuel. Before fermentation, lignocellulose must be pretreated to overcome its inherent recalcitrant structure and obtain the fermentable sugars. Usually, harsh conditions are required for pretreatment of lignocellulose, producing biomass degradation and releasing different compounds that are inhibitors of the hydrolytic enzymes and fermenting microorganisms. Moreover, the lignin polymer that remains in pretreated materials also affects biomass conversion by limiting the enzymatic hydrolysis. The use of laccases has been considered as a very powerful tool for delignification and detoxification of pretreated lignocellulosic materials, boosting subsequent saccharification and fermentation processes. This review compiles the latest studies about the application of laccases as useful and environmentally friendly delignification and detoxification technology, highlighting the main challenges and possible ways to make possible the integration of these enzymes in future lignocellulose-based industries.

Microplate-Based Evaluation of the Sugar Yield from Giant Reed, Giant Miscanthus and Switchgrass after Mild Chemical Pre-Treatments and Hydrolysis with Tailored Trichoderma Enzymatic Blends.

Science.gov (United States)

Cianchetta, Stefano; Bregoli, Luca; Galletti, Stefania

2017-11-01

Giant reed, miscanthus, and switchgrass are considered prominent lignocellulosic feedstocks to obtain fermentable sugars for biofuel production. The bioconversion into sugars requires a delignifying pre-treatment step followed by hydrolysis with cellulase and other accessory enzymes like xylanase, especially in the case of alkali pre-treatments, which retain the hemicellulose fraction. Blends richer in accessory enzymes than commercial mix can be obtained growing fungi on feedstock-based substrates, thus ten selected Trichoderma isolates, including the hypercellulolytic strain Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30, were grown on giant reed, miscanthus, or switchgrass-based substrates. The produced enzymes were used to saccharify the corresponding feedstocks, compared to a commercial enzymatic mix (6 FPU/g). Feedstocks were acid (H 2 SO 4 0.2-2%, w/v) or alkali (NaOH 0.02-0.2%, w/v) pre-treated. A microplate-based approach was chosen for most of the experimental steps due to the large number of samples. The highest bioconversion was generally obtained with Trichoderma harzianum Or4/99 enzymes (78, 89, and 94% final sugar yields at 48 h for giant reed, miscanthus, and switchgrass, respectively), with significant increases compared to the commercial mix, especially with alkaline pre-treatments. The differences in bioconversion yields were only partially caused by xylanases (maximum R 2  = 0.5), indicating a role for other accessory enzymes.

Identifying inhibitory compounds in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates using an exometabolomics approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zha, Y.; Westerhuis, J.A.; Muilwijk, B.; Overkamp, K.M.; Nijmeijer, B.M.; Coulier, L.; Smilde, A.K.; Punt, P.J.

2014-01-01

Background: Inhibitors are formed that reduce the fermentation performance of fermenting yeast during the pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass. An exometabolomics approach was applied to systematically identify inhibitors in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates.Results: We studied the

Identifying inhibitory compounds in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates using an exometabolomics approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zha, Y.; Westerhuis, J.A.; Muilwijk, B.; Overkamp, K.M.; Nijmeijer, B.M.; Coulier, L.; Smilde, A.K.; Punt, P.J.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Inhibitors are formed that reduce the fermentation performance of fermenting yeast during the pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass. An exometabolomics approach was applied to systematically identify inhibitors in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates. RESULTS: We studied the

The application of biotechnology on the enhancing of biogas production from lignocellulosic waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Suzhen

2016-12-01

Anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic waste is considered to be an efficient way to answer present-day energy crisis and environmental challenges. However, the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic material forms a major obstacle for obtaining maximum biogas production. The use of biological pretreatment and bioaugmentation for enhancing the performance of anaerobic digestion is quite recent and still needs to be investigated. This paper reviews the status and perspectives of recent studies on biotechnology concept and investigates its possible use for enhancing biogas production from lignocellulosic waste with main emphases on biological pretreatment and bioaugmentation techniques.

Empirical evaluation of inhibitory product, substrate, and enzyme effects during the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Benjamin T; Knutsen, Jeffrey S; Davis, Robert H

2010-05-01

The cellulose hydrolysis kinetics during batch enzymatic saccharification are typified by a rapid initial rate that subsequently decays, resulting in incomplete conversion. Previous studies suggest that changes associated with the solution, substrate, or enzymes may be responsible. In this work, kinetic experiments were conducted to determine the relative magnitude of these effects. Pretreated corn stover (PCS) was used as a lignocellulosic substrate likely to be found in a commercial saccharification process, while Avicel and Kraft lignin were used to create model substrates. Glucose inhibition was observed by spiking the reaction slurry with glucose during initial-rate experiments. Increasing the glucose concentration from 7 to 48 g/L reduced the cellulose conversion rate by 94%. When product sugars were removed using ultrafiltration with a 10 kDa membrane, the glucose-based conversion increased by 9.5%. Reductions in substrate reactivity with conversion were compared directly by saccharifying PCS and Avicel substrates that had been pre-reacted to different conversions. Reaction of substrate with a pre-conversion of 40% resulted in about 40% reduction in the initial rate of saccharification, relative to fresh substrate with identical cellulose concentration. Overall, glucose inhibition and reduced substrate reactivity appear to be dominant factors, whereas minimal reductions of enzyme activity were observed.

Chemical Pretreatment-Independent Saccharifications of Xylan and Cellulose of Rice Straw by Bacterial Weak Lignin-Binding Xylanolytic and Cellulolytic Enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Teeravivattanakit, Thitiporn; Baramee, Sirilak; Phitsuwan, Paripok; Sornyotha, Somphit; Waeonukul, Rattiya; Pason, Patthra; Tachaapaikoon, Chakrit; Poomputsa, Kanokwan; Kosugi, Akihiko; Sakka, Kazuo; Ratanakhanokchai, Khanok

2017-11-15

Complete utilization of carbohydrate fractions is one of the prerequisites for obtaining economically favorable lignocellulosic biomass conversion. This study shows that xylan in untreated rice straw was saccharified to xylose in one step without chemical pretreatment, yielding 58.2% of the theoretically maximum value by Paenibacillus curdlanolyticus B-6 PcAxy43A, a weak lignin-binding trifunctional xylanolytic enzyme, endoxylanase/β-xylosidase/arabinoxylan arabinofuranohydrolase. Moreover, xylose yield from untreated rice straw was enhanced to 78.9% by adding endoxylanases PcXyn10C and PcXyn11A from the same bacterium, resulting in improvement of cellulose accessibility to cellulolytic enzyme. After autoclaving the xylanolytic enzyme-treated rice straw, it was subjected to subsequent saccharification by a combination of the Clostridium thermocellum endoglucanase CtCel9R and Thermoanaerobacter brockii β-glucosidase TbCglT, yielding 88.5% of the maximum glucose yield, which was higher than the glucose yield obtained from ammonia-treated rice straw saccharification (59.6%). Moreover, this work presents a new environment-friendly xylanolytic enzyme pretreatment for beneficial hydrolysis of xylan in various agricultural residues, such as rice straw and corn hull. It not only could improve cellulose saccharification but also produced xylose, leading to an improvement of the overall fermentable sugar yields without chemical pretreatment. IMPORTANCE Ongoing research is focused on improving "green" pretreatment technologies in order to reduce energy demands and environmental impact and to develop an economically feasible biorefinery. The present study showed that PcAxy43A, a weak lignin-binding trifunctional xylanolytic enzyme, endoxylanase/β-xylosidase/arabinoxylan arabinofuranohydrolase from P. curdlanolyticus B-6, was capable of conversion of xylan in lignocellulosic biomass such as untreated rice straw to xylose in one step without chemical pretreatment. It

High-throughput microplate technique for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Chundawat, Shishir P S; Balan, Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce E

2008-04-15

Several factors will influence the viability of a biochemical platform for manufacturing lignocellulosic based fuels and chemicals, for example, genetically engineering energy crops, reducing pre-treatment severity, and minimizing enzyme loading. Past research on biomass conversion has focused largely on acid based pre-treatment technologies that fractionate lignin and hemicellulose from cellulose. However, for alkaline based (e.g., AFEX) and other lower severity pre-treatments it becomes critical to co-hydrolyze cellulose and hemicellulose using an optimized enzyme cocktail. Lignocellulosics are appropriate substrates to assess hydrolytic activity of enzyme mixtures compared to conventional unrealistic substrates (e.g., filter paper, chromogenic, and fluorigenic compounds) for studying synergistic hydrolysis. However, there are few, if any, high-throughput lignocellulosic digestibility analytical platforms for optimizing biomass conversion. The 96-well Biomass Conversion Research Lab (BCRL) microplate method is a high-throughput assay to study digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass as a function of biomass composition, pre-treatment severity, and enzyme composition. The most suitable method for delivering milled biomass to the microplate was through multi-pipetting slurry suspensions. A rapid bio-enzymatic, spectrophotometric assay was used to determine fermentable sugars. The entire procedure was automated using a robotic pipetting workstation. Several parameters that affect hydrolysis in the microplate were studied and optimized (i.e., particle size reduction, slurry solids concentration, glucan loading, mass transfer issues, and time period for hydrolysis). The microplate method was optimized for crystalline cellulose (Avicel) and ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pre-treated corn stover. Copyright 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Lignosulfonate and elevated pH can enhance enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang ZJ

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Nonspecific (nonproductive binding (adsorption of cellulase by lignin has been identified as a key barrier to reduce cellulase loading for economical sugar and biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL is a relatively new process, but demonstrated robust performance for sugar and biofuel production from woody biomass especially softwoods in terms of yields and energy efficiencies. This study demonstrated the role of lignin sulfonation in enhancing enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses – lignosulfonate from SPORL can improve enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses, contrary to the conventional belief that lignin inhibits enzymatic hydrolysis due to nonspecific binding of cellulase. Results The study found that lignosulfonate from SPORL pretreatment and from a commercial source inhibits enzymatic hydrolysis of pure cellulosic substrates at low concentrations due to nonspecific binding of cellulase. Surprisingly, the reduction in enzymatic saccharification efficiency of a lignocellulosic substrate was fully recovered as the concentrations of these two lignosulfonates increased. We hypothesize that lignosulfonate serves as a surfactant to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis at higher concentrations and that this enhancement offsets its inhibitive effect from nonspecific binding of cellulase, when lignosulfonate is applied to lignocellulosic solid substrates. Lignosulfonate can block nonspecific binding of cellulase by bound lignin on the solid substrates, in the same manner as a nonionic surfactant, to significantly enhance enzymatic saccharification. This enhancement is linearly proportional to the amount of lignosulfonate applied which is very important to practical applications. For a SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine solid, 90% cellulose saccharification was achieved at cellulase loading of 13 FPU/g glucan with the application of its

Conversion of alkaline pretreated empty palm fruit bunch (EPFB) to phenols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nor Aishah Saidina Amin; Roslindawati Haron

2010-01-01

Various efforts on green chemistry are being directed at producing renewable chemicals. Chemicals derived from biomass can be the basis for building blocks in the chemicals industry. Phenols, traditionally produced from petroleum, can be derived from biomass for naturally-sourced solvents. Lignocellulose biomass consists of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Lignocellulose components can be altered by various chemical pretreatment methods. EFB contains about 60% cellulose and almost equal portions of lignin and hemicelluloses. Pretreatment of EFB fragmentized and degraded the lignocellulose structure in order to produce chemicals under thermochemical process. In this work, EFB was chemically pretreated with different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations to concentrated lignocellulose before being pyrolyzed to produce solid, gas and liquid products. Pyrolysis was conducted after the pretreatment step to evaluate the effects of pretreatment process on production and compositions of the bio-oil. The conversions of EFB were reported to be 61wt%, 47wt% and 42 wt%, after pretreatment with 5 wt%, 15 wt% and 25 wt%,NaOH concentrations, respectively. GCMS analysis results revealed the crude bio-oil contained dominantly phenol. Pyrolysis of the alkaline pretreated EFB seemed potential to produce biomass-based phenols. (author)

Processes for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McMillan, J.D.

1992-11-01

This paper reviews existing and proposed pretreatment processes for biomass. The focus is on the mechanisms by which the various pretreatments act and the influence of biomass structure and composition on the efficacy of particular pretreatment techniques. This analysis is used to identify pretreatment technologies and issues that warrant further research.

Lignocellulose pretreatment in a fungus-cultivating termite

Science.gov (United States)

Hongjie Li; Daniel J. Yelle; Chang Li; Mengyi Yang; Jing Ke; Ruijuan Zhang; Yu Liu; Na Zhu; Shiyou Liang; Xiaochang Mo; John Ralph; Cameron R. Currie; Jianchu Mo

2017-01-01

Depolymerizing lignin, the complex phenolic polymer fortifying plant cell walls, is an essential but challenging starting point for the lignocellulosics industries. The variety of ether– and carbon–carbon interunit linkages produced via radical coupling during lignification limit chemical and biological depolymerization efficiency. In an ancient fungus-cultivating...

Precultivation of Bacillus coagulans DSM2314 in the presence of furfural decreases inhibitory effects of lignocellulosic by-products during l(+)-lactic acid fermentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pol, van der Edwin; Springer, Jan; Vriesendorp, Bastienne; Weusthuis, Ruud; Eggink, Gerrit

2016-01-01

By-products resulting from thermo-chemical pretreatment of lignocellulose can inhibit fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars to lactic acid. Furfural is such a by-product, which is formed during acid pretreatment of lignocellulose. pH-controlled fermentations with 1 L starting volume, containing

Pretreatment of agricultural biomass for anaerobic digestion: Current state and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Paudel, Shukra Raj; Banjara, Sushant Prasad; Choi, Oh Kyung; Park, Ki Young; Kim, Young Mo; Lee, Jae Woo

2017-12-01

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of agricultural biomass is an attractive second generation biofuel with potential environmental and economic benefits. Most agricultural biomass contains lignocellulose which requires pretreatment prior to AD. For optimization, the pretreatment methods need to be specific to the characteristics of the biomass feedstock. In this review, cereal residue, fruit and vegetable wastes, grasses and animal manure were selected as the agricultural biomass candidates, and the fundamentals and current state of various pretreatment methods used for AD of these feedstocks were investigated. Several nonconventional methods (electrical, ionic liquid-based chemicals, ruminant biological pretreatment) offer potential as targeted pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass, but each comes with its own challenges. Pursuing an energy-intensive route, a combined bioethanol-biogas production could be a promising a second biofuel refinery option, further emphasizing the importance of pretreatment when lignocellulosic feedstock is used. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Process performance and comparative metagenomic analysis during co-digestion of manure and lignocellulosic biomass for biogas production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsapekos, Panagiotis; Kougias, Panagiotis; Treu, Laura

2017-01-01

Mechanical pretreatment is considered to be a fast and easily applicable method to prepare the biomass for anaerobic digestion. In the present study, the effect of mechanical pretreatment on lignocellulosic silages biodegradability was elucidated in batch reactors. Moreover, co-digestion of the s......Mechanical pretreatment is considered to be a fast and easily applicable method to prepare the biomass for anaerobic digestion. In the present study, the effect of mechanical pretreatment on lignocellulosic silages biodegradability was elucidated in batch reactors. Moreover, co...

A bionic system with Fenton reaction and bacteria as a model for bioprocessing lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kejing; Si, Mengying; Liu, Dan; Zhuo, Shengnan; Liu, Mingren; Liu, Hui; Yan, Xu; Shi, Yan

2018-01-01

The recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass offers a series of challenges for biochemical processing into biofuels and bio-products. For the first time, we address these challenges with a biomimetic system via a mild yet rapid Fenton reaction and lignocellulose-degrading bacterial strain Cupriavidus basilensis B-8 (here after B-8) to pretreat the rice straw (RS) by mimicking the natural fungal invasion process. Here, we also elaborated the mechanism through conducting a systematic study of physicochemical changes before and after pretreatment. After synergistic Fenton and B-8 pretreatment, the reducing sugar yield was increased by 15.6-56.6% over Fenton pretreatment alone and 2.7-5.2 times over untreated RS (98 mg g -1 ). Morphological analysis revealed that pretreatment changed the surface morphology of the RS, and the increase in roughness and hydrophilic sites enhanced lignocellulose bioavailability. Chemical components analyses showed that B-8 removed part of the lignin and hemicellulose which caused the cellulose content to increase. In addition, the important chemical modifications also occurred in lignin, 2D NMR analysis of the lignin in residues indicated that the Fenton pretreatment caused partial depolymerization of lignin mainly by cleaving the β- O -4 linkages and by demethoxylation to remove the syringyl (S) and guaiacyl (G) units. B-8 could depolymerize amount of the G units by cleaving the β-5 linkages that interconnect the lignin subunits. A biomimetic system with a biochemical Fenton reaction and lignocellulose-degrading bacteria was confirmed to be able for the pretreatment of RS to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis under mild conditions. The high digestibility was attributed to the destruction of the lignin structure, partial hydrolysis of the hemicellulose and partial surface oxidation of the cellulose. The mechanism of synergistic Fenton and B-8 pretreatment was also explored to understand the change in the RS and the bacterial effects on

Production of saccharifying enzyme using the wastewater of a shochu distillery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morimura, S.; Kida, K.; Yakita, Y.; Sonoda, Y. (Kumamoto University, Kumamoto (Japan). Faculty of Engineering); Myoga, H. (Organo Co. LTd., Tokyo (Japan))

1991-05-25

A saccharifying enzyme was produced using wastewater from a shochu distillery. Since the wastewater contained highly concentrated volatile fatty acids and those severely inhibited cell growth at low pH as converted to their free forms, the initial pH ranging from 4.5 to 6.0 was optimum. It was suggested that cell autolysis facilitated the release of the saccharifying enzyme, however, a released protease digested the enzyme with a subsequent decrease in activity. The enzyme was purified easily, and the purified enzyme was homogeneous as analyzed by disc electrophoresis. The enzyme was characterized by a molecular weight of 54,000 Da, an isoelectric point of pH 3.6, and the optimum reaction temperature and pH of 50-55{degree}C and 4.5-5.5, respectively. The enzyme could digest no raw starch, and the hydrolyzate of soluble starch by the enzyme was composed of two to four oligosaccharides. Based on above results and the amino acid sequence in a N-terminal, the enzyme produced was concluded to be {alpha}-amylase. 11 refs., 8 figs., 6 tabs.

Novel Biocatalytic Platform for Ethanol Production from Lignocellulosic Feedstock

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Chyi-Shin [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Tachea, Firehiwot [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Brown, Sarah [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Coffman, Philip [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Tanjore, Deepti [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Gregg, Allison [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rolison-Welch, Kristina [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Shirazi, Fatemeh [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); He, Qian [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sun, Ning [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2017-01-23

The goals of the CRADA were achieved by illustrating the scalability of immobilized yeast technology, demonstrating lignocellulosic feedstock consumption by the immobilized cells, and confirming Microvi’s proprietary polymer matrix ethanol toxicity tolerance. We conducted fermentations at 2L and 300L scales. For carbon source, we performed pretreatment and saccharification at 100L scale to produce lignocellulosic sugars with glucose and xylose.

Lignosulfonate and elevated pH can enhance enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses

Science.gov (United States)

ZJ Wang; TQ Lan; JY Zhu

2013-01-01

Nonspecific (nonproductive) binding (adsorption) of cellulase by lignin has been identified as a key barrier to reduce cellulase loading for economical sugar and biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL) is a relatively new process, but demonstrated robust performance for sugar and biofuel...

Optimization of the enzyme system for hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulose substrates; Optimering av enzymsystemet foer hydrolys av foerbehandlade lignocellulosa substrat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tjerneld, Folke [Lund univ., (Sweden). Dept. of Biochemistry

2000-06-01

This project aims to clarify the reasons for the slow and incomplete enzymatic hydrolysis of certain lignocellulose substrates, particularly softwood e.g. spruce. Based on this knowledge we will optimize the enzyme system so that the yield of fermentable sugars is increased as well as the rate of hydrolysis. We will also study methods for recycling of the enzymes in the process by adsorption on fresh substrate. Progress in these areas will lead to improved process economy in an ethanol process. We collaborate with Chemical Engineering on hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulose substrates and with Analytical Chemistry and Applied Microbiology on analysis of potential inhibitors. Within this main research direction the work at Biochemistry during this project period (since 970701) has been focused on the following areas: (1) Studies of the role of substrate properties in the enzymatic hydrolysis to clarify the reasons for the decrease in the rate of hydrolysis; (2) enzyme adsorption on lignin; (3) studies of recently identified low molecular weight endo glucanases which may be used for more effective penetration of small pores in pretreated substrates (this part is financed by the Nordic Energy Research Program). Central results during the period: In order to study the role of substrate properties for hydrolysis we have initiated investigations on steam pretreated substrates with several techniques. Measurements of pore sizes have been done with probe molecules of known molecular weights. Results show that probe molecules with diameters larger than 50 Aangstroem can more easily penetrate pretreated willow compared with spruce, which can be a part of the explanation for the better hydrolysability of hardwood substrates compared with softwood. We have started studies with electron microscopy of pretreated substrates at different degrees of enzymatic hydrolysis. With scanning electron microscopy (SEM) we can see significant differences in substrate structure in

Thermotolerant Yeasts for Bioethanol Production Using Lignocellulosic Substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Pasha, Chand; Rao, L. Venkateswar

No other sustainable option for production of transportation fuels can match ethanol made from lignocellulosic biomass with respect to its dramatic environmental, economic, strategic and infrastructure advantages. Substantial progress has been made in advancing biomass ethanol (bioethanol) production technology to the point that it now has commercial potential, and several firms are engaged in the demanding task of introducing first-of-a-kind technology into the marketplace to make bioethanol a reality in existing fuel-blending markets. In order to lower pollution India has a long-term goal to use biofuels (bioethanol and biodiesel). Ethanol may be used either in pure form, or as a blend in petrol in different proportions. Since the cost of raw materials, which can account up to 50 % of the total production cost, is one of the most significant factors affecting the economy of alcohol, nowadays efforts are more concentrated on using cheap and abundant raw materials. Several forms of biomass resources exist (starch or sugar crops, weeds, oil plants, agricultural, forestry and municipal wastes) but of all biomass cellulosic resources represent the most abundant global source. The lignocellulosic materials include agricultural residues, municipal solid wastes (MSW), pulp mill refuse, switchgrass and lawn, garden wastes. Lignocellulosic materials contain two types of polysaccharides, cellulose and hemicellulose, bound together by a third component lignin. The principal elements of the lignocellulosic research include: i) evaluation and characterization of the waste feedstock; ii) pretreatment including initial clean up or dewatering of the feedstock; and iii) development of effective direct conversion bioprocessing to generate ethanol as an end product. Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic materials is a step in which some of the hemicellulose dissolves in water, either as monomeric sugars or as oligomers and polymers. The cellulose cannot be enzymatically hydrolyzed to

Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Alkaline pretreatment of Mexican pine residues for bioethanol production. ... Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass, alkaline pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentable sugars, fermentation. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(31), pp.

Effects of gamma irradiation on the decomposition and biodegradability of lignocellulose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gas, G.; Bono, J.J.; Boudet, A.M.; Jaureguy, L.; Torres, L.; Mathieu, J.

1984-01-01

The study of effects of a pretreatment by gamma radiation on radioactive lignocellulose from poplar-tree and on subsequent biodegradation by fungi is realized for residues and soluble products. Measurement before and after treatment, of cellulose accessibility to an exogen cellulase shows the interest of irradiation in transformation processes of lignocellulosic products [fr

pH-Induced Lignin Surface Modification to Reduce Nonspecific Cellulase Binding and Enhance Enzymatic Saccharification of Lignocelluloses

Science.gov (United States)

Hongming Lou; J.Y. Zhu; Tian Qing Lan; Huranran Lai; Xueqing Qiu

2013-01-01

We studied the mechanism of the significant enhancement in the enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses at an elevated pH of 5.5–6.0. Four lignin residues with different sulfonic acid contents were isolated from enzymatic hydrolysis of lodgepole pine pretreated by either dilute acid (DA) or sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL...

Microwave heating processing as alternative of pretreatment in second-generation biorefinery: An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguilar-Reynosa, Alejandra; Romaní, Aloia; Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa Ma.; Aguilar, Cristóbal N.; Garrote, Gil; Ruiz, Héctor A.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Microwave heating pretreatment for lignocellulosic material. • Fundament of lignocellulosic material fractionation using microwave irradiation. • Energy consumption in microwave pretreatments and microwave reactors description. • Microwave heating as pretreatment in a biorefinery concept. - Abstract: The development of a feasible biorefinery is in need of alternative technologies to improve lignocellulosic biomass conversion by the suitable use of energy. Microwave heating processing (MHP) is emerging as promising unconventional pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials (LCMs). MHP applied as pretreatment induces LCMs breakdown through the molecular collision caused by the dielectric polarization. Polar particles movement generates a quick heating consequently the temperatures and times of process are lower. In this way, MHP has positioned as green technology in comparison with other types of heating. Microwave technology represents an excellent option to obtain susceptible substrates to enzymatic saccharification and subsequently in the production of bioethanol and high-added compounds. However, it is still necessary to study the dielectric properties of materials, and conduct economic studies to achieve development in pilot and industrial scale. This work aims to provide an overview of recent progress and alternative configurations for combining the application of microwave technology on the pretreatment of LCMs in terms of biorefinery.

Improved lignocellulose conversion to biofuels with thermophilic bacteria and thermostable enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhalla, Aditya; Bansal, Namita; Kumar, Sudhir; Bischoff, Kenneth M; Sani, Rajesh K

2013-01-01

Second-generation feedstock, especially nonfood lignocellulosic biomass is a potential source for biofuel production. Cost-intensive physical, chemical, biological pretreatment operations and slow enzymatic hydrolysis make the overall process of lignocellulosic conversion into biofuels less economical than available fossil fuels. Lignocellulose conversions carried out at ≤ 50 °C have several limitations. Therefore, this review focuses on the importance of thermophilic bacteria and thermostable enzymes to overcome the limitations of existing lignocellulosic biomass conversion processes. The influence of high temperatures on various existing lignocellulose conversion processes and those that are under development, including separate hydrolysis and fermentation, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, and extremophilic consolidated bioprocess are also discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dilute oxalic acid pretreatment for biorefining giant reed (Arundo donax L.)

Science.gov (United States)

Danilo Scordia; Salvatore L. Cosentino; Jae-Won Lee; Thomas W. Jeffries

2011-01-01

Biomass pretreatment is essential to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose for ethanol production. In the present study we pretreated giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a perennial, rhizomatous lignocellulosic grass with dilute oxalic acid. The effects of temperature (170-190 ºC), acid loading (2-10% w/w) and reaction time (15-40 min) were handled as a single...

Effects of wet-pressing-induced fiber hornification on enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses

Science.gov (United States)

X.L. Luo; Junyong Zhu; Roland Gleisner; H.Y. Zhan

2011-01-01

This article reports the effect of wet-pressing-induced fiber hornification on enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses. A wet cellulosic substrate of bleached kraft eucalyptus pulp and two wet sulfite-pretreated lignocellulosic substrates of aspen and lodgepole pine were pressed to various moisture (solids) contents by variation of pressing pressure and pressing...

Lignocellulosic Biomass: A Sustainable Bioenergy Source for the Future.

Science.gov (United States)

Fatma, Shabih; Hameed, Amir; Noman, Muhammad; Ahmed, Temoor; Shahid, Muhammad; Tariq, Mohsin; Sohail, Imran; Tabassum, Romana

2018-01-01

Increasing population and industrialization are continuously oppressing the existing energy resources and depleting the global fuel reservoirs. The elevated pollutions from the continuous consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels also seriously contaminating the surrounding environment. The use of alternate energy sources can be an environment-friendly solution to cope these challenges. Among the renewable energy sources biofuels (biomass-derived fuels) can serve as a better alternative to reduce the reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels. Bioethanol is one of the most widely consumed biofuels of today's world. The main objective of this review is to highlight the significance of lignocellulosic biomass as a potential source for the production of biofuels like bioethanol, biodiesel or biogas. We discuss the application of various methods for the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to end products i.e. biofuels. The lignocellulosic biomass must be pretreated to disintegrate lignocellulosic complexes and to expose its chemical components for downstream processes. After pretreatment, the lignocellulosic biomass is then subjected to saccharification either via acidic or enzymatic hydrolysis. Thereafter, the monomeric sugars resulted from hydrolysis step are further processed into biofuel i.e. bioethanol, biodiesel or butanol etc. through the fermentation process. The fermented impure product is then purified through the distillation process to obtain pure biofuel. Renewable energy sources represent the potential fuel alternatives to overcome the global energy crises in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. In future, biofuels may replenish the conventional non-renewable energy resources due to their renewability and several other advantages. Lignocellulosic biomass offers the most economical biomass to generate biofuels. However, extensive research is required for the commercial production of an efficient integrated biotransformation process for the production of

Recent advances in pretreatment of lignocellulosic wastes and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2009-04-20

Apr 20, 2009 ... The barrier to the production and recovery of valuable materials from LCW is the structure of lignocellulose which has evolved to resist degradation due to cross- linking between the polysaccharides (cellulose and hemi- cellulose) and the lignin via ester and ether linkages (Yan and Shuya, 2006; Xiao et al., ...

Lignocellulose nanofibers prepared by ionic liquid pretreatment and subsequent mechanical nanofibrillation of bagasse powder: Application to esterified bagasse/polypropylene composites.

Science.gov (United States)

Ninomiya, Kazuaki; Abe, Megumi; Tsukegi, Takayuki; Kuroda, Kosuke; Tsuge, Yota; Ogino, Chiaki; Taki, Kentaro; Taima, Tetsuya; Saito, Joji; Kimizu, Mitsugu; Uzawa, Kiyoshi; Takahashi, Kenji

2018-02-15

In the present study, we examined the efficacy of choline acetate (ChOAc, a cholinium ionic liquid))-assisted pretreatment of bagasse powder for subsequent mechanical nanofibrillation to produce lignocellulose nanofibers. Bagasse sample with ChOAc pretreatment and subsequent nanofibrillation (ChOAc/NF-bagasse) was prepared and compared to untreated control bagasse sample (control bagasse), bagasse sample with nanofibrillation only (NF-bagasse) and with ChOAc pretreatment only (ChOAc-bagasse). The specific surface area was 0.83m 2 /g, 3.1m 2 /g, 6.3m 2 /g, and 32m 2 /g for the control bagasse, ChOAc-bagasse, NF-bagasse, and the ChOAc/NF-bagasse, respectively. Esterified bagasse/polypropylene composites were prepared using the bagasse samples. ChOAc/NF-bagasse exhibited the best dispersion in the composites. The tensile toughness of the composites was 0.52J/cm 3 , 0.73J/cm 3 , 0.92J/cm 3 , and 1.29J/cm 3 for the composites prepared using control bagasse, ChOAc-bagasse, NF-bagasse, and ChOAc/NF-bagasse, respectively. Therefore, ChOAc pretreatment and subsequent nanofibrillation of bagasse powder resulted in enhanced tensile toughness of esterified bagasse/polypropylene composites. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluations of cellulose accessibilities of lignocelluloses by solute exclusion and protein adsorption techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Q.Q. Wang; Z. He; Z. Zhu; Y.-H.P. Zhang; Y. Ni; X.L. Luo; J.Y. Zhu

2012-01-01

Cellulose accessibilities of a set of hornified lignocellulosic substrates derived by drying the never dried pretreated sample and a set of differently pretreated lodgepople pine substrates, were evaluated using solute exclusion and protein adsorption methods. Direct measurements of cellulase adsorption onto cellulose surface of the set of pretreated substrates were...

Lignocellulosic ethanol production by starch-base industrial yeast under PEG detoxification

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiumei; Xu, Wenjuan; Mao, Liaoyuan; Zhang, Chao; Yan, Peifang; Xu, Zhanwei; Zhang, Z. Conrad

2016-02-01

Cellulosic ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass offers a sustainable solution for transition from fossil based fuels to renewable alternatives. However, a few long-standing technical challenges remain to be addressed in the development of an economically viable fermentation process from lignocellulose. Such challenges include the needs to improve yeast tolerance to toxic inhibitory compounds and to achieve high fermentation efficiency with minimum detoxification steps after a simple biomass pretreatment. Here we report an in-situ detoxification strategy by PEG exo-protection of an industrial dry yeast (starch-base). The exo-protected yeast cells displayed remarkably boosted vitality with high tolerance to toxic inhibitory compounds, and with largely improved ethanol productivity from crude hydrolysate derived from a pretreated lignocellulose. The PEG chemical exo-protection makes the industrial S. cerevisiae yeast directly applicable for the production of cellulosic ethanol with substantially improved productivity and yield, without of the need to use genetically modified microorganisms.

Isolation and characterization of Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14 for biological removal of inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysatembt

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wierckx, N.; Koopman, F.; Bandounas, L.; Winde, J.H.de; Ruijssenaars, H.J.

2010-01-01

The formation of toxic fermentation inhibitors such as furfural and 5-hydroxy-2-methylfurfural (HMF) during acid (pre-)treatment of lignocellulose, calls for the efficient removal of these compounds. Lignocellulosic hydrolysates can be efficiently detoxified biologically with microorganisms that

Production of ethanol from sugars and lignocellulosic biomass by Thermoanaerobacter J1 isolated from a hot spring in Iceland.

Science.gov (United States)

Jessen, Jan Eric; Orlygsson, Johann

2012-01-01

Thermophilic bacteria have gained increased attention as candidates for bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. This study investigated ethanol production by Thermoanaerobacter strain J1 from hydrolysates made from lignocellulosic biomass in batch cultures. The effect of increased initial glucose concentration and the partial pressure of hydrogen on end product formation were examined. The strain showed a broad substrate spectrum, and high ethanol yields were observed on glucose (1.70 mol/mol) and xylose (1.25 mol/mol). Ethanol yields were, however, dramatically lowered by adding thiosulfate or by cocultivating strain J1 with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen with acetate becoming the major end product. Ethanol production from 4.5 g/L of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates (grass, hemp stem, wheat straw, newspaper, and cellulose) pretreated with acid or alkali and the enzymes Celluclast and Novozymes 188 was investigated. The highest ethanol yields were obtained on cellulose (7.5 mM·g(-1)) but the lowest on straw (0.8 mM·g(-1)). Chemical pretreatment increased ethanol yields substantially from lignocellulosic biomass but not from cellulose. The largest increase was on straw hydrolysates where ethanol production increased from 0.8 mM·g(-1) to 3.3 mM·g(-1) using alkali-pretreated biomass. The highest ethanol yields on lignocellulosic hydrolysates were observed with hemp hydrolysates pretreated with acid, 4.2 mM·g(-1).

Comparative biochemical analysis after steam pretreatment of lignocellulosic agricultural waste biomass from Williams Cavendish banana plant (Triploid Musa AAA group).

Science.gov (United States)

Kamdem, Irénée; Jacquet, Nicolas; Tiappi, Florian Mathias; Hiligsmann, Serge; Vanderghem, Caroline; Richel, Aurore; Jacques, Philippe; Thonart, Philippe

2015-11-01

The accessibility of fermentable substrates to enzymes is a limiting factor for the efficient bioconversion of agricultural wastes in the context of sustainable development. This paper presents the results of a biochemical analysis performed on six combined morphological parts of Williams Cavendish Lignocellulosic Biomass (WCLB) after steam cracking (SC) and steam explosion (SE) pretreatments. Solid (S) and liquid (L) fractions (Fs) obtained from SC pretreatment performed at 180°C (SLFSC180) and 210°C (SLFSC210) generated, after diluted acid hydrolysis, the highest proportions of neutral sugar (NS) contents, specifically 52.82 ± 3.51 and 49.78 ± 1.39%w/w WCLB dry matter (DM), respectively. The highest proportions of glucose were found in SFSC210 (53.56 ± 1.33%w/w DM) and SFSC180 (44.47 ± 0.00%w/w DM), while the lowest was found in unpretreated WCLB (22.70 ± 0.71%w/w DM). Total NS content assessed in each LF immediately after SC and SE pretreatments was less than 2%w/w of the LF DM, thus revealing minor acid autohydrolysis consequently leading to minor NS production during the steam pretreatment. WCLB subjected to SC at 210 °C (SC210) generated up to 2.7-fold bioaccessible glucan and xylan. SC and SE pretreatments showed potential for the deconstruction of WCLB (delignification, depolymerization, decrystallization and deacetylation), enhancing its enzymatic hydrolysis. The concentrations of enzymatic inhibitors, such as 2-furfuraldehyde and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural from LFSC210, were the highest (41 and 21 µg ml(-1), respectively). This study shows that steam pretreatments in general and SC210 in particular are required for efficient bioconversion of WCLB. Yet, biotransformation through biochemical processes (e.g., anaerobic digestion) must be performed to assess the efficiency of these pretreatments. © The Author(s) 2015.

Continuous Ethanol Fermentation of Pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomasses, Waste Biomasses, Molasses and Syrup Using the Anaerobic, Thermophilic Bacterium Thermoanaerobacter italicus Pentocrobe 411

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Rasmus Lund; Jensen, Karen Møller; Mikkelsen, Marie Just

2015-01-01

Lignocellosic ethanol production is now at a stage where commercial or semi-commercial plants are coming online and, provided cost effective production can be achieved, lignocellulosic ethanol will become an important part of the world bio economy. However, challenges are still to be overcome throughout the process and particularly for the fermentation of the complex sugar mixtures resulting from the hydrolysis of hemicellulose. Here we describe the continuous fermentation of glucose, xylose and arabinose from non-detoxified pretreated wheat straw, birch, corn cob, sugar cane bagasse, cardboard, mixed bio waste, oil palm empty fruit bunch and frond, sugar cane syrup and sugar cane molasses using the anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter Pentocrobe 411. All fermentations resulted in close to maximum theoretical ethanol yields of 0.47–0.49 g/g (based on glucose, xylose, and arabinose), volumetric ethanol productivities of 1.2–2.7 g/L/h and a total sugar conversion of 90–99% including glucose, xylose and arabinose. The results solidify the potential of Thermoanaerobacter strains as candidates for lignocellulose bioconversion. PMID:26295944

Enhanced bioprocessing of lignocellulose: Wood-rot fungal saccharification and fermentation of corn fiber to ethanol

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Prachand

This research aims at developing a biorefinery platform to convert corn-ethanol coproduct, corn fiber, into fermentable sugars at a lower temperature with minimal use of chemicals. White-rot (Phanerochaete chrysosporium), brown-rot (Gloeophyllum trabeum) and soft-rot (Trichoderma reesei) fungi were used in this research to biologically break down cellulosic and hemicellulosic components of corn fiber into fermentable sugars. Laboratory-scale simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process proceeded by in-situ cellulolytic enzyme induction enhanced overall enzymatic hydrolysis of hemi/cellulose from corn fiber into simple sugars (mono-, di-, tri-saccharides). The yeast fermentation of hydrolyzate yielded 7.1, 8.6 and 4.1 g ethanol per 100 g corn fiber when saccharified with the white-, brown-, and soft-rot fungi, respectively. The highest corn-to-ethanol yield (8.6 g ethanol/100 g corn fiber) was equivalent to 42 % of the theoretical ethanol yield from starch and cellulose in corn fiber. Cellulase, xylanase and amylase activities of these fungi were also investigated over a week long solid-substrate fermentation of corn fiber. G. trabeum had the highest activities for starch (160 mg glucose/mg protein.min) and on day three of solid-substrate fermentation. P. chrysosporium had the highest activity for xylan (119 mg xylose/mg protein.min) on day five and carboxymethyl cellulose (35 mg glucose/mg protein.min) on day three of solid-substrate fermentation. T. reesei showed the highest activity for Sigma cell 20 (54.8 mg glucose/mg protein.min) on day 5 of solid-substrate fermentation. The effect of different pretreatments on SSF of corn fiber by fungal processes was examined. Corn fiber was treated at 30 °C for 2 h with alkali [2% NaOH (w/w)], alkaline peroxide [2% NaOH (w/w) and 1% H2O 2 (w/w)], and by steaming at 100 °C for 2 h. Mild pretreatment resulted in improved ethanol yields for brown- and soft-rot SSF, while white-rot and Spezyme CP SSFs showed

How does cellulosome composition influence deconstruction of lignocellulosic substrates in Clostridium (Ruminiclostridium) thermocellum DSM 1313?

Science.gov (United States)

Yoav, Shahar; Barak, Yoav; Shamshoum, Melina; Borovok, Ilya; Lamed, Raphael; Dassa, Bareket; Hadar, Yitzhak; Morag, Ely; Bayer, Edward A

2017-01-01

Bioethanol production processes involve enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. Due to the relatively high cost of enzyme production, the development of potent and cost-effective cellulolytic cocktails is critical for increasing the cost-effectiveness of bioethanol production. In this context, the multi-protein cellulolytic complex of Clostridium ( Ruminiclostridium ) thermocellum, the cellulosome, was studied here. C. thermocellum is known to assemble cellulosomes of various subunit (enzyme) compositions, in response to the available carbon source. In the current study, different carbon sources were used, and their influence on both cellulosomal composition and the resultant activity was investigated. Glucose, cellobiose, microcrystalline cellulose, alkaline-pretreated switchgrass, alkaline-pretreated corn stover, and dilute acid-pretreated corn stover were used as sole carbon sources in the growth media of C. thermocellum strain DSM 1313. The purified cellulosomes were compared for their activity on selected cellulosic substrates. Interestingly, cellulosomes derived from cells grown on lignocellulosic biomass showed no advantage in hydrolyzing the original carbon source used for their production. Instead, microcrystalline cellulose- and glucose-derived cellulosomes were equal or superior in their capacity to deconstruct lignocellulosic biomass. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed differential composition of catalytic and structural subunits (scaffoldins) in the different cellulosome samples. The most abundant catalytic subunits in all cellulosome types include Cel48S, Cel9K, Cel9Q, Cel9R, and Cel5G. Microcrystalline cellulose- and glucose-derived cellulosome samples showed higher endoglucanase-to-exoglucanase ratios and higher catalytic subunit-per-scaffoldin ratios compared to lignocellulose-derived cellulosome types. The results reported here highlight the finding that cellulosomes derived from cells grown on glucose

Production of Ethanol from Sugars and Lignocellulosic Biomass by Thermoanaerobacter J1 Isolated from a Hot Spring in Iceland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Eric Jessen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Thermophilic bacteria have gained increased attention as candidates for bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. This study investigated ethanol production by Thermoanaerobacter strain J1 from hydrolysates made from lignocellulosic biomass in batch cultures. The effect of increased initial glucose concentration and the partial pressure of hydrogen on end product formation were examined. The strain showed a broad substrate spectrum, and high ethanol yields were observed on glucose (1.70 mol/mol and xylose (1.25 mol/mol. Ethanol yields were, however, dramatically lowered by adding thiosulfate or by cocultivating strain J1 with a hydrogenotrophic methanogen with acetate becoming the major end product. Ethanol production from 4.5 g/L of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates (grass, hemp stem, wheat straw, newspaper, and cellulose pretreated with acid or alkali and the enzymes Celluclast and Novozymes 188 was investigated. The highest ethanol yields were obtained on cellulose (7.5 mM·g−1 but the lowest on straw (0.8 mM·g−1. Chemical pretreatment increased ethanol yields substantially from lignocellulosic biomass but not from cellulose. The largest increase was on straw hydrolysates where ethanol production increased from 0.8 mM·g−1 to 3.3 mM·g−1 using alkali-pretreated biomass. The highest ethanol yields on lignocellulosic hydrolysates were observed with hemp hydrolysates pretreated with acid, 4.2 mM·g−1.

Pretreatment of Oil Palm Frond (OPF) with Ionic Liquid

Science.gov (United States)

Azmi, I. S.; Azizan, A.; Salleh, R. Mohd

2018-05-01

Pretreatment is the key to unlock the recalcitrance of lignocellulose for cellulosic biofuel production. Increasing attention has been drawn to ionic liquids (ILs) for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass because this approach was considered as a green engineering method over other conventional methods. In this work, Oil palm frond (OPF) was pretreated by using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate [EMIM] Ac at the temperature of 99˚C for 3 hours. The characterization of the untreated and pretreated OPF was conducted by using different techniques which are Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The pretreatment of OPF with [EMIM] Ac was demonstrated to be effective evidenced by the significant reduction of Lateral Order Index (LOI) from FTIR, reduction of Crystallinity Index (CI) based on XRD and the significant morphology changes indicated by SEM. The CI value for the pretreated OPF decreased from 0.47 (untreated sample) to 0.28 while the LOI value decreased from 1.10 to 0.24 after pretreatment with [EMIM]Ac and the SEM morphology showed that the pretreated OPF becomes distorted and disordered.

The Zymomonas mobilis regulator hfq contributes to tolerance against multiple lignocellulosic pretreatment inhibitors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Tse-Yuan S

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Zymomonas mobilis produces near theoretical yields of ethanol and recombinant strains are candidate industrial microorganisms. To date, few studies have examined its responses to various stresses at the gene level. Hfq is a conserved bacterial member of the Sm-like family of RNA-binding proteins, coordinating a broad array of responses including multiple stress responses. In a previous study, we observed Z. mobilis ZM4 gene ZMO0347 showed higher expression under anaerobic, stationary phase compared to that of aerobic, stationary conditions. Results We generated a Z. mobilis hfq insertion mutant AcRIM0347 in an acetate tolerant strain (AcR background and investigated its role in model lignocellulosic pretreatment inhibitors including acetate, vanillin, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Lsm protein (Hfq homologue mutants and Lsm protein overexpression strains were also assayed for their inhibitor phenotypes. Our results indicated that all the pretreatment inhibitors tested in this study had a detrimental effect on both Z. mobilis and S. cerevisiae, and vanillin had the most inhibitory effect followed by furfural and then HMF for both Z. mobilis and S. cerevisiae. AcRIM0347 was more sensitive than the parental strain to the inhibitors and had an increased lag phase duration and/or slower growth depending upon the conditions. The hfq mutation in AcRIM0347 was complemented partially by trans-acting hfq gene expression. We also assayed growth phenotypes for S. cerevisiae Lsm protein mutant and overexpression phenotypes. Lsm1, 6, and 7 mutants showed reduced tolerance to acetate and other pretreatment inhibitors. S. cerevisiae Lsm protein overexpression strains showed increased acetate and HMF resistance as compared to the wild-type, while the overexpression strains showed greater inhibition under vanillin stress conditions. Conclusions We have shown the utility of the pKNOCK suicide plasmid for

Hemicelluloses negatively affect lignocellulose crystallinity for high biomass digestibility under NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments in Miscanthus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Ning

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lignocellulose is the most abundant biomass on earth. However, biomass recalcitrance has become a major factor affecting biofuel production. Although cellulose crystallinity significantly influences biomass saccharification, little is known about the impact of three major wall polymers on cellulose crystallization. In this study, we selected six typical pairs of Miscanthus samples that presented different cell wall compositions, and then compared their cellulose crystallinity and biomass digestibility after various chemical pretreatments. Results A Miscanthus sample with a high hemicelluloses level was determined to have a relatively low cellulose crystallinity index (CrI and enhanced biomass digestibility at similar rates after pretreatments of NaOH and H2SO4 with three concentrations. By contrast, a Miscanthus sample with a high cellulose or lignin level showed increased CrI and low biomass saccharification, particularly after H2SO4 pretreatment. Correlation analysis revealed that the cellulose CrI negatively affected biomass digestion. Increased hemicelluloses level by 25% or decreased cellulose and lignin contents by 31% and 37% were also found to result in increased hexose yields by 1.3-times to 2.2-times released from enzymatic hydrolysis after NaOH or H2SO4 pretreatments. The findings indicated that hemicelluloses were the dominant and positive factor, whereas cellulose and lignin had synergistic and negative effects on biomass digestibility. Conclusions Using six pairs of Miscanthus samples with different cell wall compositions, hemicelluloses were revealed to be the dominant factor that positively determined biomass digestibility after pretreatments with NaOH or H2SO4 by negatively affecting cellulose crystallinity. The results suggested potential approaches to the genetic modifications of bioenergy crops.

Techno-economic analysis of organosolv pretreatment process from lignocellulosic biomass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodrigues Gurgel da Silva, Andrè; Errico, Massimiliano; Rong, Ben-Guang

2018-01-01

data, we propose a feasible process flowsheet for organosolv pretreatment. Simulation of the pretreatment process provided mass and energy balances for a techno-economic analysis, and the values were compared with the most prevalent and mature pretreatment method: diluted acid. Organosolv pretreatment...... required more energy, 578.1 versus 213.8 MW for diluted acid pretreatment, but resulted in a higher ethanol concentration after the biomass fermentation, 11.1% compared to 5.4%. Total annual costs (TACs) calculations showed advantages for diluted acid pretreatment, but future improvements explored...

Efficient chemical and enzymatic saccharification of the lignocellulosic residue from Agave tequilana bagasse to produce ethanol by Pichia caribbica.

Science.gov (United States)

Saucedo-Luna, Jaime; Castro-Montoya, Agustin Jaime; Martinez-Pacheco, Mauro Manuel; Sosa-Aguirre, Carlos Ruben; Campos-Garcia, Jesus

2011-06-01

Bagasse of Agave tequilana (BAT) is the residual lignocellulosic waste that remains from tequila production. In this study we characterized the chemical composition of BAT, which was further saccharified and fermented to produce ethanol. BAT was constituted by cellulose (42%), hemicellulose (20%), lignin (15%), and other (23%). Saccharification of BAT was carried out at 147 °C with 2% sulfuric acid for 15 min, yielding 25.8 g/l of fermentable sugars, corresponding to 36.1% of saccharificable material (cellulose and hemicellulose contents, w/w). The remaining lignocellulosic material was further hydrolyzed by commercial enzymes, ~8.2% of BAT load was incubated for 72 h at 40 °C rendering 41 g/l of fermentable sugars corresponding to 73.6% of the saccharificable material (w/w). Mathematic surface response analysis of the acid and enzymatic BAT hydrolysis was used for process optimization. The results showed a satisfactory correlation (R (2) = 0.90) between the obtained and predicted responses. The native yeast Pichia caribbica UM-5 was used to ferment sugar liquors from both acid and enzymatic hydrolysis to ethanol yielding 50 and 87%, respectively. The final optimized process generated 8.99 g ethanol/50 g of BAT, corresponding to an overall 56.75% of theoretical ethanol (w/w). Thus, BAT may be employed as a lignocellulosic raw material for bioethanol production and can contribute to BAT residue elimination from environment.

Ethanol production from industrial hemp: effect of combined dilute acid/steam pretreatment and economic aspects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gunnarsson, Ingólfur Bragi; Svensson, Sven-Erik; Prade, Thomas

2014-01-01

In the present study, combined steam (140-180 °C) and dilute-acid pre-hydrolysis (0.0-2.0%) were applied to industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), as pretreatment for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. The influence of the pretreatment conditions and cultivation type on the hydrolysis and etha......In the present study, combined steam (140-180 °C) and dilute-acid pre-hydrolysis (0.0-2.0%) were applied to industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), as pretreatment for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. The influence of the pretreatment conditions and cultivation type on the hydrolysis...... pretreated at the optimal conditions showed positive economic results. The type of hemp cultivation (organic or conventional) did not influence significantly the effectiveness of the pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation....

Ethanol Fermentation of Various Pretreated and Hydrolyzed Substrates at Low Initial pH

Science.gov (United States)

Kádár, Zsófia; Maltha, San Feng; Szengyel, Zsolt; Réczey, Kati; de Laat, Wim

Lignocellulosic materials represent an abundant feedstock for bioethanol production. Because of their complex structure pretreatment is necessary to make it accessible for enzymatic attack. Steam pretreatment with or without acid catalysts seems to be one of the most promising techniques, which has already been applied for large variety of lignocellulosics in order to improve enzymatic digestibility. During this process a range of toxic compounds (lignin and sugar degradation products) are formed which inhibit ethanol fermentation. In this study, the toxicity of hemicellulose hydrolysates obtained in the steam pretreatment of spruce, willow, and corn stover were investigated in ethanol fermentation tests using a yeast strain, which has been previously reported to have a resistance to inhibitory compounds generated during steam pretreatment. To overcome bacterial contamination, fermentations were carried out at low initial pH. The fermentability of hemicellulose hydrolysates of pretreated lignocellulosic substrates at low pH gave promising results with the economically profitable final 5 vol% ethanol concentration corresponding to 85% of theoretical. Adaptation experiments have shown that inhibitor tolerance of yeast strain can be improved by subsequent transfer of the yeast to inhibitory medium.

The NILE Project - Advances in the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Materials into Ethanol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monot, F.; Margeot, A.; Hahn-Haegerdal, B.; Lindstedt, J.; Slade, R.

2013-01-01

NILE ('New Improvements for Lignocellulosic Ethanol') was an integrated European project (2005-2010) devoted to the conversion of lignocellulosic raw materials to ethanol. The main objectives were to design novel enzymes suitable for the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose and new yeast strains able to efficiently converting all the sugars present in lignocellulose into ethanol. The project also included testing these new developments in an integrated pilot plant and evaluating the environmental and socio-economic impacts of implementing lignocellulosic ethanol on a large scale. Two model raw materials - spruce and wheat straw - both preconditioned with similar pretreatments, were used. Several approaches were explored to improve the saccharification of these pretreated raw materials such as searching for new efficient enzymes and enzyme engineering. Various genetic engineering methods were applied to obtain stable xylose- and arabinose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that tolerate the toxic compounds present in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The pilot plant was able to treat 2 tons of dry matter per day, and hydrolysis and fermentation could be run successively or simultaneously. A global model integrating the supply chain was used to assess the performance of lignocellulosic ethanol from an economical and environmental perspective. It was found that directed evolution of a specific enzyme of the cellulolytic cocktail produced by the industrial fungus, Trichoderma reesei, and modification of the composition of this cocktail led to improvements of the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated raw material. These results, however, were difficult to reproduce at a large scale. A substantial increase in the ethanol conversion yield and in specific ethanol productivity was obtained through a combination of metabolic engineering of yeast strains and fermentation process development. Pilot trials confirmed the good behaviour of the yeast strains in industrial

Production and characterization of cellulolytic enzymes from Trichoderma reesei grown on various carbon sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warzywoda, Michel; Labre, Elisabeth; Pourquie, Jacques [Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP), 92 - Rueil-Malmaison (France)

1992-01-01

Ethanol production from lignocellulosics is considered, using a process in which biomass is first pretreated by steam explosion, yielding freely water-extractible pentoses and a cellulose-rich residue which can be further hydrolyzed by cellulases into glucose to be fermented into ethanol. Results that are reported show that both the pentose extracts and the glucose-rich hydrolyzates can be used as carbon sources for cellulase production by Trichoderma reesei. When compared with lactose as the main carbon source, pentose extracts support lower but satisfactory protein productions which are characterized by an increase in hemicellulolytic activities, which significantly improves the saccharifying potential of these enzyme preparations. (author).

Ionic liquid-tolerant microorganisms and microbial communities for lignocellulose conversion to bioproducts.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Chaowei; Simmons, Blake A; Singer, Steven W; Thelen, Michael P; VanderGheynst, Jean S

2016-12-01

Chemical and physical pretreatment of biomass is a critical step in the conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels and bioproducts. Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment has attracted significant attention due to the unique ability of certain ILs to solubilize some or all components of the plant cell wall. However, these ILs inhibit not only the enzyme activities but also the growth and productivity of microorganisms used in downstream hydrolysis and fermentation processes. While pretreated biomass can be washed to remove residual IL and reduce inhibition, extensive washing is costly and not feasible in large-scale processes. IL-tolerant microorganisms and microbial communities have been discovered from environmental samples and studies begun to elucidate mechanisms of IL tolerance. The discovery of IL tolerance in environmental microbial communities and individual microbes has lead to the proposal of molecular mechanisms of resistance. In this article, we review recent progress on discovering IL-tolerant microorganisms, identifying metabolic pathways and mechanisms of tolerance, and engineering microorganisms for IL tolerance. Research in these areas will yield new approaches to overcome inhibition in lignocellulosic biomass bioconversion processes and increase opportunities for the use of ILs in biomass pretreatment.

Changes in various physical/chemical parameters of Pinus pinaster wood after steam explosion pretreatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Negro, M.J.; Manzanares, P.; Oliva, J.M.; Ballesteros, I.; Ballesteros, M. [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, Madrid (Spain). Departamento de Energias Renovables

2003-09-01

Steam-explosion process can be satisfactorily used as a pretreatment in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Traditionally, pretreatment effectiveness is evaluated in terms of hemicellulose solubilization, enzymatic convertibility of cellulosic fraction, and recovery of both polysaccharides. In this study some parameters different from composition (main components) have been evaluated as an alternative tool to characterise the effect of steaming pretreatment on lignocellulosic materials. The effect of the most important variables in steam explosion pretreatment (temperature, residence time and chip size) on various physical/chemical parameters of pine biomass were investigated. Changes in O/C and H/C atomic ratios, colour analysis, elementary composition, water drop penetration time, organic soluble content, cellulose crystallinity index, and thermogravimetric analysis after the pretreatment were evaluated. Furthermore the influence of operational pretreatment variables on all such parameters and their interactions were examined with the Yates' algorithm. (author)

Changes in various physical/chemical parameters of Pinus pinaster wood after steam explosion pretreatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negro, M.J.; Manzanares, P.; Oliva, J.M.; Ballesteros, I.; Ballesteros, M.

2003-01-01

Steam-explosion process can be satisfactorily used as a pretreatment in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Traditionally, pretreatment effectiveness is evaluated in terms of hemicellulose solubilization, enzymatic convertibility of cellulose fraction, and recovery of both polysaccharides. In this study some parameters different from composition (main components) have been evaluated as an alternative tool to characterise the effect of steaming pretreatment on lignocellulosic materials. The effect of the most important variables in steam explosion pretreatment (temperature, residence time and chip size) on various physical/chemical parameters of pine biomass were investigated. Changes in O/C and H/C atomic ratios, colour analysis, elementary composition, water drop penetration time, organic soluble content, cellulose cristallinity index, and thermogravimetric analysis after the pretreatment were evaluated. Furthermore the influence of operational pretreatment variables on all such parameters and their interactions were examined with the Yates' algorithm

Comparison of ultrasonic and CO₂laser pretreatment methods on enzyme digestibility of corn stover.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Shuang-Qi; Wang, Zhen-Yu; Fan, Zi-Luan; Zuo, Li-Li

2012-01-01

To decrease the cost of bioethanol production, biomass recalcitrance needs to be overcome so that the conversion of biomass to bioethanol becomes more efficient. CO(2) laser irradiation can disrupt the lignocellulosic physical structure and reduce the average size of fiber. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area, and the microstructure of corn stover were used to elucidate the enhancement mechanism of the pretreatment process by CO(2) laser irradiation. The present work demonstrated that the CO(2) laser had potential to enhance the bioconversion efficiency of lignocellulosic waste to renewable bioethanol. The saccharification rate of the CO(2) laser pretreatment was significantly higher than ultrasonic pretreatment, and reached 27.75% which was 1.34-fold of that of ultrasonic pretreatment. The results showed the impact of CO(2) laser pretreatment on corn stover to be more effective than ultrasonic pretreatment.

Biological strategies for enhanced hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass during anaerobic digestion: Current status and future perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Shilva; Fonoll, Xavier; Khanal, Samir Kumar; Raskin, Lutgarde

2017-12-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable bioresource on earth. In lignocellulosic biomass, the cellulose and hemicellulose are bound with lignin and other molecules to form a complex structure not easily accessible to microbial degradation. Anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignocellulosic biomass with a focus on improving hydrolysis, the rate limiting step in AD of lignocellulosic feedstocks, has received considerable attention. This review highlights challenges with AD of lignocellulosic biomass, factors contributing to its recalcitrance, and natural microbial ecosystems, such as the gastrointestinal tracts of herbivorous animals, capable of performing hydrolysis efficiently. Biological strategies that have been evaluated to enhance hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass include biological pretreatment, co-digestion, and inoculum selection. Strategies to further improve these approaches along with future research directions are outlined with a focus on linking studies of microbial communities involved in hydrolysis of lignocellulosics to process engineering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to xylitol: An overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkateswar Rao, Linga; Goli, Jyosthna Khanna; Gentela, Jahnavi; Koti, Sravanthi

2016-08-01

Lignocellulosic wastes include agricultural and forest residues which are most promising alternative energy sources and serve as potential low cost raw materials that can be exploited to produce xylitol. The strong physical and chemical construction of lignocelluloses is a major constraint for the recovery of xylose. The large scale production of xylitol is attained by nickel catalyzed chemical process that is based on xylose hydrogenation, that requires purified xylose as raw substrate and the process requires high temperature and pressure that remains to be cost intensive and energy consuming. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop an integrated process for biotechnological conversion of lignocelluloses to xylitol and make the process economical. The present review confers about the pretreatment strategies that facilitate cellulose and hemicellulose acquiescent for hydrolysis. There is also an emphasis on various detoxification and fermentation methodologies including genetic engineering strategies for the efficient conversion of xylose to xylitol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fungal treatment of lignocellulosic biomass: Importance of fungal species, colonization and time on chemical composition and in vitro rumen degradability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijk, van S.J.A.; Sonnenberg, A.S.M.; Baars, J.J.P.; Hendriks, W.H.; Cone, J.W.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate fungal treatments to improve in vitro rumen degradability of lignocellulosic biomass. In this study four selective lignin degrading fungi, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus eryngii and Pleurotus ostreatus, were used to pre-treat lignocellulosic

Comparisons of five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for ethanol production from SPORL pretreated lodgepole pine

Science.gov (United States)

The performances of 5 yeast strains under three levels of toxicity were evaluated using hydrolysates from lodgepole pine pretreated by Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome the Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL). The highest level of toxicity was represented by the whole pretreated biomass slurry, ...

Ensiling as pretreatment of grass for lignocellulosic biomass conversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambye-Jensen, Morten

for subsequent enzymatic saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose, by using the temperate grass Festulolium Hykor. The method was additionally combined with hydrothermal treatment, in order to decrease the required severity of an industrial applied pretreatment method. The first part of the project...... conditions providing the best possible pretreatment effect. The parameters were biomass composition, varied by ensiling of four seasonal cuts of grass, different dry matter (DM) content at ensiling, and an addition of different lactic acid bacteria species. First of all, the study confirmed that ensiling can...... act as a method of pretreatment and improve the enzymatic cellulose convertibility of grass. Furthermore, low DM ensiling was found to improve the effects of pretreatment due to a higher production of organic acids in the silage. The effect of applied lactic acid bacteria species was, however...

Potential of potassium hydroxide pretreatment of switchgrass for fermentable sugar production.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Rajat; Palled, Vijaykumar; Sharma-Shivappa, Ratna R; Osborne, Jason

2013-02-01

Chemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been extensively investigated for sugar generation and subsequent fuel production. Alkaline pretreatment has emerged as one of the popular chemical pretreatment methods, but most attempts thus far have utilized NaOH for the pretreatment process. This study aimed at investigating the potential of potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a viable alternative alkaline reagent for lignocellulosic pretreatment based on its different reactivity patterns compared to NaOH. Performer switchgrass was pretreated at KOH concentrations of 0.5-2% for varying treatment times of 6-48 h, 6-24 h, and 0.25-1 h at 21, 50, and 121 °C, respectively. The pretreatments resulted in the highest percent sugar retention of 99.26% at 0.5%, 21 °C, 12 h while delignification up to 55.4% was observed with 2% KOH, 121 °C, 1 h. Six pretreatment conditions were selected for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with Cellic CTec2® for sugar generation. The pretreatment condition of 0.5% KOH, 24 h, 21 °C was determined to be the most effective as it utilized the least amount of KOH while generating 582.4 mg sugar/g raw biomass for a corresponding percent carbohydrate conversion of 91.8%.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated barley and wheat straw

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosgaard, Lisa

2007-01-01

. The work involved evaluation of 1) possible ways to increase the glucose release from the commercial cellulase product Celluclast by boosting with other enzyme activities to increase the enzymatic hydrolysis, 2) comparing differently pretreated feedstock substrates and 3) evaluating a fed-batch substrate...... mixture resulted in a glucose release corresponding to ~84 % of the glucose release from Celluclast. It was therefore suggested that other enzyme activities than the 4 four main cellulase activities in Celluclast are necessary for optimal hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Even though Celluclast...... is a multicomponent cellulase mixture, there are still possibilities for further improvement in terms of providing the most efficient cellulase mixture for lignocellulose hydrolysis. It was shown that substrates evaluated all had some residual hemicellulose in the solid cellulose fraction after pretreatment...

Monitoring of Growth and Production Characteristics of Red Yeasts Cultivated on Hydrothermally Pretreated Lignocellulosic Pine Material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Haronikova

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to compare the production of carotenes and ergosterol by red yeasts grown on pine lignocellulose substrates. The yeast strains Rhodotorula aurantiaca and Sporobolomyces shibatanus were grown on the liquid fraction of steam pretreated pine (210 °C, catalyst SO2. Biomass production on a pine hydrolysate was lower than on glucose. The highest content of carotenoids and ergosterol in the cells of R. aurantiaca grown on pine hydrolysate was about 1.7 mg g–1 and 0.8 mg g–1 (dwt, respectively, and in S. shibatanus about 0.9 mg g–1 and 0.1 mg g–1, respectively. Hemicellulose hydrolysates may contain many compounds that have inhibitory effects on microorganisms. In this work, the influences of some inhibitors were assessed by cultivating yeasts on media with a representative addition of the selected compounds. From these tests, furfural appears to be the most critical inhibitor, whereas acetic acid and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF do not affect the growth so much.

Effect of ultrasound pre-treatment on the physicochemical composition of Agave durangensis leaves and potential enzyme production.

Science.gov (United States)

Contreras-Hernández, M G; Ochoa-Martínez, L A; Rutiaga-Quiñones, J G; Rocha-Guzmán, N E; Lara-Ceniceros, T E; Contreras-Esquivel, J C; Prado Barragán, L A; Rutiaga-Quiñones, O M

2018-02-01

Approximately 1 million tons of agave plants are processed annually by the Mexican tequila and mezcal industry, generating vast amounts of agroindustrial solid waste. This type of lignocellulosic biomass is considered to be agroindustrial residue, which can be used to produce enzymes, giving it added value. However, the structure of lignocellulosic biomass makes it highly recalcitrant, and results in relatively low yield when used in its native form. The aim of this study was to investigate an effective pre-treatment method for the production of commercially important hydrolytic enzymes. In this work, the physical and chemical modification of Agave durangensis leaves was analysed using ultrasound and high temperature as pre-treatments, and production of enzymes was evaluated. The pre-treatments resulted in modification of the lignocellulosic structure and composition; the ultrasound pre-treatment improved the production of inulinase by 4 U/mg and cellulase by 0.297 U/mg, and thermal pre-treatment improved β-fructofuranosidase by 30 U/mg. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oxidative production of xylonic acid using xylose in distillation stillage of cellulosic ethanol fermentation broth by Gluconobacter oxydans.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongsen; Han, Xushen; Wei, Chengxiang; Bao, Jie

2017-01-01

An oxidative production process of xylonic acid using xylose in distillation stillage of cellulosic ethanol fermentation broth was designed, experimentally investigated, and evaluated. Dry dilute acid pretreated and biodetoxified corn stover was simultaneously saccharified and fermented into 59.80g/L of ethanol (no xylose utilization). 65.39g/L of xylose was obtained in the distillation stillage without any concentrating step after ethanol was distillated. Then the xylose was completely converted into 66.42g/L of xylonic acid by Gluconobacter oxydans. The rigorous Aspen Plus modeling shows that the wastewater generation and energy consumption was significantly reduced comparing to the previous xylonic acid production process using xylose in pretreatment liquid. This study provided a practical process option for xylonic acid production from lignocellulose feedstock with significant reduction of wastewater and energy consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pretreatment of Reed by Wet Oxidation and Subsequent Utilization of the Pretreated Fibers for Ethanol Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szijarto, Nora; Kádár, Zsófia; Varga, Eniko

2009-01-01

lignocelluloses usually do. In the present study, wet oxidation was investigated as the pretreatment method to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of reed cellulose to soluble sugars and thus improve the convertibility of reed to ethanol. The most effective treatment increased the digestibility of reed cellulose...... of cellulose to glucose was 82.4%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated solids resulted in a final ethanol concentration as high as 8.7 g/L, yielding 73% of the theoretical....

Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Corredor, Deisy Y.

The performance of soybean hulls and forage sorghum as feedstocks for ethanol production was studied. The main goal of this research was to increase fermentable sugars' yield through high-efficiency pretreatment technology. Soybean hulls are a potential feedstock for production of bio-ethanol due to their high carbohydrate content (≈50%) of nearly 37% cellulose. Soybean hulls could be the ideal feedstock for fuel ethanol production, because they are abundant and require no special harvesting and additional transportation costs as they are already in the plant. Dilute acid and modified steam-explosion were used as pretreatment technologies to increase fermentable sugars yields. Effects of reaction time, temperature, acid concentration and type of acid on hydrolysis of hemicellulose in soybean hulls and total sugar yields were studied. Optimum pretreatment parameters and enzymatic hydrolysis conditions for converting soybean hulls into fermentable sugars were identified. The combination of acid (H2SO4, 2% w/v) and steam (140°C, 30 min) efficiently solubilized the hemicellulose, giving a pentose yield of 96%. Sorghum is a tropical grass grown primarily in semiarid and dry parts of the world, especially in areas too dry for corn. The production of sorghum results in about 30 million tons of byproducts mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Forage sorghum such as brown midrib (BMR) sorghum for ethanol production has generated much interest since this trait is characterized genetically by lower lignin concentrations in the plant compared with conventional types. Three varieties of forage sorghum and one variety of regular sorghum were characterized and evaluated as feedstock for fermentable sugar production. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction were used to determine changes in structure and chemical composition of forage sorghum before and after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis

Effects of enzymatic hydrolysis and ultrasounds pretreatments on corn cob and vine trimming shoots for biogas production.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Rodríguez, N; García-Bernet, D; Domínguez, J M

2016-12-01

Due to their lignocellulosic nature, corn cob and vine trimming shoots (VTS) could be valorized by anaerobic digestion for biogas production. To enhance the digestibility of substrates, pretreatments of lignocellulosic materials are recommended. The effect of enzymatic hydrolysis, ultrasounds pretreatments (US) and the combination of both was assayed in lignocellulosic composition, methane, and biogas yields. The pretreatments leaded to a reduction in lignin and an increase in neutral detergent soluble compounds making corn cob and VTS more amendable for biogas conversion. The US were negative for biogas production from both substrates and in particular strongly detrimental for VTS. On the opposite side, the enzymatic hydrolysis was certainly beneficial increasing 59.8% and 14.6% the methane production from VTS and corn cob, respectively. The prior application of US did not potentiate (or not sufficiently) the improvement in the methane production reflected by the enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment of VTS and corn cob. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Single-step ethanol production from lignocellulose using novel extremely thermophilic bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Svetlitchnyi, Vitali A; Kensch, Oliver; Falkenhan, Doris A; Korseska, Svenja G; Lippert, Nadine; Prinz, Melanie; Sassi, Jamaleddine; Schickor, Anke; Curvers, Simon

2013-02-28

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol using thermophilic bacteria provides a promising solution for efficient lignocellulose conversion without the need for additional cellulolytic enzymes. Most studies on the thermophilic CBP concentrate on co-cultivation of the thermophilic cellulolytic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum with non-cellulolytic thermophilic anaerobes at temperatures of 55°C-60°C. We have specifically screened for cellulolytic bacteria growing at temperatures >70°C to enable direct conversion of lignocellulosic materials into ethanol. Seven new strains of extremely thermophilic anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria of the genus Caldicellulosiruptor and eight new strains of extremely thermophilic xylanolytic/saccharolytic bacteria of the genus Thermoanaerobacter isolated from environmental samples exhibited fast growth at 72°C, extensive lignocellulose degradation and high yield ethanol production on cellulose and pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Monocultures of Caldicellulosiruptor strains degraded up to 89-97% of the cellulose and hemicellulose polymers in pretreated biomass and produced up to 72 mM ethanol on cellulose without addition of exogenous enzymes. In dual co-cultures of Caldicellulosiruptor strains with Thermoanaerobacter strains the ethanol concentrations rose 2- to 8.2-fold compared to cellulolytic monocultures. A co-culture of Caldicellulosiruptor DIB 087C and Thermoanaerobacter DIB 097X was particularly effective in the conversion of cellulose to ethanol, ethanol comprising 34.8 mol% of the total organic products. In contrast, a co-culture of Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus DSM 8903 and Thermoanaerobacter mathranii subsp. mathranii DSM 11426 produced only low amounts of ethanol. The newly discovered Caldicellulosiruptor sp. strain DIB 004C was capable of producing unexpectedly large amounts of ethanol from lignocellulose in fermentors. The established co-cultures of new Caldicellulosiruptor

Microwave pretreatment of switchgrass for bioethanol production

Science.gov (United States)

Keshwani, Deepak Radhakrishin

Lignocellulosic materials are promising alternative feedstocks for bioethanol production. These materials include agricultural residues, cellulosic waste such as newsprint and office paper, logging residues, and herbaceous and woody crops. However, the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic biomass necessitates a pretreatment step to improve the yield of fermentable sugars. The overall goal of this dissertation is to expand the current state of knowledge on microwave-based pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Existing research on bioenergy and value-added applications of switchgrass is reviewed in Chapter 2. Switchgrass is an herbaceous energy crop native to North America and has high biomass productivity, potentially low requirements for agricultural inputs and positive environmental impacts. Based on results from test plots, yields in excess of 20 Mg/ha have been reported. Environmental benefits associated with switchgrass include the potential for carbon sequestration, nutrient recovery from run-off, soil remediation and provision of habitats for grassland birds. Published research on pretreatment of switchgrass reported glucose yields ranging from 70-90% and xylose yields ranging from 70-100% after hydrolysis and ethanol yields ranging from 72-92% after fermentation. Other potential value-added uses of switchgrass include gasification, bio-oil production, newsprint production and fiber reinforcement in thermoplastic composites. Research on microwave-based pretreatment of switchgrass and coastal bermudagrass is presented in Chapter 3. Pretreatments were carried out by immersing the biomass in dilute chemical reagents and exposing the slurry to microwave radiation at 250 watts for residence times ranging from 5 to 20 minutes. Preliminary experiments identified alkalis as suitable chemical reagents for microwave-based pretreatment. An evaluation of different alkalis identified sodium hydroxide as the most effective alkali reagent. Under optimum pretreatment

Dry fractionation process as an important step in current and future lignocellulose biorefineries: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Barakat, Abdellatif; de Vries, Hugo; Rouau, Xavier

2013-04-01

The use of lignocellulosic biomass is promising for biofuels and materials and new technologies for the conversion need to be developed. However, the inherent properties of native lignocellulosic materials make them resistant to enzymatic and chemical degradation. Lignocellulosic biomass requires being pretreated to change the physical and chemical properties of lignocellulosic matrix in order to increase cell wall polymers accessibility and bioavailability. Mechanical size reduction may be chemical free intensive operation thanks to decreasing particles size and cellulose crystallinity, and increasing accessible surface area. Changes in these parameters improve the digestibility and the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. However, mechanical size reduction requires cost-effective approaches from an energy input point of view. Therefore, the energy consumption in relation to physicochemical properties of lignocellulosic biomass was discussed. Even more, chemical treatments combined with physicochemical size reduction approaches are proposed to reduce energy consumption in this review. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improvement of Aspergillus niger 55, a raw corn meal saccharifying enzyme hyperproducer, through mutation and selective screening techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S.H.; O, P.S.

1991-01-01

Mutation experiments were performed to select the mutant of Aspergillus niger 55, which had lost almost all the ability to produce transglucosidases but retained that of high productivity of raw meal saccharifying enzyme, by means of successive induction with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine(MNNG), ultraviolet(UV) light, and γ-rays. Also, we used the mutant enrichment techniques, such as liquid culture-filtration procedure and differential heat sensitivity of conidia, in order to increase the possibility of obtaining a mutant. The glucoamylase productivity of mutant PFST-38 was 11 times higher than that of the parent strain. The mutant PFST-38 was morphologically identical to the parent strain, except for the size of conidia, the tendency to form conidia and the length of conidiophore. Asp. niger mutant PFST-38 appeared to be useful for the submerged production of the raw corn meal saccharifying enzyme

Comparison of Ultrasonic and CO2 Laser Pretreatment Methods on Enzyme Digestibility of Corn Stover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Li Zuo

2012-03-01

Full Text Available To decrease the cost of bioethanol production, biomass recalcitrance needs to be overcome so that the conversion of biomass to bioethanol becomes more efficient. CO2 laser irradiation can disrupt the lignocellulosic physical structure and reduce the average size of fiber. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area, and the microstructure of corn stover were used to elucidate the enhancement mechanism of the pretreatment process by CO2 laser irradiation. The present work demonstrated that the CO2 laser had potential to enhance the bioconversion efficiency of lignocellulosic waste to renewable bioethanol. The saccharification rate of the CO2 laser pretreatment was significantly higher than ultrasonic pretreatment, and reached 27.75% which was 1.34-fold of that of ultrasonic pretreatment. The results showed the impact of CO2 laser pretreatment on corn stover to be more effective than ultrasonic pretreatment.

Understanding Ionic Liquid Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomasses

Science.gov (United States)

Pretreatment of biomass is essential for breaking apart highly ordered and crystalline plant cell walls and loosening the lignin and hemicellulose conjugation to cellulose microfibrills, thereby facilitating enzyme accessibility and adsorption and reducing costs of downstream saccharification proces...

PRETREATMENT OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS FOR ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doan Thai Hoa

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The cost of raw materials continues to be a limiting factor in the production of bio-ethanol from traditional raw materials, such as sugar and starch. At the same time, there are large amount of agricultural residues as well as industrial wastes that are of low or negative value (due to costs of current effluent disposal methods. Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of elephant grass and wood residues for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose has been investigated in this study.    Elephant grass (agricultural residue and sawdust (Pulp and Paper Industry waste with a small particulate size were treated using different dilute sulfuric acid concentrations at a temperature  of 140-170°C within 0.5-3 hours. The appropriate pretreatment conditions give the highest yield of soluble saccharides and total reducing sugars.

Lignocellulose pretreatment severity – relating pH to biomatrix opening

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mads; Meyer, Anne S.

2010-01-01

the hydrolysis yields (glucose, xylose) and the pretreatment pH, but no correlation with the pretreatment temperature (90–200 °C). A better recognition and understanding of the factors affecting biomatrix opening, and use of more standardized evaluation protocols, will allow for the identification of new...... pretreatment strategies that improve biomass utilization and permit rational enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulose....

Exploring critical factors for fermentative hydrogen production from various types of lignocellulosic biomass

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Panagiotopoulos, I.; Bakker, R.; Vrije, de G.J.; Niel, van E.W.J.; Koukios, E.; Claassen, P.A.M.

2011-01-01

Four dilute-acid pretreated and hydrolysed lignocellulosic raw materials were evaluated as substrates for fermentative hydrogen production by Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus. Their fermentability was ranked in the order: barley straw > wheat straw > corn stalk > corn cob. The content

Biodegradation of lignocellulosic materials: Present status and future prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, I.M.; Brice, R.E.; Mousdale, S.A.

1989-01-01

The biodegradation of lignocellulosic material depends on the source and prior treatment of the substrate. As the composition of the substrate influences the mode of degradation, a resume of the structure of cell wall components is given. This shows the relationship between cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and the other non-carbohydrate components and how they are arranged within the wall architecture. A summary is given of the different types of enzymes which can attack lignocellulosics, some limitations on their use, and how they can be influenced by other methods of pretreatment. The role of different types of microorganisms is discussed and the paper concludes with some results from work by the authors. (author). 37 refs, 4 figs

Optimization of twin gear-based pretreatment of rice straw for bioethanol production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, Muhammad Ajaz; Rehman, Muhammd Saif Ur; Terán-Hilares, Ruly; Khalid, Saira; Han, Jong-In

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Twin gear reactor is a continuous high solids pretreatment reactor. • RSM was applied to optimize twin gear pretreatment for enzymatic digestibility. • 89% enzymatic digestibility was achieved under optimum conditions. • Thermomechanical pretreatment altered the structural features of rice straw. - Abstract: A laboratory twin-gear reactor (TGR) was investigated as a new means for the pretreatment of high solid lignocelluloses. Response surface methodology based on Box Behnken Design was used to optimize the enzymatic digestibility with respect to the pretreatment process variables: temperature of 50–90 °C, NaOH concentration of 2–6% and no. of cycles of 30–60. The results revealed that the TGR-based pretreatment led to the significant structural alterations through increases in pore size, pore volume, cellulose crystallinity and surface area. SEM images also confirmed the surface modifications in the pretreated rice straw. A response surface quadratic model predicted 90% of the enzymatic digestibility, and it was confirmed experimentally and through the analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well. The TGR extrusion proved to be an effective means for exceedingly high solids lignocellulose.

Cooking with Active Oxygen and Solid Alkali: A Promising Alternative Approach for Lignocellulosic Biorefineries.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yetao; Zeng, Xianhai; Luque, Rafael; Tang, Xing; Sun, Yong; Lei, Tingzhou; Liu, Shijie; Lin, Lu

2017-10-23

Lignocellulosic biomass, a matrix of biopolymers including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, has gathered increasing attention in recent years for the production of chemicals, fuels, and materials through biorefinery processes owing to its renewability and availability. The fractionation of lignocellulose is considered to be the fundamental step to establish an economical and sustainable lignocellulosic biorefinery. In this Minireview, we summarize a newly developed oxygen delignification for lignocellulose fractionation called cooking with active oxygen and solid alkali (CAOSA), which can fractionate lignocellulose into its constituents and maintain its processable form. In the CAOSA approach, environmentally friendly chemicals are applied instead of undesirable chemicals such as strong alkalis and sulfides. Notably, the alkali recovery for this process promises to be relatively simple and does not require causticizing or sintering. These features make the CAOSA process an alternative for both lignocellulose fractionation and biomass pretreatment. The advantages and challenges of CAOSA are also discussed to provide a comprehensive perspective with respect to existing strategies. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comparisons of five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for ethanol production from SPORL pretreated lodgepole pine

Science.gov (United States)

Haifeng Zhou; Tianqing Lan; Bruce S. Dien; Ronald E. Hector; J.Y. Zhu

2014-01-01

The performances of five yeast strains under three levels of toxicity were evaluated using hydrolysates from lodgepole pine pretreated by Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome the Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL). The highest level of toxicity was represented by the whole pretreated biomass slurry, while intermediate toxicity was represented by the...

GREET Pretreatment Module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adom, Felix K. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Dunn, Jennifer B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division

2014-09-01

A wide range of biofuels and biochemicals can be produced from cellulosic biomass via different pretreatment technologies that yield sugars. Process simulations of dilute acid and ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment processes and subsequent hydrolysis were developed in Aspen Plus for four lignocellulosic feedstocks (corn stover, miscanthus, switchgrass, and poplar). This processing yields sugars that can be subsequently converted to biofuels or biochemical. Material and energy consumption data from Aspen Plus were then compiled in a new Greenhouses Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET^TM) pretreatment module. The module estimates the cradle-to-gate fossil energy consumption (FEC) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with producing fermentable sugars. This report documents the data and methodology used to develop this module and the cradle-to-gate FEC and GHG emissions that result from producing fermentable sugars.

Shorten fungal treatment of lignocellulosic waste with additives to improve rumen degradability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijk, van S.J.A.; Sonnenberg, A.S.M.; Baars, J.J.P.; Hendriks, W.H.; Cone, J.W.

2014-01-01

Selective lignin degrading fungi can be used as pre-treatment to make cellulose in plant cell walls accessible for rumen microbes. According to previous studies, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Lentinula edodes can increase the in vitro rumen degradability of lignocellulosic biomass in 7 to 8 weeks.

Robust cellulosic ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine using an adapted strain Saccharomyces cervisiae without detoxification

Science.gov (United States)

S. Tian; X.L. Luo; X.S. Yang; J.Y. Zhu

2010-01-01

This study reports an ethanol yield of 270 L/ton wood from lodgepole pine pretreated with sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) using an adapted strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5, without detoxification. The enzymatic hydrolysate produced from pretreated cellulosic solids substrate was combined with pretreatment hydrolysate before...

Comparison of different pretreatment strategies for enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat and barley straw

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosgaard, Lisa; Pedersen, Sven; Meyer, Anne Boye Strunge

2007-01-01

In biomass-to-ethanol processes a physico-chemical pretreatment of the lignocellulosic biomass is a critical requirement for enhancing the accessibility of the cellulose substrate to enzymatic attack. This report evaluates the efficacy on barley and wheat straw of three different pretreatment pro...

Lignocellulosic Biomass Derived Functional Materials: Synthesis and Applications in Biomedical Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Peng, Xinwen; Zhong, Linxin; Chua, Weitian; Xiang, Zhihua; Sun, Runcang

2017-09-18

The pertinent issue of resources shortage arising from global climate change in the recent years has accentuated the importance of materials that are environmental friendly. Despite the merits of current material like cellulose as the most abundant natural polysaccharide on earth, the incorporation of lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to value-add the recent development of cellulose-derivatives in drug delivery systems. Lignocellulosic biomass, with a hierarchical structure, comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. As an excellent substrate that is renewable, biodegradable, biocompatible and chemically accessible for modified materials, lignocellulosic biomass sets forth a myriad of applications. To date, materials derived from lignocellulosic biomass have been extensively explored for new technological development and applications, such as biomedical, green electronics and energy products. In this review, chemical constituents of lignocellulosic biomass are first discussed before we critically examine the potential alternatives in the field of biomedical application. In addition, the pretreatment methods for extracting cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as well as their biological applications including drug delivery, biosensor, tissue engineering etc will be reviewed. It is anticipated there will be an increasing interest and research findings in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from natural resources, which help provide important directions for the development in biomedical applications. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

The impacts of pretreatment on the fermentability of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: a comparative evaluation between ammonia fiber expansion and dilute acid pretreatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dale Bruce E

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Pretreatment chemistry is of central importance due to its impacts on cellulosic biomass processing and biofuels conversion. Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX and dilute acid are two promising pretreatments using alkaline and acidic pH that have distinctive differences in pretreatment chemistries. Results Comparative evaluation on these two pretreatments reveal that (i AFEX-pretreated corn stover is significantly more fermentable with respect to cell growth and sugar consumption, (ii both pretreatments can achieve more than 80% of total sugar yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis of washed pretreated solids, and (iii while AFEX completely preserves plant carbohydrates, dilute acid pretreatment at 5% solids loading degrades 13% of xylose to byproducts. Conclusion The selection of pretreatment will determine the biomass-processing configuration, requirements for hydrolysate conditioning (if any and fermentation strategy. Through dilute acid pretreatment, the need for hemicellulase in biomass processing is negligible. AFEX-centered cellulosic technology can alleviate fermentation costs through reducing inoculum size and practically eliminating nutrient costs during bioconversion. However, AFEX requires supplemental xylanases as well as cellulase activity. As for long-term sustainability, AFEX has greater potential to diversify products from a cellulosic biorefinery due to lower levels of inhibitor generation and lignin loss.

Examination of lignocellulosic fibers for chemical, thermal, and separations properties: Addressing thermo-chemical stability issues

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Carter David

Natural fiber-plastic composites incorporate thermoplastic resins with fibrous plant-based materials, sometimes referred to as biomass. Pine wood mill waste has been the traditional source of natural fibrous feedstock. In anticipation of a waste wood shortage other fibrous biomass materials are being investigated as potential supplements or replacements. Perennial grasses, agricultural wastes, and woody biomass are among the potential source materials. As these feedstocks share the basic chemical building blocks; cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, they are collectively called lignocellulosics. Initial investigation of a number of lignocellulosic materials, applied to fiber-plastic composite processing and material testing, resulted in varied results, particularly response to processing conditions. Less thermally stable lignocellulosic filler materials were physically changed in observable ways: darkened color and odor. The effect of biomass materials' chemical composition on thermal stability was investigated an experiment involving determination of the chemical composition of seven lignocellulosics: corn hull, corn stover, fescue, pine, soy hull, soy stover, and switchgrass. These materials were also evaluated for thermal stability by thermogravimetric analysis. The results of these determinations indicated that both chemical composition and pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials can have an effect on their thermal stability. A second study was performed to investigate what effect different pretreatment systems have on hybrid poplar, pine, and switchgrass. These materials were treated with hot water, ethanol, and a 2:1 benzene/ethanol mixture for extraction times of: 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours. This factorial experiment demonstrated that both extraction time and medium have an effect on the weight percent of extractives removed from all three material types. The extracted materials generated in the above study were then subjected to an evaluation of thermal

Fungal treated lignocellulosic biomass as ruminant feed ingredient: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

van Kuijk, S J A; Sonnenberg, A S M; Baars, J J P; Hendriks, W H; Cone, J W

2015-01-01

In ruminant nutrition, there is an increasing interest for ingredients that do not compete with human nutrition. Ruminants are specialists in digesting carbohydrates in plant cell walls; therefore lignocellulosic biomass has potential in ruminant nutrition. The presence of lignin in biomass, however, limits the effective utilization of cellulose and hemicellulose. Currently, most often chemical and/or physical treatments are used to degrade lignin. White rot fungi are selective lignin degraders and can be a potential alternative to current methods which involve potentially toxic chemicals and expensive equipment. This review provides an overview of research conducted to date on fungal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for ruminant feeds. White rot fungi colonize lignocellulosic biomass, and during colonization produce enzymes, radicals and other small compounds to breakdown lignin. The mechanisms on how these fungi degrade lignin are not fully understood, but fungal strain, the origin of lignocellulose and culture conditions have a major effect on the process. Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Pleurotus eryngii are the most effective fungi to improve the nutritional value of biomass for ruminant nutrition. However, conclusions on the effectiveness of fungal delignification are difficult to draw due to a lack of standardized culture conditions and information on fungal strains used. Methods of analysis between studies are not uniform for both chemical analysis and in vitro degradation measurements. In vivo studies are limited in number and mostly describing digestibility after mushroom production, when the fungus has degraded cellulose to derive energy for fruit body development. Optimization of fungal pretreatment is required to shorten the process of delignification and make it more selective for lignin. In this respect, future research should focus on optimization of culture conditions and gene expression to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms

Investigation of adsorption kinetics and isotherm of cellulase and B-Glucosidase on lignocellulosic substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Clear understanding of enzyme adsorption during enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is essential to enhance the cost-efficiency of hydrolysis. However, conclusions from literatures often contradicted each other because enzyme adsorption is enzyme, biomass/pretreatment and experimental co...

Survey of renewable chemicals produced from lignocellulosic biomass during ionic liquid pretreatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varanasi Patanjali

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lignin is often overlooked in the valorization of lignocellulosic biomass, but lignin-based materials and chemicals represent potential value-added products for biorefineries that could significantly improve the economics of a biorefinery. Fluctuating crude oil prices and changing fuel specifications are some of the driving factors to develop new technologies that could be used to convert polymeric lignin into low molecular weight lignin and or monomeric aromatic feedstocks to assist in the displacement of the current products associated with the conversion of a whole barrel of oil. We present an approach to produce these chemicals based on the selective breakdown of lignin during ionic liquid pretreatment. Results The lignin breakdown products generated are found to be dependent on the starting biomass, and significant levels were generated on dissolution at 160°C for 6 hrs. Guaiacol was produced on dissolution of biomass and technical lignins. Vanillin was produced on dissolution of kraft lignin and eucalytpus. Syringol and allyl guaiacol were the major products observed on dissolution of switchgrass and pine, respectively, whereas syringol and allyl syringol were obtained by dissolution of eucalyptus. Furthermore, it was observed that different lignin-derived products could be generated by tuning the process conditions. Conclusions We have developed an ionic liquid based process that depolymerizes lignin and converts the low molecular weight lignin fractions into a variety of renewable chemicals from biomass. The generated chemicals (phenols, guaiacols, syringols, eugenol, catechols, their oxidized products (vanillin, vanillic acid, syringaldehyde and their easily derivatized hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, biphenyls and cyclohexane already have relatively high market value as commodity and specialty chemicals, green building materials, nylons, and resins.

Biogas Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass : Impact of pre-treatment, co-digestion, harvest time and inoculation

OpenAIRE

LI, Chao

2017-01-01

Biogas or methane production through anaerobic digestion (AD) is gaining increasing attention worldwide due to concerns over global warming, energy security and the need for sustainable waste management. AD of lignocellulosic biomass is one facet that is highly appreciated since the conflict over biomass for food/feed or energy can be avoided. As a result the need for non-food based lignocellulosic biomass feedstock has emerged as (co-) feedstock of choice for the AD process. Despite these ad...

Enzymatic conversion of pretreated biomass into fermentable sugars for biorefinery operation

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Dahai

2011-12-01

Depleting petroleum reserves and potential climate change caused by fossil fuel consumption have attracted significant attention towards the use of alternative renewable resources for production of fuels and chemicals. Lignocellulosic biomass provides a plentiful resource for the sustainable production of biofuels and biochemicals and could serve as an important contributor to the world energy portfolio in the near future. Successful biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass requires an efficient and economical pretreatment method, high glucose/xylose yields during enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of both hexose and pentose to ethanol. High enzyme loading is a major economic bottleneck for the commercial processing of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass to produce fermentable sugars. Optimizing the enzyme cocktail for specific types of pretreated biomass allows for a significant reduction in enzyme loading without sacrificing hydrolysis yield. Core glycosyl hydrolases were isolated and purified from various sources to help rationally optimize an enzyme cocktail to digest ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) treated corn stover. The four core cellulases were endoglucanase I (EG I), cellobiohydrolase I (CBH I), cellobiohydrolase II (CBH II) and beta-Glucosidase (betaG). The two core hemicellulases were an endoxylanase (EX) and a beta-xylosidase (betaX). A diverse set of accessory hemicellulases from bacterial sources was found necessary to enhance the synergistic action of cellulases hydrolysing AFEX pretreated corn stover. High glucose (around 80%) and xylose (around 70%) yields were achieved with a moderate enzyme loading (˜20 mg protein/g glucan) using an in-house developed enzyme cocktail and this cocktail was compared to commercial enzyme. Studying the binding properties of cellulases to lignocellulosic substrates is critical to achieving a fundamental understanding of plant cell wall saccharification. Lignin auto-fluorescence and degradation products

Pretreatment of Miscanthus for hydrogen production by Thermotoga elfii

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vrije, de T.; Haas, de G.G.; Tan, G.B.; Keijsers, E.R.P.; Claassen, P.A.M.

2002-01-01

Pretreatment methods for the production of fermentable substrates from Miscanthus, a lignocellulosic biomass, were investigated. Results demonstrated an inverse relationship between lignin content and the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides. High delignification values were

Fermentation of undetoxified sugarcane bagasse hydrolyzates using a two stage hydrothermal and mechanical refining pretreatment

Science.gov (United States)

Economical and environmentally friendly pretreatment technologies are required for commercial conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to fermentable sugars for fermentation to biofuels. In this paper, a novel pretreatment technology was developed for conversion of sugarcane bagasse into ethanol usi...

Insights from the Fungus Fusarium oxysporum Point to High Affinity Glucose Transporters as Targets for Enhancing Ethanol Production from Lignocellulose

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Shahin S.; Nugent, Brian; Mullins, Ewen; Doohan, Fiona M.

2013-01-01

Ethanol is the most-widely used biofuel in the world today. Lignocellulosic plant biomass derived from agricultural residue can be converted to ethanol via microbial bioprocessing. Fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum can simultaneously saccharify straw to sugars and ferment sugars to ethanol. But there are many bottlenecks that need to be overcome to increase the efficacy of microbial production of ethanol from straw, not least enhancement of the rate of fermentation of both hexose and pentose sugars. This research tested the hypothesis that the rate of sugar uptake by F. oxysporum would enhance the ethanol yields from lignocellulosic straw and that high affinity glucose transporters can enhance ethanol yields from this substrate. We characterized a novel hexose transporter (Hxt) from this fungus. The F. oxysporum Hxt represents a novel transporter with homology to yeast glucose signaling/transporter proteins Rgt2 and Snf3, but it lacks their C-terminal domain which is necessary for glucose signalling. Its expression level decreased with increasing glucose concentration in the medium and in a glucose uptake study the Km(glucose) was 0.9 mM, which indicated that the protein is a high affinity glucose transporter. Post-translational gene silencing or over expression of the Hxt in F. oxysporum directly affected the glucose and xylose transport capacity and ethanol yielded by F. oxysporum from straw, glucose and xylose. Thus we conclude that this Hxt has the capacity to transport both C5 and C6 sugars and to enhance ethanol yields from lignocellulosic material. This study has confirmed that high affinity glucose transporters are ideal candidates for improving ethanol yields from lignocellulose because their activity and level of expression is high in low glucose concentrations, which is very common during the process of consolidated processing. PMID:23382943

Insights from the fungus Fusarium oxysporum point to high affinity glucose transporters as targets for enhancing ethanol production from lignocellulose.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahin S Ali

Full Text Available Ethanol is the most-widely used biofuel in the world today. Lignocellulosic plant biomass derived from agricultural residue can be converted to ethanol via microbial bioprocessing. Fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum can simultaneously saccharify straw to sugars and ferment sugars to ethanol. But there are many bottlenecks that need to be overcome to increase the efficacy of microbial production of ethanol from straw, not least enhancement of the rate of fermentation of both hexose and pentose sugars. This research tested the hypothesis that the rate of sugar uptake by F. oxysporum would enhance the ethanol yields from lignocellulosic straw and that high affinity glucose transporters can enhance ethanol yields from this substrate. We characterized a novel hexose transporter (Hxt from this fungus. The F. oxysporum Hxt represents a novel transporter with homology to yeast glucose signaling/transporter proteins Rgt2 and Snf3, but it lacks their C-terminal domain which is necessary for glucose signalling. Its expression level decreased with increasing glucose concentration in the medium and in a glucose uptake study the Km((glucose was 0.9 mM, which indicated that the protein is a high affinity glucose transporter. Post-translational gene silencing or over expression of the Hxt in F. oxysporum directly affected the glucose and xylose transport capacity and ethanol yielded by F. oxysporum from straw, glucose and xylose. Thus we conclude that this Hxt has the capacity to transport both C5 and C6 sugars and to enhance ethanol yields from lignocellulosic material. This study has confirmed that high affinity glucose transporters are ideal candidates for improving ethanol yields from lignocellulose because their activity and level of expression is high in low glucose concentrations, which is very common during the process of consolidated processing.

Torque measurements reveal large process differences between materials during high solid enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palmqvist Benny

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A common trend in the research on 2nd generation bioethanol is the focus on intensifying the process and increasing the concentration of water insoluble solids (WIS throughout the process. However, increasing the WIS content is not without problems. For example, the viscosity of pretreated lignocellulosic materials is known to increase drastically with increasing WIS content. Further, at elevated viscosities, problems arise related to poor mixing of the material, such as poor distribution of the enzymes and/or difficulties with temperature and pH control, which results in possible yield reduction. Achieving good mixing is unfortunately not without cost, since the power requirements needed to operate the impeller at high viscosities can be substantial. This highly important scale-up problem can easily be overlooked. Results In this work, we monitor the impeller torque (and hence power input in a stirred tank reactor throughout high solid enzymatic hydrolysis (Arundo donax and spruce. Two different process modes were evaluated, where either the impeller speed or the impeller power input was kept constant. Results from hydrolysis experiments at a fixed impeller speed of 10 rpm show that a very rapid decrease in impeller torque is experienced during hydrolysis of pretreated arundo (i.e. it loses its fiber network strength, whereas the fiber strength is retained for a longer time within the spruce material. This translates into a relatively low, rather WIS independent, energy input for arundo whereas the stirring power demand for spruce is substantially larger and quite WIS dependent. By operating the impeller at a constant power input (instead of a constant impeller speed it is shown that power input greatly affects the glucose yield of pretreated spruce whereas the hydrolysis of arundo seems unaffected. Conclusions The results clearly highlight the large differences between the arundo and spruce materials, both in terms of

By-products resulting from lignocellulose pretreatment and their inhibitory effect on fermentations for (bio)chemicals and fuels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pol, van der E.C.; Bakker, R.R.; Baets, P.; Eggink, G.

2014-01-01

Lignocellulose might become an important feedstock for the future development of the biobased economy. Although up to 75 % of the lignocellulose dry weight consists of sugar, it is present in a polymerized state and cannot be used directly in most fermentation processes for the production of

Saccharification of gamma-ray and alkali pretreated lignocellulosics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Begum, A.; Choudhury, N.

1988-01-01

Enzymic saccharification of gamma ray and alkali pretreated sawdust, rice straw, and sugar cane bagasse showed higher release of reducing sugar from pretreated substrates. By gamma ray treatment alone (500 kGy) reducing sugar release of 2.8, 9.2, and 10 g/l was obtained from 7.5% (w/v) sawdust, rice straw, and bagasse and the same substrates showed reducing sugar release of 4.2, 30, and 20 g/l respectively when treated with alkali (0.1 g/g). Combination of gamma ray with alkali treatment further increased the reducing sugar release to 10.2, 33, and 36 g/l from sawdust, rice straw, and bagasse respectively. The effects of gamma ray and alkali treatment on saccharification varied with the nature of the substrate

Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic feedstocks using biorenewable alcohols: : towards complete biomass valorisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lancefield, Christopher S.; Panovic, Isabella; Deuss, Peter J.; Barta, Katalin; Westwood, Nicholas J.

2017-01-01

Here, we report on the ability of the biomass derived solvents ethanol and, in particular, n-butanol to fractionate lignocellulose into its main components. An organosolv system consisting of n-butanol containing 5% water and 0.2 M HCl at reflux was found to remove effectively the lignin and

Reducing biomass recalcitrance via mild sodium carbonate pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirmohamadsadeghi, Safoora; Chen, Zhu; Wan, Caixia

2016-06-01

This study examined the effects of mild sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of different feedstocks (i.e., corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass). The results showed that sodium carbonate pretreatment markedly enhanced the sugar yields of the tested biomass feedstocks. The pretreated corn stover, Miscanthus, and switchgrass gave the glucose yields of 95.1%, 62.3%, and 81.3%, respectively, after enzymatic hydrolysis. The above glucose yields of pretreated feedstocks were 2-4 times that of untreated ones. The pretreatment also enhanced the xylose yields, 4 times for corn stover and 20 times for both Miscanthus and switchgrass. Sodium carbonate pretreatment removed 40-59% lignin from the tested feedstocks while preserving most of cellulose (sodium carbonate pretreatment was effective for reducing biomass recalcitrance and subsequently improving the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High titer ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine by simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and combined fermentation

Science.gov (United States)

T.Q. Lan; Roland Gleisner; J.Y. Zhu; Bruce S. Dien; Ronald E. Hector

2012-01-01

Lodgepole wood chips were pretreated by sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) at 25% solids loading and 180 °C for 20 min with sulfuric acid and sodium bisulfite charges of 2.2 and 8 wt/wt% on an oven-dry wood basis, respectively. The pretreated wood chips were disk-milled with pretreatment spent liquor and water, and the...

Multifaceted metabolomics approaches for characterization of lignocellulosic biomass degradation products formed during ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment

Science.gov (United States)

Vismeh, Ramin

Lignocellulosic biomass represents a rather unused resource for production of biofuels, and it offers an alternative to food sources including corn starch. However, structural and compositional impediments limit the digestibility of sugar polymers in biomass cell walls. Thermochemical pretreatments improve accessibility of cellulose and hemicellulose to hydrolytic enzymes. However, most pretreatment methods generate compounds that either inhibit enzymatic hydrolysis or exhibit toxicity to fermentive microorganisms. Characterization and quantification of these products are essential for understanding chemistry of the pretreatment and optimizing the process efficiency to achieve higher ethanol yields. Identification of oligosaccharides released during pretreatment is also critical for choosing hydrolases necessary for cost-effective hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to fermentable monomeric sugars. Two chapters in this dissertation describe new mass spectrometry-based strategies for characterization and quantification of products that are formed during ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment of corn stover. Comparison of Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) profiles of AFEX-treated corn stover (AFEXTCS) and untreated corn stover (UTCS) extract shows that ammonolysis of lignin carbohydrate ester linkages generates a suite of nitrogenous compounds that are present only in the AFEXTCS extract and represent a loss of ammonia during processing. Several of these products including acetamide, feruloyl, coumaroyl and diferuloyl amides were characterized and quantified in the AFEXTCS extracts. The total amount of characterized and uncharacterized phenolic amides measured 17.4 mg/g AFEXTCS. Maillard reaction products including pyrazines and imidazoles were also identified and measured in the AFEXTCS extract totaling almost 1 mg/g AFEXTCS. The total of quantified nitrogenous products that are formed during AFEX was 43.4 mg/g AFEXTCS which was equivalent

Process design and evaluation of production of bioethanol and β-lactam antibiotic from lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sung Bong; Park, Chulhwan; Kim, Seung Wook

2014-11-01

To design biorefinery processes producing bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass with dilute acid pretreatment, biorefinery processes were simulated using the SuperPro Designer program. To improve the efficiency of biomass use and the economics of biorefinery, additional pretreatment processes were designed and evaluated, in which a combined process of dilute acid and aqueous ammonia pretreatments, and a process of waste media containing xylose were used, for the production of 7-aminocephalosporanic acid. Finally, the productivity and economics of the designed processes were compared. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Innovative pretreatment strategies for biogas production.

Science.gov (United States)

Patinvoh, Regina J; Osadolor, Osagie A; Chandolias, Konstantinos; Sárvári Horváth, Ilona; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J

2017-01-01

Biogas or biomethane is traditionally produced via anaerobic digestion, or recently by thermochemical or a combination of thermochemical and biological processes via syngas (CO and H 2 ) fermentation. However, many of the feedstocks have recalcitrant structure and are difficult to digest (e.g., lignocelluloses or keratins), or they have toxic compounds (such as fruit flavors or high ammonia content), or not digestible at all (e.g., plastics). To overcome these challenges, innovative strategies for enhanced and economically favorable biogas production were proposed in this review. The strategies considered are commonly known physical pretreatment, rapid decompression, autohydrolysis, acid- or alkali pretreatments, solvents (e.g. for lignin or cellulose) pretreatments or leaching, supercritical, oxidative or biological pretreatments, as well as combined gasification and fermentation, integrated biogas production and pretreatment, innovative biogas digester design, co-digestion, and bio-augmentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conversion of lignocellulosic agave residues into liquid biofuels using an AFEX™-based biorefinery.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores-Gómez, Carlos A; Escamilla Silva, Eleazar M; Zhong, Cheng; Dale, Bruce E; da Costa Sousa, Leonardo; Balan, Venkatesh

2018-01-01

Agave-based alcoholic beverage companies generate thousands of tons of solid residues per year in Mexico. These agave residues might be used for biofuel production due to their abundance and favorable sustainability characteristics. In this work, agave leaf and bagasse residues from species Agave tequilana and Agave salmiana were subjected to pretreatment using the ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) process. The pretreatment conditions were optimized using a response surface design methodology. We also identified commercial enzyme mixtures that maximize sugar yields for AFEX-pretreated agave bagasse and leaf matter, at ~ 6% glucan (w/w) loading enzymatic hydrolysis. Finally, the pretreated agave hydrolysates (at a total solids loading of ~ 20%) were used for ethanol fermentation using the glucose- and xylose-consuming strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST), to determine ethanol yields at industrially relevant conditions. Low-severity AFEX pretreatment conditions are required (100-120 °C) to enable efficient enzymatic deconstruction of the agave cell wall. These studies showed that AFEX-pretreated A. tequilana bagasse, A. tequilana leaf fiber, and A. salmiana bagasse gave ~ 85% sugar conversion during enzyme hydrolysis and over 90% metabolic yields of ethanol during fermentation without any washing step or nutrient supplementation. On the other hand, although lignocellulosic A. salmiana leaf gave high sugar conversions, the hydrolysate could not be fermented at high solids loadings, apparently due to the presence of natural inhibitory compounds. These results show that AFEX-pretreated agave residues can be effectively hydrolyzed at high solids loading using an optimized commercial enzyme cocktail (at 25 mg protein/g glucan) producing > 85% sugar conversions and over 40 g/L bioethanol titers. These results show that AFEX technology has considerable potential to convert lignocellulosic agave residues to bio-based fuels and chemicals in a biorefinery.

Comparative lipid production by oleaginous yeasts in hydrolyzates of lignocellulosic biomass and process strategy for high titers.

Science.gov (United States)

Slininger, Patricia J; Dien, Bruce S; Kurtzman, Cletus P; Moser, Bryan R; Bakota, Erica L; Thompson, Stephanie R; O'Bryan, Patricia J; Cotta, Michael A; Balan, Venkatesh; Jin, Mingjie; Sousa, Leonardo da Costa; Dale, Bruce E

2016-08-01

Oleaginous yeasts can convert sugars to lipids with fatty acid profiles similar to those of vegetable oils, making them attractive for production of biodiesel. Lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive source of sugars for yeast lipid production because it is abundant, potentially low cost, and renewable. However, lignocellulosic hydrolyzates are laden with byproducts which inhibit microbial growth and metabolism. With the goal of identifying oleaginous yeast strains able to convert plant biomass to lipids, we screened 32 strains from the ARS Culture Collection, Peoria, IL to identify four robust strains able to produce high lipid concentrations from both acid and base-pretreated biomass. The screening was arranged in two tiers using undetoxified enzyme hydrolyzates of ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX)-pretreated cornstover as the primary screening medium and acid-pretreated switch grass as the secondary screening medium applied to strains passing the primary screen. Hydrolyzates were prepared at ∼18-20% solids loading to provide ∼110 g/L sugars at ∼56:39:5 mass ratio glucose:xylose:arabinose. A two stage process boosting the molar C:N ratio from 60 to well above 400 in undetoxified switchgrass hydrolyzate was optimized with respect to nitrogen source, C:N, and carbon loading. Using this process three strains were able to consume acetic acid and nearly all available sugars to accumulate 50-65% of cell biomass as lipid (w/w), to produce 25-30 g/L lipid at 0.12-0.22 g/L/h and 0.13-0.15 g/g or 39-45% of the theoretical yield at pH 6 and 7, a performance unprecedented in lignocellulosic hydrolyzates. Three of the top strains have not previously been reported for the bioconversion of lignocellulose to lipids. The successful identification and development of top-performing lipid-producing yeast in lignocellulose hydrolyzates is expected to advance the economic feasibility of high quality biodiesel and jet fuels from renewable biomass, expanding the market

[Anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass with animal digestion mechanisms].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hao; Zhang, Pan-Yue; Guo, Jian-Bin; Wu, Yong-Jie

2013-02-01

Lignocellulosic material is the most abundant renewable resource in the earth. Herbivores and wood-eating insects are highly effective in the digestion of plant cellulose, while anaerobic digestion process simulating animal alimentary tract still remains inefficient. The digestion mechanisms of herbivores and wood-eating insects and the development of anaerobic digestion processes of lignocellulose were reviewed for better understanding of animal digestion mechanisms and their application in design and operation of the anaerobic digestion reactor. Highly effective digestion of lignocellulosic materials in animal digestive system results from the synergistic effect of various digestive enzymes and a series of physical and biochemical reactions. Microbial fermentation system is strongly supported by powerful pretreatment, such as rumination of ruminants, cellulase catalysis and alkali treatment in digestive tract of wood-eating insects. Oxygen concentration gradient along the digestive tract may stimulate the hydrolytic activity of some microorganisms. In addition, the excellent arrangement of solid retention time, digesta flow and end product discharge enhance the animal digestion of wood cellulose. Although anaerobic digestion processes inoculated with rumen microorganisms based rumen digestion mechanisms were developed to treat lignocellulose, the fermentation was more greatly limited by the environmental conditions in the anaerobic digestion reactors than that in rumen or hindgut. Therefore, the anaerobic digestion processes simulating animal digestion mechanisms can effectively enhance the degradation of wood cellulose and other organic solid wastes.

Ultrasonic pretreatment of woodchips for the conversion of cellulose to glucose for bioethanol production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tutun Nugraha; Rettyana Ayuputri; Mohammad Ihsan

2010-01-01

In this study, lignocellulosic biomass i.e. the woodchips of Albacia tree (Paraserianthes falcataria) were given different pretreatment methods, i.e. chemical (acid) and physical (ultrasonic). The pretreatment was given in order to convert the cellulose to glucose for the production of bioethanol. 1 % H_2SO_4 was applied for the acid pretreatment. Ultrasound pretreatment was carried out at varied time (10, 20 and 30 minutes) at 600 W, 20 khz before or after the acid pretreatment. Enzymatic attack of the pretreated sample was also applied to enhance the saccharification process of cellulose. The objective of the research was to determine the most effective ultrasonic duration and the best combination of method for enzymatic hydrolysis of the woodchips. The data showed that the highest yield of glucose was achieved at 20 minutes ultrasonic time. It was also found that substantial amount of hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose occur during the ultrasonic stage even without the presence of acid or cellulose enzyme. It is likely that the highly energetic ultrasonic process alone could assist in enhancing rate of hydrolysis of lignocellulosic cellulose into glucose. (author)

The enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates by the addition of accessory enzymes such as xylanase: is it an additive or synergistic effect?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saddler Jack N

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We and other workers have shown that accessory enzymes, such as β-glucosidase, xylanase, and cellulase cofactors, such as GH61, can considerably enhance the hydrolysis effectiveness of cellulase cocktails when added to pretreated lignocellulosic substrates. It is generally acknowledged that, among the several factors that hamper our current ability to attain efficient lignocellulosic biomass conversion yields at low enzyme loadings, a major problem lies in our incomplete understanding of the cooperative action of the different enzymes acting on pretreated lignocellulosic substrates. Results The reported work assessed the interaction between cellulase and xylanase enzymes and their potential to improve the hydrolysis efficiency of various pretreated lignocellulosic substrates when added at low protein loadings. When xylanases were added to the minimum amount of cellulase enzymes required to achieve 70% cellulose hydrolysis of steam pretreated corn stover (SPCS, or used to partially replace the equivalent cellulase dose, both approaches resulted in enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis. However, the xylanase supplementation approach increased the total protein loading required to achieve significant improvements in hydrolysis (an additive effect, whereas the partial replacement of cellulases with xylanase resulted in similar improvements in hydrolysis without increasing enzyme loading (a synergistic effect. The enhancement resulting from xylanase-aided synergism was higher when enzymes were added simultaneously at the beginning of hydrolysis. This co-hydrolysis of the xylan also influenced the gross fiber characteristics (for example, fiber swelling resulting in increased accessibility of the cellulose to the cellulase enzymes. These apparent increases in accessibility enhanced the steam pretreated corn stover digestibility, resulting in three times faster cellulose and xylan hydrolysis, a seven-fold decrease in cellulase loading and

BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION BY MISCANTHUS AS A LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS: FOCUS ON HIGH EFFICIENCY CONVERSION TO GLUCOSE AND ETHANOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minhee Han Mail

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Current ethanol production processes using crops such as corn and sugar cane have been well established. However, the utilization of cheaper lignocellulosic biomass could make bioethanol more competitive with fossil fuels while avoiding the ethical concerns associated with using potential food resources. In this study, Miscanthus, a lignocellulosic biomass, was pretreated using NaOH to produce bioethanol. The pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM. The optimal conditions were found to be 145.29 °C, 28.97 min, and 1.49 M for temperature, reaction time, and NaOH concentration, respectively. Enzymatic digestibility of pretreated Miscanthus was examined at various enzyme loadings (10 to 70 FPU/g cellulose of cellulase and 30 CbU/g of β-glucosidase. Regarding enzymatic digestibility, 50 FPU/g cellulose of cellulase and 30 CbU/g of β-glucosidase were selected as the test concentrations, resulting in a total glucose conversion rate of 83.92%. Fermentation of hydrolyzed Miscanthus using Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in an ethanol concentration of 59.20 g/L at 20% pretreated biomass loading. The results presented here constitute a significant contribution to the production of bioethanol from Miscanthus.

Inhibition of ethanol-producing yeast and bacteria by degradation products produced during pre-treatment of biomass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klinke, H.B.; Thomsen, A.B.; Ahring, Birgitte Kiær

2004-01-01

for ethanol fermentation. The resulting hydrolyzsates contain substances inhibitory to fermentation-depending on both the raw material (biomass) and the pre-treatment applied. An overview of the inhibitory effect on ethanol production by yeast and bacteria is presented. Apart from furans formed by sugar......An overview of the different inhibitors formed by pre-treatment of lignocellulosic materials and their inhibition of ethanol production in yeast and bacteria is given. Different high temperature physical pre-treatment methods are available to render the carbohydrates in lignocellulose accessible...... degradation, phenol monomers from lignin degradation are important co-factors in hydrolysate inhibition, and inhibitory effects of these aromatic compounds on different ethanol producing microorganisms is reviewed. The furans and phenols generally inhibited growth and ethanol production rate (Q...

Saccharification of Agricultural Lignocellulose Feedstocks and Protein-Level Responses by a Termite Gut-Microbe Bioreactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajarapu, Swapna Priya; Scharf, Michael E.

2017-01-01

This study investigated saccharification and protein-level responses to the candidate biofuel feedstocks corn stover (CS) and soybean residue (SR) by the gut of a lower termite. The focus termite was Reticulitermes flavipes, which is a highly efficient digester of wood lignocellulose that houses a mixture of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes in its gut. Our specific objectives were to (i) measure saccharification potential of the CS and SR feedstocks by termite gut protein extracts, (ii) identify specific proteins in the termite gut responding to feeding on CS and SR diets, and (iii) evaluate gut lignocellulase and accessory enzyme activity responses to CS and SR feeding. Cellulose paper was the control diet. Although CS was saccharified at higher levels, termite gut protein extracts saccharified both CS and SR irrespective of feedstock loading. Consumption of the CS and SR feedstocks by termites resulted in surprisingly few differences in gut protein profiles, with the main exception being elevated myosin abundance with SR feeding. Activity of potential lignocellulases and accessory enzymes was generally similar between CS and SR fed guts as well; however, cellobiohydrolase/exoglucanase activity was higher with CS feeding and glutathione peroxidase activity with SR feeding. These findings have significance from two perspectives. First, SR feeding/digestion appears to cause physiological stress in the termite gut that likely would extend to other types of microbial environments including those within industrial bioreactors. Second, because termites can survive on exclusive CS and SR diets and their guts exhibit clear CS and SR saccharification activity, this validates the R. flavipes system as a potential source for CS and SR degrading enzymes; in particular, cellobiohydrolases/exoglucanases and glutathione peroxidases from this system may play roles in CS and SR breakdown.

Saccharification of Agricultural Lignocellulose Feedstocks and Protein-Level Responses by a Termite Gut-Microbe Bioreactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajarapu, Swapna Priya; Scharf, Michael E., E-mail: mscharf@purdue.edu [Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (United States)

2017-04-07

This study investigated saccharification and protein-level responses to the candidate biofuel feedstocks corn stover (CS) and soybean residue (SR) by the gut of a lower termite. The focus termite was Reticulitermes flavipes, which is a highly efficient digester of wood lignocellulose that houses a mixture of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes in its gut. Our specific objectives were to (i) measure saccharification potential of the CS and SR feedstocks by termite gut protein extracts, (ii) identify specific proteins in the termite gut responding to feeding on CS and SR diets, and (iii) evaluate gut lignocellulase and accessory enzyme activity responses to CS and SR feeding. Cellulose paper was the control diet. Although CS was saccharified at higher levels, termite gut protein extracts saccharified both CS and SR irrespective of feedstock loading. Consumption of the CS and SR feedstocks by termites resulted in surprisingly few differences in gut protein profiles, with the main exception being elevated myosin abundance with SR feeding. Activity of potential lignocellulases and accessory enzymes was generally similar between CS and SR fed guts as well; however, cellobiohydrolase/exoglucanase activity was higher with CS feeding and glutathione peroxidase activity with SR feeding. These findings have significance from two perspectives. First, SR feeding/digestion appears to cause physiological stress in the termite gut that likely would extend to other types of microbial environments including those within industrial bioreactors. Second, because termites can survive on exclusive CS and SR diets and their guts exhibit clear CS and SR saccharification activity, this validates the R. flavipes system as a potential source for CS and SR degrading enzymes; in particular, cellobiohydrolases/exoglucanases and glutathione peroxidases from this system may play roles in CS and SR breakdown.

Exergy analysis of a combined heat and power plant with integrated lignocellulosic ethanol production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer Ernst; Haglind, Fredrik; Clausen, Lasse Røngaard

2014-01-01

production. An exergy analysis is carried out for a modelled polygeneration system in which lignocellulosic ethanol production based on hydrothermal pretreatment is integrated in an existing combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The ethanol facility is driven by steam extracted from the CHP unit when feasible...... district heating production in the ethanol facility. The results suggest that the efficiency of integrating lignocellulosic ethanol production in CHP plants is highly dependent on operation, and it is therefore suggested that the expected operation pattern of such polygeneration system is taken......Lignocellulosic ethanol production is often assumed integrated in polygeneration systems because of its energy intensive nature. The objective of this study is to investigate potential irreversibilities from such integration, and what impact it has on the efficiency of the integrated ethanol...

Newly isolated Penicillium oxalicum A592-4B secretes enzymes that degrade milled rice straw with high efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoyama, Akihisa; Kurane, Ryuichiro; Matsuura, Akira; Nagai, Kazuo

2015-01-01

An enzyme producing micro-organism, which can directly saccharify rice straw that has only been crushed without undergoing the current acid or alkaline pretreatment, was found. From the homology with the ITS, 28S rDNA sequence, the strain named A592-4B was identified as Penicillium oxalicum. Activities of the A592-4B enzymes and commercial enzyme preparations were compared by Novozymes Cellic CTec2 and Genencore GC220. In the present experimental condition, activity of A592-4B enzymes was 2.6 times higher than that of CTec2 for degrading milled rice straw. Furthermore, even when a quarter amount of A592-4B enzyme was applied to the rice straw, the conversion rate was still higher than that by CTec2. By utilizing A592-4B enzymes, improved lignocellulose degradation yields can be achieved without pre-treatment of the substrates; thus, contributing to cost reduction as well as reducing environmental burden.

A novel ionic liquid-tolerant Fusarium oxysporum BN secreting ionic liquid-stable cellulase: consolidated bioprocessing of pretreated lignocellulose containing residual ionic liquid.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jiaxing; Wang, Xinfeng; Hu, Lei; Xia, Jun; Wu, Zhen; Xu, Ning; Dai, Benlin; Wu, Bin

2015-04-01

In this study, microbial communities from chemicals polluted microhabitats were cultured with the addition of imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IL) to enrich for IL-tolerant microbes. A strain of Fusarium oxysporum BN producing cellulase from these enrichments was capable of growing in 10% (w/v) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium phosphinate, much higher than the normal IL concentrations in the lignocellulose regenerated from ILs. Cellulase secreted by the strain showed high resistance to ILs based on phosphate and sulfate radicals, evidencing of a high conformational stability in relevant media. Gratifyingly, F. oxysporum BN can directly convert IL-pretreated rice straw to bioethanol via consolidated bioprocessing (I-CBP). At optimum fermentation condition, a maximum ethanol yield of 0.125 g ethanol g(-1) of rice straw was finally obtained, corresponding to 64.2% of the theoretical yield. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laboratory-scale method for enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass at high-solids loadings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dibble Clare J

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Screening new lignocellulosic biomass pretreatments and advanced enzyme systems at process relevant conditions is a key factor in the development of economically viable lignocellulosic ethanol. Shake flasks, the reaction vessel commonly used for screening enzymatic saccharifications of cellulosic biomass, do not provide adequate mixing at high-solids concentrations when shaking is not supplemented with hand mixing. Results We identified roller bottle reactors (RBRs as laboratory-scale reaction vessels that can provide adequate mixing for enzymatic saccharifications at high-solids biomass loadings without any additional hand mixing. Using the RBRs, we developed a method for screening both pretreated biomass and enzyme systems at process-relevant conditions. RBRs were shown to be scalable between 125 mL and 2 L. Results from enzymatic saccharifications of five biomass pretreatments of different severities and two enzyme preparations suggest that this system will work well for a variety of biomass substrates and enzyme systems. A study of intermittent mixing regimes suggests that mass transfer limitations of enzymatic saccharifications at high-solids loadings are significant but can be mitigated with a relatively low amount of mixing input. Conclusion Effective initial mixing to promote good enzyme distribution and continued, but not necessarily continuous, mixing is necessary in order to facilitate high biomass conversion rates. The simplicity and robustness of the bench-scale RBR system, combined with its ability to accommodate numerous reaction vessels, will be useful in screening new biomass pretreatments and advanced enzyme systems at high-solids loadings.

The impact of stress-response related transcription factors on lignocellulosic hydrolysate inhibitor tolerance of Saccharomyces strains

Science.gov (United States)

Plant biomass is a desirable feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Unfortunately, pretreatment processes to release sugars locked in plant biomass, or lignocellulosic feedstocks, lead to the production of fermentation inhibitors, such as furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural, ...

Physico-Chemical Alternatives in Lignocellulosic Materials in Relation to the Kind of Component for Fermenting Purposes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto Coz

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The complete bioconversion of the carbohydrate fraction is of great importance for a lignocellulosic-based biorefinery. However, due to the structure of the lignocellulosic materials, and depending basically on the main parameters within the pretreatment steps, numerous byproducts are generated and they act as inhibitors in the fermentation operations. In this sense, the impact of inhibitory compounds derived from lignocellulosic materials is one of the major challenges for a sustainable biomass-to-biofuel and -bioproduct industry. In order to minimise the negative effects of these compounds, numerous methodologies have been tested including physical, chemical, and biological processes. The main physical and chemical treatments have been studied in this work in relation to the lignocellulosic material and the inhibitor in order to point out the best mechanisms for fermenting purposes. In addition, special attention has been made in the case of lignocellulosic hydrolysates obtained by chemical processes with SO2, due to the complex matrix of these materials and the increase in these methodologies in future biorefinery markets. Recommendations of different detoxification methods have been given.

Optimization of Pretreatment and Enzymatic Saccharification of Cogon Grass Prior Ethanol Production

OpenAIRE

Jhalique Jane R. Fojas; Ernesto J. Del Rosario

2013-01-01

The dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic substrate, cogon grass (Imperata cylindrical, L.) was optimized prior ethanol fermentation using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) method. The optimum pretreatment conditions, temperature, sulfuric acid concentration, and reaction time were evaluated by determining the maximum sugar yield at constant enzyme loading. Cogon grass, at 10% w/v substrate loading, has optimum pretr...

Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment – severity equation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne Risbjerg; Knudsen, Niels Ole

2014-01-01

Background: Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment...... factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature......) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due...

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic materials. Fermentation and on-line analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olsson, L.

1994-04-01

The fermentation performance of bacteria, yeast and fungi was investigated in lignocellulosic hydrolysates with the aim of finding microorganisms which both withstand the inhibitors and that have the ability to ferment pentoses. Firstly, the performance of Saccharomyces cidri, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactococcus lactis ssp lactis, Escherichia coli and Zymomonas mobilis was investigated in spent sulphite liquor and enzymatic hydrolysate of steam-pretreated willow. Secondly, the performance of natural and recombinant E. coli, Pichia stipitis, recombinant S. cerevisiae, S. cerevisiae in combination with xylose isomerase and Fusarium oxysporum was investigated in a xylose-rich acid hydrolysate of corn cob. Recombinant E. coli was the best alternative for fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, giving both high yields and productivities. The main drawback was that detoxification was necessary. The kinetics of the fermentation with recombinant E. coli KO11 was investigated in the condensate of steam-pretreated willow. A cost analysis of the ethanol production from willow was made, which predicted an ethanol production cost of 3.9 SEK/l for the pentose fermentation. The detoxification cost constituted 22% of this cost. The monitoring of three monosaccharides and ethanol in lignocellulosic hydro lysates is described. The monosaccharides were determined using immobilized pyranose oxidase in an on-line amperometric analyser. Immobilization and characterization of pyranose oxidase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium is also described. The ethanol was monitored on-line using a micro dialysis probe as an in situ sampling device. The dialysate components were then separated in a column liquid chromatographic system and the ethanol was selectively detected by an amperometric alcohol bio sensor. The determinations with on-line analysis methods agreed well with off-line methods. 248 refs, 4 figs, 12 tabs

Efficient eucalypt cell wall deconstruction and conversion for sustainable lignocellulosic biofuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam L. Healey

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In order to meet the world’s growing energy demand and reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion, renewable plant-based feedstocks for biofuel production must be considered. First generation biofuels, derived from starches of edible feedstocks such as corn, creates competition between food and fuel resources, both for the crop itself and the land on which it is grown. As such, biofuel synthesized from non-edible plant biomass (lignocellulose generated on marginal agricultural land, will help to alleviate this competition. Eucalypts, the broadly defined taxa encompassing over 900 species of Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora, are the most widely planted hardwood tree in the world, harvested mainly for timber, pulp and paper, and biomaterial products. More recently, due to their exceptional growth rate and amenability to grow under a wide range of environmental conditions, eucalypts are a leading option for the development of a sustainable lignocellulosic biofuels. However, efficient conversion of woody biomass into fermentable monomeric sugars is largely dependent on pretreatment of the cell wall, whose formation and complexity lends itself towards natural recalcitrance against its efficient deconstruction. A greater understanding of this complexity within the context of various pretreatments will allow the design of new and effective deconstruction processes for bioenergy production. In this review, we present the various pretreatment options for eucalypts, including research into understanding structure and formation of the eucalypt cell wall.

Efficient Eucalypt Cell Wall Deconstruction and Conversion for Sustainable Lignocellulosic Biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Healey, Adam L; Lee, David J; Furtado, Agnelo; Simmons, Blake A; Henry, Robert J

2015-01-01

In order to meet the world's growing energy demand and reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fossil fuel combustion, renewable plant-based feedstocks for biofuel production must be considered. The first-generation biofuels, derived from starches of edible feedstocks, such as corn, create competition between food and fuel resources, both for the crop itself and the land on which it is grown. As such, biofuel synthesized from non-edible plant biomass (lignocellulose) generated on marginal agricultural land will help to alleviate this competition. Eucalypts, the broadly defined taxa encompassing over 900 species of Eucalyptus, Corymbia, and Angophora are the most widely planted hardwood tree in the world, harvested mainly for timber, pulp and paper, and biomaterial products. More recently, due to their exceptional growth rate and amenability to grow under a wide range of environmental conditions, eucalypts are a leading option for the development of a sustainable lignocellulosic biofuels. However, efficient conversion of woody biomass into fermentable monomeric sugars is largely dependent on pretreatment of the cell wall, whose formation and complexity lend itself toward natural recalcitrance against its efficient deconstruction. A greater understanding of this complexity within the context of various pretreatments will allow the design of new and effective deconstruction processes for bioenergy production. In this review, we present the various pretreatment options for eucalypts, including research into understanding structure and formation of the eucalypt cell wall.

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates using engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae harboring xylose isomerase-based pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Ja Kyong; Um, Youngsoon; Woo, Han Min; Kim, Kyoung Heon; Lee, Sun-Mi

2016-06-01

The efficient co-fermentation of glucose and xylose is necessary for the economically feasible bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Even with xylose utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the efficiency of the lignocellulosic ethanol production remains suboptimal mainly due to the low conversion yield of xylose to ethanol. In this study, we evaluated the co-fermentation performances of SXA-R2P-E, a recently engineered isomerase-based xylose utilizing strain, in mixed sugars and in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. In a high-sugar fermentation with 70g/L of glucose and 40g/L of xylose, SXA-R2P-E produced 50g/L of ethanol with an yield of 0.43gethanol/gsugars at 72h. From dilute acid-pretreated hydrolysates of rice straw and hardwood (oak), the strain produced 18-21g/L of ethanol with among the highest yield of 0.43-0.46gethanol/gsugars ever reported. This study shows a highly promising potential of a xylose isomerase-expressing strain as an industrially relevant ethanol producer from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of microwave and conduction-convection heating autohydrolysis pretreatment for bioethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar-Reynosa, Alejandra; Romaní, Aloia; Rodríguez-Jasso, Rosa M; Aguilar, Cristóbal N; Garrote, Gil; Ruiz, Héctor A

2017-11-01

This work describes the application of two forms of heating for autohydrolysis pretreatment on isothermal regimen: conduction-convection heating and microwave heating processing using corn stover as raw material for bioethanol production. Pretreatments were performed using different operational conditions: residence time (10-50 min) and temperature (160-200°C) for both pretreatments. Subsequently, the susceptibility of pretreated solids was studied using low enzyme loads, and high substrate loads. The highest conversion was 95.1% for microwave pretreated solids. Also solids pretreated by microwave heating processing showed better ethanol conversion in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (92% corresponding to 33.8g/L). Therefore, microwave heating processing is a promising technology in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Final Technical Report - Consolidating Biomass Pretreatment with Saccharification by Resolving the Spatial Control Mechanisms of Fungi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schilling, Jonathan [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

2017-07-06

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of lignocellulose combines enzymatic sugar release (saccharification) with fermentation, but pretreatments remain separate and costly. In nature, lignocellulose-degrading brown rot fungi consolidate pretreatment and saccharification, likely using spatial gradients to partition these incompatible reactions. With the field of biocatalysis maturing, reaction partitioning is increasingly reproducible for commercial use. Therefore, my goal was to resolve the reaction partitioning mechanisms of brown rot fungi so that they can be applied to bioconversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Brown rot fungi consolidate oxidative pretreatments with saccharification and are a focus for biomass refining because 1) they attain >99% sugar yield without destroying lignin, 2) they use a simplified cellulase suite that lacks exoglucanase, and 3) their non-enzymatic pretreatment is facilitative and may be accelerated. Specifically, I hypothesized that during brown rot, oxidative pretreatments occur ahead of enzymatic saccharification, spatially, and the fungus partitions these reactions using gradients in pH, lignin reactivity, and plant cell wall porosity. In fact, we found three key results during these experiments for this work: 1) Brown rot fungi have an inducible cellulase system, unlike previous descriptions of a constitutive mechanism. 2) The induction of cellulases is delayed until there is repression of oxidatively-linked genes, allowing the brown rot fungi to coordinate two incompatible reactions (oxidative pretreatment with enzymatic saccharification, to release wood sugars) in the same pieces of wood. 3) This transition is mediated by the same wood sugar, cellobiose, released by the oxidative pretreatment step. Collectively, these findings have been published in excellent journal outlets and have been presented at conferences around the United States, and they offer clear targets for gene discovery en route to making biofuels and biochemicals

Combination of ensiling and fungal delignification as effective wheat straw pretreatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Sune T.; Londono, Jorge E. G.; Ambye-Jensen, Morten

2016-01-01

Background: Utilization of lignocellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy production in developing countries demands competitive but low-tech conversion routes. White-rot fungi (WRF) inoculation and ensiling are two methods previously investigated for low-tech pretreatment of biomasses such as wheat...

The correlation between cellulose allomorphs (I and II) and conversion after removal of hemicellulose and lignin of lignocellulose.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yanliang; Zhang, Jingzhi; Zhang, Xu; Tan, Tianwei

2015-10-01

H2SO4, NaOH and H3PO4 were applied to decompose lignocellulose samples (giant reeds, pennisetum and cotton stalks) to investigate the correlation between cellulose allomorphs (cellulose I and II) and conversion of cellulose. The effect of removal of hemicellulose and lignin on the surface morphology, crystallinity index (CrI), cellulose allomorphs (cellulose I and II), and enzymatic hydrolysis under different pretreatments was also studied. CrI caused by H3PO4 pretreatment reached 11.19%, 24.93% and 8.15% for the three samples, respectively. Corn stalk showed highest conversion of cellulose among three samples, irrespective of the pretreatment used. This accounted for the widely use of corn stalk as the renewable crop substrate to synthesize biofuels like ethanol. CrI of cellulose I (CrI-I) negatively affects cellulose conversion but CrI of cellulose II (CrI-II) positively affects cellulose conversion. It contributes to make the strategy to transform cellulose I to cellulose II and enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Side by Side Comparison of Chemical Compounds Generated by Aqueous Pretreatments of Maize Stover, Miscanthus and Sugarcane Bagasse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gomez, L.D.; Vanholme, R.; Bird, S.; Goeminne, G.; Trindade, L.M.; Polikarpov, I.; Simister, R.; Morreel, K.; Boerjan, W.; McQueen-Mason, S.J.

2014-01-01

In order to examine the potential for coproduct generation, we have characterised chemical compounds released by a range of alkaline and acidic aqueous pretreatments as well as the effect of these pretreatments on the saccharification ability of the lignocellulosic material. Comparative experiments

New pentose dimers with bicyclic moieties from pretreated biomass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, H.; Sørensen, Henrik Rokkjær; Tanner, David Ackland

2017-01-01

In lignocellulosic biorefinery processes involving enzyme catalysed reactions it is a challenge that enzyme inhibiting compounds are generated and liberated during pretreatment of the biomass. In this study the contribution to cellulase inhibition from xylooligosaccharides and newly discovered...... oligophenolic compounds from pilot scale pretreated wheat straw was assessed at two different pretreatment severities. An increase in severity of the pretreatment led to more oligophenol compounds and in turn the total overall cellulase inhibition increased. When the xylooligosaccharides were enzymatically...... degraded prior to cellulose hydrolysis, a relief in cellulase inhibition was observed, but some inhibition remained, suggesting that other components also played a role in inhibition. We propose that these components include dipentoses with bicyclic moieties and feruloylated tripentoses, because LC...

Pretreatment of Cellulose By Electron Beam Irradiation Method

Science.gov (United States)

Jusri, N. A. A.; Azizan, A.; Ibrahim, N.; Salleh, R. Mohd; Rahman, M. F. Abd

2018-05-01

Pretreatment process of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to produce biofuel has been conducted by using various methods including physical, chemical, physicochemical as well as biological. The conversion of bioethanol process typically involves several steps which consist of pretreatment, hydrolysis, fermentation and separation. In this project, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was used in replacement of LCB since cellulose has the highest content of LCB for the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of new pretreatment method using radiation technology. Irradiation with different doses (100 kGy to 1000 kGy) was conducted by using electron beam accelerator equipment at Agensi Nuklear Malaysia. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses were studied to further understand the effect of the suggested pretreatment step to the content of MCC. Through this method namely IRR-LCB, an ideal and optimal condition for pretreatment prior to the production of biofuel by using LCB may be introduced.

Impact of thermal pretreatment and MSW origin on composition and hydrolysability in a sugar platform biorefinery

Science.gov (United States)

Vaurs, L. P.; Heaven, S.; Banks, C. J.

2018-03-01

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a widely available large volume source of lignocellulosic material containing a waste paper/cardboard mixture which can be converted into fermentable sugars via cellulolytic enzyme hydrolysis in a sugar platform biorefinery. Thermal pretreatments are generally applied to MSW to facilitate the extraction of the lignocellulosic material from recyclable materials (plastics, metals etc.) and improve the paper pulp conversion to sugars. Applying high temperature might enhance food waste solubilisation but may collapse cellulose fibre decreasing its hydrolysability. Low temperature pre-treatment will reduce the energy demand but might result in highly contaminated pulp. Preliminary results showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis performances were dependent on the MSW origins. Using 8 different samples, the impact of thermal pretreatment and MSW origin on pulp composition and hydrolysability was assessed in this work. Low pre-treatment temperature produced pulp which contained less lignocellulosic material but which hydrolysed to a higher degree than MSW treated at high temperatures. High temperature pre-treatment could have exposed more of the inhibiting lignin to cellulase. This information would have a significant economic impact on a commercial plant as expensive autoclave could be advantageously replaced by a cheaper process. Glucan conversions were also found to vary depending on the region, the recycling rate possibly because of the lower recycling rate resulting in the use of less paper additive in the material or the difference in paper production technology (chemical VS mechanical pulping). This could also be explained by the differences in paper composition.

Seawater as Alternative to Freshwater in Pretreatment of Date Palm Residues for Bioethanol Production in Coastal and/or Arid Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Chuanji; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard; Brudecki, Grzegorz P; Cybulska, Iwona; Frankaer, Christian Grundahl; Bastidas-Oyanedel, Juan-Rodrigo; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2015-11-01

The large water consumption (1.9-5.9 m(3) water per m(3) of biofuel) required by biomass processing plants has become an emerging concern, which is particularly critical in arid/semiarid regions. Seawater, as a widely available water source, could be an interesting option. This work was to study the technical feasibility of using seawater to replace freshwater in the pretreatment of date palm leaflets, a lignocellulosic biomass from arid regions, for bioethanol production. It was shown that leaflets pretreated with seawater exhibited lower cellulose crystallinity than those pretreated with freshwater. Pretreatment with seawater produced comparably digestible and fermentable solids to those obtained with freshwater. Moreover, no significant difference of inhibition to Saccharomyces cerevisiae was observed between liquids from pretreatment with seawater and freshwater. The results showed that seawater could be a promising alternative to freshwater for lignocellulose biorefineries in coastal and/or arid/semiarid areas. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electron beam irradiation enhances the digestibility and fermentation yield of water-soaked lignocellulosic biomass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Seop Bak

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In order to overcome the limitation of commercial electron beam irradiation (EBI, lignocellulosic rice straw (RS was pretreated using water soaking-based electron beam irradiation (WEBI. This environment-friendly pretreatment, without the formation (or release of inhibitory compounds (especially hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural, significantly increased the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation yields of RS. Specifically, when water-soaked RS (solid:liquid ratio of 100% was treated with WEBI doses of 1 MeV at 80 kGy, 0.12 mA, the glucose yield after 120 h of hydrolysis was 70.4% of the theoretical maximum. This value was predominantly higher than the 29.5% and 52.1% measured from untreated and EBI-treated RS, respectively. Furthermore, after simultaneous saccharification and fermentation for 48 h, the ethanol concentration, production yield, and productivity were 9.3 g/L, 57.0% of the theoretical maximum, and 0.19 g/L h, respectively. Finally, scanning electron microscopy images revealed that WEBI induced significant ultrastructural changes to the surface of lignocellulosic fibers.

Wheat straw, household waste and hay as a source of lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol and biogas production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomczak, Anna; Bruch, Magdalena; Holm-Nielsen, Jens Bo

2010-01-01

To meet the increasing need for bioenergy three lignocellulosic materials: raw hay, pretreated wheat straw and pretreated household waste were considered for the production of bioethanol and biogas. Several mixtures of household waste supplemented with different fractions of wheat straw and hay...... in fermentation process with Saccharomyces cerevisiae were investigated. Wheat straw and household wastes were pretreated using IBUS technology, patented by Dong Energy, which includes milling, stem explosion treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Methane production was investigated using stillages, the effluents...... from bioethanol fermentation experiment. Previous trial of biogas production from above mentioned household wastes was enclosed....

Engineering Ligninolytic Consortium for Bioconversion of Lignocelluloses to Ethanol and Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilal, Muhammad; Nawaz, Muhammad Zohaib; Iqbal, Hafiz M N; Hou, Jialin; Mahboob, Shahid; Al-Ghanim, Khalid A; Cheng, Hairong

2018-01-01

Rising environmental concerns and recent global scenario of cleaner production and consumption are leading to the design of green industrial processes to produce alternative fuels and chemicals. Although bioethanol is one of the most promising and eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels yet its production from food and feed has received much negative criticism. The main objective of this study was to present the noteworthy potentialities of lignocellulosic biomass as an enormous and renewable biological resource. The particular focus was also given on engineering ligninolytic consortium for bioconversion of lignocelluloses to ethanol and chemicals on sustainable and environmentally basis. Herein, an effort has been made to extensively review, analyze and compile salient information related to the topic of interest. Several authentic bibliographic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Springer, Bentham Science and other scientific databases were searched with utmost care, and inclusion/ exclusion criterion was adopted to appraise the quality of retrieved peer-reviewed research literature. Bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass can largely satisfy the possible inconsistency of first-generation ethanol since it utilizes inedible lignocellulosic feedstocks, primarily sourced from agriculture and forestry wastes. Two major polysaccharides in lignocellulosic biomass namely, cellulose and hemicellulose constitute a complex lignocellulosic network by connecting with lignin, which is highly recalcitrant to depolymerization. Several attempts have been made to reduce the cost involved in the process through improving the pretreatment process. While, the ligninolytic enzymes of white rot fungi (WRF) including laccase, lignin peroxidase (LiP), and manganese peroxidase (MnP) have appeared as versatile biocatalysts for delignification of several lignocellulosic residues. The first part of the review is mainly focused on engineering ligninolytic consortium

Green Processing of Lignocellulosic Biomass and Its Derivatives in Deep Eutectic Solvents.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xing; Zuo, Miao; Li, Zheng; Liu, Huai; Xiong, Caixia; Zeng, Xianhai; Sun, Yong; Hu, Lei; Liu, Shijie; Lei, Tingzhou; Lin, Lu

2017-07-10

The scientific community has been seeking cost-competitive and green solvents with good dissolving capacity for the valorization of lignocellulosic biomass. At this point, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are currently emerging as a new class of promising solvents that are generally liquid eutectic mixtures formed by self-association (or hydrogen-bonding interaction) of two or three components. DESs are attractive solvents for the fractionation (or pretreatment) of lignocellulose and the valorization of lignin, owing to the high solubility of lignin in DESs. DESs are also employed as effective media for the modification of cellulose to afford functionalized cellulosic materials, such as cellulose nanocrystals. More interestingly, biomassderived carbohydrates, such as fructose, can be used as one of the constituents of DESs and then dehydrated to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in high yield. In this review, a comprehensive summary of recent contribution of DESs to the processing of lignocellulosic biomass and its derivatives is provided. Moreover, further discussion about the challenges of the application of DESs in biomass processing is presented. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comparison of Pretreatment Methods on Vetiver Leaves for Efficient Processes of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation by Neurospora sp.

Science.gov (United States)

Restiawaty, E.; Dewi, A.

2017-07-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is a potential raw material for bioethanol production. Neurospora sp. can be used to convert lignocellulosic biomass into bioethanol because of its ability to perform simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. However, lignin content, degree of polymerization, and crystallinity of cellulose contained in lignocellulosic biomass can inhibit cellulosic-biomass digestion by Neurospora sp, so that a suitable pretreatment method of lignocellulosic biomass is needed. The focus of this research was to investigate the suitable pretreatment method for vetiver leaves (Vetiveria zizanioides L. Nash) used as a raw material producing bioethanol in the process of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) by Neurospora sp.. Vetiver plants obtained from Garut are deliberately cultivated to produce essential oils extracted from the roots of this plant. Since the vetiver leaves do not contain oil, some of harvested leaves are usually used for crafts and cattle feed, and the rest are burned. This study intended to look at other potential of vetiver leaves as a source of renewable energy. Pretreatments of the vetiver leaves were conducted using hot water, dilute acid, alkaline & dilute acid, and alkaline peroxide, in which each method was accompanied by thermal treatment. The results showed that the alkaline peroxide treatment is a suitable for vetiver leaves as indicated by the increase of cellulose content up to 65.1%, while the contents of hot water soluble, hemicellulose, lignin, and ash are 8.7%, 18.3%, 6.8%, and 1.1%, respectively. Using this pretreatment method, the vetiver leaves can be converted into bioethanol by SSF process using Neurospora sp. with a concentration of bioethanol of 6.7 g/L operated at room temperature.

Delignification and Enhanced Gas Release from Soil Containing Lignocellulose by Treatment with Bacterial Lignin Degraders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Goran M M; Duran-Pena, Maria Jesus; Rahmanpour, Rahman; Sapsford, Devin; Bugg, Timothy D H

2017-04-10

The aim of the study was to isolate bacterial lignin-degrading bacteria from municipal solid waste soil, and to investigate whether they could be used to delignify lignocellulose-containing soil, and enhance methane release. A set of 20 bacterial lignin degraders, including 11 new isolates from municipal solid waste soil, were tested for delignification and phenol release in soil containing 1% pine lignocellulose. A group of 7 strains were then tested for enhancement of gas release from soil containing 1% lignocellulose in small-scale column tests. Using an aerobic pre-treatment, aerobic strains such as Pseudomonas putida showed enhanced gas release from the treated sample, but four bacterial isolates showed 5-10 fold enhancement in gas release in an in situ experiment under microanaerobic conditions: Agrobacterium sp., Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Comamonas testosteroni, and Enterobacter sp.. The results show that facultative anaerobic bacterial lignin degraders found in landfill soil can be used for in situ delignification and enhanced gas release in soil containing lignocellulose. The study demonstrates the feasibility of using an in situ bacterial treatment to enhance gas release and resource recovery from landfill soil containing lignocellulosic waste. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Carbohydrate degradation mechanisms and compounds from pretreated biomass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Helena

The formation of inhibitors during pretreatment of lignocellulosic feedstocks is a persistent problem, and notably the compounds that retard enzymatic cellulose conversion represent an obstacle for achieving optimal enzymatic productivity and high glucose yields. Compounds with many chemical...... pretreated wheat straw after enzymatic treatment. It was found that formation of the oligophenolic degradation compounds were common across biomass sources as sugar cane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunches. These findings were in line with that the oligophenolic compounds arise from reactions involving...... functionalities are formed during biomass pretreatment, which gives possibilities for various chemical reactions to take place and hence formation of many new potential inhibitor compounds. This somehow overlooked contemplation formed the basis for the main hypothesis investigated in this work: Hypothesis 1...

UTILIZATION OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (OPEFB FOR BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION THROUGH ALKALI AND DILUTE ACID PRETREATMENT AND SIMULTANEOUS SACCHARIFICATION AND FERMENTATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanni Sudiyani

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Lignocellulosic biomass is a potential alternative source of bioethanol for energy. The lignocellulosics are abundantly available in Indonesia. Most of them are wastes of agriculture, plantation and forestry. Among those wastes, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OP EFB is one of a potential lignocellulosics to be converted to bioethanol. This EFB, which is wastes in oil palm factories, is quite abundant (around 25 million tons/year and also has high content of cellulose (41-47%. The conversion of OPEFB to ethanol basically consists of three steps which are pretreatment, hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to simple sugars (hexoses and pentoses, and fermentation of simple sugars to ethanol. Acid and alkali pretreatments are considered the simplest methods and are potentially could be applied in the next couple of years. However, there are still some problems that have to be overcome to make the methods economically feasible. The high price of cellulose enzyme that is needed in the hydrolysis step is one of factors that cause the cost of EFB conversion is still high. Thus, the search of potential local microbes that could produce cellulase is crucial. Besides that, it is also important to explore fermenting microbes that could ferment six carbon sugars from cellulose as well as five carbon sugars from hemicellulose, so that the conversion of lignocellulosics, particularly EFB, would be more efficient. Keywords: OPEFB, lignocellulosics, pretreatment, fermentation, ethanol

Biomass pretreatment affects Ustilago maydis in producing itaconic acid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klement Tobias

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the last years, the biotechnological production of platform chemicals for fuel components has become a major focus of interest. Although ligno-cellulosic material is considered as suitable feedstock, the almost inevitable pretreatment of this recalcitrant material may interfere with the subsequent fermentation steps. In this study, the fungus Ustilago maydis was used to produce itaconic acid as platform chemical for the synthesis of potential biofuels such as 3-methyltetrahydrofuran. No studies, however, have investigated how pretreatment of ligno-cellulosic biomass precisely influences the subsequent fermentation by U. maydis. Thus, this current study aims to first characterize U. maydis in shake flasks and then to evaluate the influence of three exemplary pretreatment methods on the cultivation and itaconic acid production of this fungus. Cellulose enzymatically hydrolysed in seawater and salt-assisted organic-acid catalysed cellulose were investigated as substrates. Lastly, hydrolysed hemicellulose from fractionated beech wood was applied as substrate. Results U. maydis was characterized on shake flask level regarding its itaconic acid production on glucose. Nitrogen limitation was shown to be a crucial condition for the production of itaconic acid. For itaconic acid concentrations above 25 g/L, a significant product inhibition was observed. Performing experiments that simulated influences of possible pretreatment methods, U. maydis was only slightly affected by high osmolarities up to 3.5 osmol/L as well as of 0.1 M oxalic acid. The production of itaconic acid was achieved on pretreated cellulose in seawater and on the hydrolysed hemicellulosic fraction of pretreated beech wood. Conclusion The fungus U. maydis is a promising producer of itaconic acid, since it grows as single cells (yeast-like in submerged cultivations and it is extremely robust in high osmotic media and real seawater. Moreover, U. maydis can grow on

Formation of degradation compounds from lignocellulosic biomass in the biorefinery: sugar reaction mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Helena; Sørensen, Hanne R.; Meyer, Anne S.

2014-01-01

, several aldehydes and ketones and many different organic acids and aromatic compounds may be generated during hydrothermal treatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The reaction mechanisms are of interest because the very same compounds that are possible inhibitors for biomass processing enzymes......The degradation compounds formed during pretreatment when lignocellulosic biomass is processed to ethanol or other biorefinery products include furans, phenolics, organic acids, as well as mono- and oligomeric pentoses and hexoses. Depending on the reaction conditions glucose can be converted to 5......-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde (HMF) and/or levulinic acid, formic acid and different phenolics at elevated temperatures. Correspondingly, xylose can follow different reaction mechanisms resulting in the formation of furan-2-carbaldehyde (furfural) and/or various C-1 and C-4 compounds. At least four routes...

Lignocellulosic biomass-Thermal pretreatment with steam: Pretreatment techniques for biofuels and biorefineries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toor, Saqib; Rosendahl, Lasse; Hoffmann, Jessica

2013-01-01

With the ever rising demand for more energy and the limited availability of depleted world resources, many are beginning to look for alternatives to fossil fuels. Liquid biofuel, in particular, is of key interest to decrease our dependency on fuels produced from imported petroleum. Biomass pre......-treatment remains one of the most pressing challenges in terms of cost-effective production of biofuels. The digestibility of lingo-cellulosic biomass is limited by different factors such as the lignin content, the crystallinity of cellulose, and the available cellulose accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes. A number...

Characterization of Cellulase Enzyme Inhibitors Formed During the Chemical Pretreatments of Rice Straw

Science.gov (United States)

Rajan, Kalavathy

Production of fuels and chemicals from a renewable and inexpensive resource such as lignocellulosic biomass is a lucrative and sustainable option for the advanced biofuel and bio-based chemical platform. Agricultural residues constitute the bulk of potential feedstock available for cellulosic fuel production. On a global scale, rice straw is the largest source of agricultural residues and is therefore an ideal crop model for biomass deconstruction studies. Lignocellulosic biofuel production involves the processes of biomass conditioning, enzymatic saccharification, microbial fermentation and ethanol distillation, and one of the major factors affecting its techno-economic feasibility is the biomass recalcitrance to enzymatic saccharification. Preconditioning of lignocellulosic biomass, using chemical, physico-chemical, mechanical and biological pretreatments, is often practiced such that biomass becomes available to downstream processing. Pretreatments, such as dilute acid and hot water, are effective means of biomass conversion. However, despite their processing importance, preconditioning biomass also results in the production of carbohydrate and lignin degradation products that are inhibitory to downstream saccharification enzymes. The saccharification enzyme cocktail is made up of endo-cellulase, exo-cellulase and beta-glucosidase enzymes, whose role is to cleave cellulose polymers into glucose monomers. Specifically, endo-cellulase and exo-cellulase enzymes cleave cellulose chains in the middle and at the end, resulting in cellobiose molecules, which are hydrolyzed into glucose by beta-glucosidase. Unfortunately, degradation compounds generated during pretreatment inhibit the saccharification enzyme cocktail. Various research groups have identified specific classes of inhibitors formed during biomass pretreatment and have studied their inhibitory effect on the saccharification cocktail. These various research groups prepared surrogate solutions in an attempt to

Ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine : preliminary evaluation of mass balance and process energy efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Junyong Zhu; Wenyuan Zhu; Patricia OBryan; Bruce S. Dien; Shen Tian; Roland Gleisner; X.J. Pan

2010-01-01

Lodgepole pine from forest thinnings is a potential feedstock for ethanol production. In this study, lodgepole pine was converted to ethanol with a yield of 276 L per metric ton of wood or 72% of theoretical yield. The lodgepole pine chips were directly subjected to sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) pretreatment and then disk-...

Enzymatic saccharification of hemicellulose obtained from hydrothermally pretreated sugar can bagasse and beech bark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walch, E; Zemann, A; Bonn, G; Bobleter, O [Innsbruck Univ. (Austria). Inst. fuer Radiochemie und Angewandte Physikalische Chemie; Schinner, F [Innsbruck Univ. (AT). Inst. for Microbiology

1992-01-01

Characteristics of different xylanses and their use in the saccharification of sugar cane bagasse and beech bark were studied. Bagasse was pretreated by two different hydrothermolysis procedures, a recirculation and a direct flow-through process. The recirculation procedure resulted in a higher yield of dry matter in the hydrothermolysis solution and a higher saccharification effect after enzymatic hydrolysis. In the case of beech bark, the tannins have first to be removed at temperatures of 120-140{sup o}C. In a second hydrothermal step (at approximately 200{sup o}C), a hemicellulose solution is obtained which can be saccharified enzymatically with high yields. The inhibitory effect of the tannins is experimentally demonstrated. (author).

Steam explosion pretreatment of softwood: the effect of the explosive decompression on enzymatic digestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Pielhop, Thomas; Amgarten, Janick; von Rohr, Philipp Rudolf; Studer, Michael H

2016-01-01

Steam explosion pretreatment has been examined in many studies for enhancing the enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass and is currently the most common pretreatment method in commercial biorefineries. The information available about the effect of the explosive decompression on the biochemical conversion is, however, very limited, and no studies prove that the latter is actually enhanced by the explosion. Hence, it is of great value to discern between the effect of the explosion on the one hand and the steaming on the other hand, to identify their particular influences on enzymatic digestibility. The effect of the explosive decompression in the steam explosion pretreatment of spruce wood chips on their enzymatic cellulose digestibility was studied systematically. The explosion had a high influence on digestibility, improving it by up to 90 % compared to a steam pretreatment without explosion. Two factors were identified to be essentially responsible for the effect of the explosion on enzymatic digestibility: pretreatment severity and pressure difference of the explosion. A higher pretreatment severity can soften up and weaken the lignocellulose structure more, so that the explosion can better break up the biomass and decrease its particle size, which enhances its digestibility. In particular, increasing the pressure difference of the explosion leads to more defibration, a smaller particle size and a better digestibility. Though differences were found in the micro- and nanostructure of exploded and non-exploded biomass, the only influence of the explosion on digestibility was found to be the macroscopic particle size reduction. Steam explosion treatments with a high severity and a high pressure difference of the explosion lead to a comparatively high cellulose digestibility of the-typically very recalcitrant-softwood biomass. This is the first study to show that explosion can enhance the enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass. If the

Soluble inhibitors/deactivators of cellulase enzymes from lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngmi; Ximenes, Eduardo; Mosier, Nathan S; Ladisch, Michael R

2011-04-07

Liquid hot water, steam explosion, and dilute acid pretreatments of lignocellulose generate soluble inhibitors which hamper enzymatic hydrolysis as well as fermentation of sugars to ethanol. Toxic and inhibitory compounds will vary with pretreatment and include soluble sugars, furan derivatives (hydroxymethyl fulfural, furfural), organic acids (acetic, formic and, levulinic acid), and phenolic compounds. Their effect is seen when an increase in the concentration of pretreated biomass in a hydrolysis slurry results in decreased cellulose conversion, even though the ratio of enzyme to cellulose is kept constant. We used lignin-free cellulose, Solka Floc, combined with mixtures of soluble components released during pretreatment of wood, to prove that the decrease in the rate and extent of cellulose hydrolysis is due to a combination of enzyme inhibition and deactivation. The causative agents were extracted from wood pretreatment liquid using PEG surfactant, activated charcoal or ethyl acetate and then desorbed, recovered, and added back to a mixture of enzyme and cellulose. At enzyme loadings of either 1 or 25mg protein/g glucan, the most inhibitory components, later identified as phenolics, decreased the rate and extent of cellulose hydrolysis by half due to both inhibition and precipitation of the enzymes. Full enzyme activity occurred when the phenols were removed. Hence detoxification of pretreated woods through phenol removal is expected to reduce enzyme loadings, and therefore reduce enzyme costs, for a given level of cellulose conversion. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Model-based plant-wide optimization of large-scale lignocellulosic bioethanol plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Blanke, Mogens; Jakobsen, Jon Geest

2017-01-01

Second generation biorefineries transform lignocellulosic biomass into chemicals with higher added value following a conversion mechanism that consists of: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and purification. The objective of this study is to identify the optimal operational point...... with respect to maximum economic profit of a large scale biorefinery plant using a systematic model-based plantwide optimization methodology. The following key process parameters are identified as decision variables: pretreatment temperature, enzyme dosage in enzymatic hydrolysis, and yeast loading per batch...... in fermentation. The plant is treated in an integrated manner taking into account the interactions and trade-offs between the conversion steps. A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis follows at the optimal solution considering both model and feed parameters. It is found that the optimal point is more sensitive...

Utilization of selected biorenewable resources: solubilization of lignocellulosics and conjugation of soybean oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oshel, Reed E. [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2007-01-01

In recent years, concern has risen over the use of fossil fuels due to their contribution to global warming, and to our dependence on imports of petroleum from nations that could pose a threat to national security. As a result, it has become increasingly important to develop technologies to replace fossil fuel based products with biorenewable alternatives. In this thesis nearly quantitative solubilization of lignocellulosic materials using phosphite esters has been realized, and is presented as a potential pretreatment for production of fermentable sugars for use in manufacturing commodity chemicals, specifically ethanol. Water solubilization of lignocellulosics using phosphite esters will enhance digestibility by disrupting the lignocellulose structure, changing cellulose morphology, and cleaving some glycosidic bonds. In a second project, soybean oil, which contains un-conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acid esters, is isomerized into oil containing conjugated polyunsaturates. The process is carried out under photochemical conditions using iodine as a catalyst in a hexanes solution to achieve 99% conjugation. The resulting conjugated soybean oil is demonstrated to have enhanced drying properties for use in alkyd resins.

Current Pretreatment Technologies for the Development of Cellulosic Ethanol and Biorefineries.

Science.gov (United States)

Silveira, Marcos Henrique Luciano; Morais, Ana Rita C; da Costa Lopes, Andre M; Olekszyszen, Drielly Nayara; Bogel-Łukasik, Rafał; Andreaus, Jürgen; Pereira Ramos, Luiz

2015-10-26

Lignocellulosic materials, such as forest, agriculture, and agroindustrial residues, are among the most important resources for biorefineries to provide fuels, chemicals, and materials in such a way to substitute for, at least in part, the role of petrochemistry in modern society. Most of these sustainable biorefinery products can be produced from plant polysaccharides (glucans, hemicelluloses, starch, and pectic materials) and lignin. In this scenario, cellulosic ethanol has been considered for decades as one of the most promising alternatives to mitigate fossil fuel dependence and carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere. However, a pretreatment method is required to overcome the physical and chemical barriers that exist in the lignin-carbohydrate composite and to render most, if not all, of the plant cell wall components easily available for conversion into valuable products, including the fuel ethanol. Hence, pretreatment is a key step for an economically viable biorefinery. Successful pretreatment method must lead to partial or total separation of the lignocellulosic components, increasing the accessibility of holocellulose to enzymatic hydrolysis with the least inhibitory compounds being released for subsequent steps of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Each pretreatment technology has a different specificity against both carbohydrates and lignin and may or may not be efficient for different types of biomasses. Furthermore, it is also desirable to develop pretreatment methods with chemicals that are greener and effluent streams that have a lower impact on the environment. This paper provides an overview of the most important pretreatment methods available, including those that are based on the use of green solvents (supercritical fluids and ionic liquids). © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Enhanced Ethanol Production with Mixed Lignocellulosic Substrates from Commercial Furfural and Cassava Residues

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Li Ji

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF is an attractive process configuration for bio-ethanol production. Further reductions in process cost of SSF are expected with the use of waste agricultural or industrial materials as feedstock. In the current study, two industrial lignocellulosic wastes, cassava residues (CR and furfural residues (FR, were combined during SSF for ethanol production due to their value-added applications and positive environmental impacts. After CR were liquefied and saccharified, saccharification liquid was added to SSF of FR. The effect of substrate fractions was investigated in terms of ethanol yield, byproduct concentration and the number of yeast cells. Besides, a natural surfactant, Gleditsia saponin, was added to investigate the effect of FR lignin on SSF with 20% substrate concentration. The results showed that increasing the ratio of CR/FR improved the ethanol yield and that the ethanol yield was also increased gradually by increasing the substrate concentration from 6% to 12%. A high ethanol concentration of 36.0 g/L was obtained under the condition of CR:FR = 2:1 with 12% substrate concentration, reaching 71.1% of the theoretical yield. However, Gleditsia saponin did not affect the ethanol yield, indicating the insignificant effect of lignin in SSF with low lignin content in the reaction system.

Co-Utilization of Glucose and Xylose for Enhanced Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production with Reverse Membrane Bioreactors

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Mofoluwake M. Ishola

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Integrated permeate channel (IPC flat sheet membranes were examined for use as a reverse membrane bioreactor (rMBR for lignocellulosic ethanol production. The fermenting organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (T0936, a genetically-modified strain with the ability to ferment xylose, was used inside the rMBR. The rMBR was evaluated for simultaneous glucose and xylose utilization as well as in situ detoxification of furfural and hydroxylmethyl furfural (HMF. The synthetic medium was investigated, after which the pretreated wheat straw was used as a xylose-rich lignocellulosic substrate. The IPC membrane panels were successfully used as the rMBR during the batch fermentations, which lasted for up to eight days without fouling. With the rMBR, complete glucose and xylose utilization, resulting in 86% of the theoretical ethanol yield, was observed with the synthetic medium. Its application with the pretreated wheat straw resulted in complete glucose consumption and 87% xylose utilization; a final ethanol concentration of 30.3 g/L was obtained, which corresponds to 83% of the theoretical yield. Moreover, complete in situ detoxification of furfural and HMF was obtained within 36 h and 60 h, respectively, with the rMBR. The use of the rMBR is a promising technology for large-scale lignocellulosic ethanol production, since it facilitates the co-utilization of glucose and xylose; moreover, the technology would also allow the reuse of the yeast for several batches.

Co-Utilization of Glucose and Xylose for Enhanced Lignocellulosic Ethanol Production with Reverse Membrane Bioreactors

Science.gov (United States)

Ishola, Mofoluwake M.; Ylitervo, Päivi; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J.

2015-01-01

Integrated permeate channel (IPC) flat sheet membranes were examined for use as a reverse membrane bioreactor (rMBR) for lignocellulosic ethanol production. The fermenting organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (T0936), a genetically-modified strain with the ability to ferment xylose, was used inside the rMBR. The rMBR was evaluated for simultaneous glucose and xylose utilization as well as in situ detoxification of furfural and hydroxylmethyl furfural (HMF). The synthetic medium was investigated, after which the pretreated wheat straw was used as a xylose-rich lignocellulosic substrate. The IPC membrane panels were successfully used as the rMBR during the batch fermentations, which lasted for up to eight days without fouling. With the rMBR, complete glucose and xylose utilization, resulting in 86% of the theoretical ethanol yield, was observed with the synthetic medium. Its application with the pretreated wheat straw resulted in complete glucose consumption and 87% xylose utilization; a final ethanol concentration of 30.3 g/L was obtained, which corresponds to 83% of the theoretical yield. Moreover, complete in situ detoxification of furfural and HMF was obtained within 36 h and 60 h, respectively, with the rMBR. The use of the rMBR is a promising technology for large-scale lignocellulosic ethanol production, since it facilitates the co-utilization of glucose and xylose; moreover, the technology would also allow the reuse of the yeast for several batches. PMID:26633530

Comparison of the Effects of Thermal Pretreatment, Steam Explosion and Ultrasonic Disintegration on Digestibility of Corn Stover

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Andras Dallos

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The energy demand of the corn-based bioethanol production could be reduced using the agricultural byproducts as bioenergy feedstock for biogas digesters. The release of lignocellulosic material and therefore the acceleration of degradation processes can be achieved using thermal and mechanical pretreatments, which assist to hydrolyze the cell walls and speed the solubilization of biopolymers in biogas feedstock. This study is focused on liquid hot water, steam explosion and ultrasonic pretreatments of corn stover. The scientific contribution of this paper is a comprehensive comparison of the performance of the pretreatments by fast analytical, biochemical, anaerobic digestibility and biomethane potential tests, extended by energy consumptions and energy balance calculations.The effectiveness of pretreatments was evaluated by means of soluble chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand and by the biogas and methane productivities. The results have shown that the thermal pretreatment, steam explosion and ultrasonic irradiation of biogas feedstock disintegrated the lignocellulosic structure, increased and accelerated the methane production and increased the cumulative biogas and methane productivity of corn stover in reference to the control during mesophilic anaerobic digestion.The energy balance demonstrated that there is an economical basis of the application of the liquid hot-compressed water pretreatments in a biogas plant. However, the steam explosion and ultrasonication are energetically not profitable for corn stover pretreatment.

Evaluation of the biomass potential for the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol from various agricultural residues in Austria and Worldwide

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Kahr, Heike; Steindl, Daniel; Wimberger, Julia; Schürz, Daniel; Jäger, Alexander

2013-04-01

Due to the fact that the resources of fossil fuels are steadily decreasing, researchers have been trying to find alternatives over the past few years. As bioethanol of the first generation is based on potential food, its production has become an increasingly controversial topic. Therefore the focus of research currently is on the production of bioethanol of the second generation, which is made from cellulosic and lignocellulosic materials. However, for the production of bioethanol of the second generation the fibres have to be pre-treated. In this work the mass balances of various agricultural residues available in Austria were generated and examined in lab scale experiments for their bioethanol potential. The residues were pretreatment by means of state of the art technology (steam explosion), enzymatically hydrolysed and fermented with yeast to produce ethanol. Special attention was paid the mass balance of the overall process. Due to the pretreatment the proportion of cellulose increases with the duration of the pre-treatment, whereby the amount of hemicellulose decreases greatly. However, the total losses were increasing with the duration of the pre-treatment, and the losses largely consist of hemicellulose. The ethanol yield varied depending on the cellulose content of the substrates. So rye straw 200 °C 20 min reaches an ethanol yield of 169 kg/t, by far the largest yield. As result on the basis of the annual straw yield in Austria, approximately 210 000 t of bioethanol (266 million litres) could be produced from the straw of wheat (Triticum vulgare), rye (Secale cereale), oat (Avena sativa) and corn (Zea mays) as well as elephant grass (Miscanthus sinensis) using appropriate pre-treatment. So the greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels could be reduced significantly. About 1.8 million tons of motor gasoline are consumed in Austria every year. The needed quantity for a transition to E10 biofuels could thus be easily provided by bioethanol

Optimization and evaluation of alkaline potassium permanganate pretreatment of corncob.

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Ma, Lijuan; Cui, Youzhi; Cai, Rui; Liu, Xueqiang; Zhang, Cuiying; Xiao, Dongguang

2015-03-01

Alkaline potassium permanganate solution (APP) was applied to the pretreatment of corncob with a simple and effective optimization of APP concentration, reaction time, temperature and solid to liquid ratio (SLR). The optimized pretreatment conditions were at 2% (w/v) potassium permanganate with SLR of 1:10 treating for 6h at 50°C. This simple one-step treatment resulted in significant 94.56% of the cellulose and 81.47% of the hemicellulose recoveries and 46.79% of the lignin removal of corncob. The reducing sugar in the hydrolysate from APP-pretreated corncob was 8.39g/L after 12h enzymatic hydrolysis, which was 1.44 and 1.29 folds higher than those from raw and acid pretreated corncobs. Physical characteristics, crystallinity and structure of the pretreated corncob were analyzed and assessed by SEM, XRD and FTIR. The APP pretreatment process was novel and enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose by affecting composition and structural features. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced methane productivity from swine manure fibers by aqueous ammonia soaking pretreatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jurado, Esperanza; Skiadas, Ioannis; Gavala, Hariklia N.

2011-01-01

The necessity of increasing the methane productivity of manure based biogas plants has triggered the development of new separation technologies for being applied before anaerobic digestion of the manure. Thus, manure solid and liquid fractions could be used to centralized biogas plants for methane...... production and as fertilizer on the farm, respectively. One of the challenges of this approach is that the solid fraction of manure contains lignocellulosic fibers, which are difficult to digest and thus make anaerobic digestion process slow and economically unfavourable. In the present study, aqueous...... ammonia soaking (AAS) was investigated as a pretreatment method to disrupt lignocellulosic structure and increase methane potential of swine manure fibers. It was proven that AAS broke down the lignocellulosic structure dissolving approximately the 35% of lignin and maintaining cellulose...

COMPARISON OF TWO CHEMICAL PRETREATMENTS OF RICE STRAW FOR BIOGAS PRODUCTION BY ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

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Zilin Song,

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Lignocellulosic biomass is considered the most abundant renewable resource that has the potential to contribute remarkably in the supply of biofuel. Previous studies have shown that chemical pretreatment prior to anaerobic digestion (AD can increase the digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass and methane yield. In the present study, the effect of rice straw pretreatment using ammonium hydroxide (NH3•H2O and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 on the biogasification performance through AD was investigated. A self-designed, laboratory-scale, and continuous anaerobic biogas digester was used for the evaluation. Results showed that the contents of the rice straw, i.e. the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose were degraded significantly after the NH3•H2O and H2O2 treatments, and that biogas production from all pretreated rice straw increased. In addition, the optimal treatments for biogas production were the 4% and 3% H2O2 treatments (w/w, which yielded 327.5 and 319.7 mL/gVS, biogas, respectively, higher than the untreated sample. Biogas production from H2O2 pretreated rice straw was more favorable than rice straw pretreated with same concentration of ammonia, ranking in the order of 4% ≈ 3% > 2% > 1%. The optimal amount of H2O2 treatment for rice straw biogas digestion is 3% when economics and biogas yields are considered.

Pretreatment of Biomass by Aqueous Ammonia for Bioethanol Production

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tae Hyun; Gupta, Rajesh; Lee, Y. Y.

The methods of pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using aqueous ammonia are described. The main effect of ammonia treatment of biomass is delignification without significantly affecting the carbohydrate contents. It is a very effective pretreatment method especially for substrates that have low lignin contents such as agricultural residues and herbaceous feedstock. The ammonia-based pretreatment is well suited for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) because the treated biomass retains cellulose as well as hemicellulose. It has been demonstrated that overall ethanol yield above 75% of the theoretical maximum on the basis of total carbohydrate is achievable from corn stover pretreated with aqueous ammonia by way of SSCF. There are two different types of pretreatment methods based on aqueous ammonia: (1) high severity, low contact time process (ammonia recycle percolation; ARP), (2) low severity, high treatment time process (soaking in aqueous ammonia; SAA). Both of these methods are described and discussed for their features and effectiveness.

Covalent immobilization of β-glucosidase on magnetic particles for lignocellulose hydrolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Alftrén, Johan; Hobley, Timothy John

2013-04-01

β-Glucosidase hydrolyzes cellobiose to glucose and is an important enzyme in the consortium used for hydrolysis of cellulosic and lignocellulosic feedstocks. In the present work, β-glucosidase was covalently immobilized on non-porous magnetic particles to enable re-use of the enzyme. It was found that particles activated with cyanuric chloride and polyglutaraldehyde gave the highest bead-related immobilized enzyme activity when tested with p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (104.7 and 82.2 U/g particles, respectively). Furthermore, the purified β-glucosidase preparation from Megazyme gave higher bead-related enzyme activities compared to Novozym 188 (79.0 and 9.8 U/g particles, respectively). A significant improvement in thermal stability was observed for immobilized enzyme compared to free enzyme; after 5 h (at 65 °C), 36 % of activity remained for the former, while there was no activity in the latter. The performance and recyclability of immobilized β-glucosidase on more complex substrate (pretreated spruce) was also studied. It was shown that adding immobilized β-glucosidase (16 U/g dry matter) to free cellulases (8 FPU/g dry matter) increased the hydrolysis yield of pretreated spruce from ca. 44 % to ca. 65 %. In addition, it was possible to re-use the immobilized β-glucosidase in the spruce and retain activity for at least four cycles. The immobilized enzyme thus shows promise for lignocellulose hydrolysis.

Ethanol production from maize silage as lignocellulosic biomass in anaerobically digested and wet-oxidized manure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr; Lisiecki, P.; Holm-Nielsen, J.B.

2008-01-01

was investigated using 2 1 bioreactors. Wet oxidation performed for 20 min at 121 degrees C was found as the most suitable pretreatment conditions for AD manure. High ammonia concentration and significant amount of macro- and micro-nutrients in the AD manure had a positive influence on the ethanol fermentation....... No extra nitrogen source was needed in the fermentation broth. It was shown that the AD manure could successfully substitute process water in SSF of pretreated lignocellulosic fibres. Theoretical ethanol yields of 82% were achieved, giving 30.8 kg ethanol per 100 kg dry mass of maize silage. (C) 2007...

Ethanol and High-Value Terpene Co-Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii.

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Blake L Joyce

Full Text Available Cymbopogon flexuosus, lemongrass, and C. martinii, palmarosa, are perennial grasses grown to produce essential oils for the fragrance industry. The objectives of this study were (1 to evaluate biomass and oil yields as a function of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization, and (2 to characterize their utility for lignocellulosic ethanol compared to Panicum virgatum (switchgrass. Mean biomass yields were 12.83 Mg lemongrass ha-1 and 15.11 Mg palmarosa ha-1 during the second harvest year resulting in theoretical biofuel yields of 2541 and 2569 L ethanol ha-1 respectively compared to reported 1749-3691 L ethanol ha-1 for switchgrass. Pretreated lemongrass yielded 198 mL ethanol (g biomass-1 and pretreated palmarosa yielded 170 mL ethanol (g biomass-1. Additionally, lemongrass yielded 85.7 kg essential oil ha-1 and palmarosa yielded 67.0 kg ha-1 with an estimated value of USD $857 and $1005 ha-1. These data suggest that dual-use crops such as lemongrass and palmarosa may increase the economic viability of lignocellulosic biofuels.

Ethanol and High-Value Terpene Co-Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass of Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martinii.

Science.gov (United States)

Joyce, Blake L; Zheljazkov, Valtcho D; Sykes, Robert; Cantrell, Charles L; Hamilton, Choo; Mann, David G J; Rodriguez, Miguel; Mielenz, Jonathan R; Astatkie, Tess; Stewart, C Neal

2015-01-01

Cymbopogon flexuosus, lemongrass, and C. martinii, palmarosa, are perennial grasses grown to produce essential oils for the fragrance industry. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate biomass and oil yields as a function of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization, and (2) to characterize their utility for lignocellulosic ethanol compared to Panicum virgatum (switchgrass). Mean biomass yields were 12.83 Mg lemongrass ha-1 and 15.11 Mg palmarosa ha-1 during the second harvest year resulting in theoretical biofuel yields of 2541 and 2569 L ethanol ha-1 respectively compared to reported 1749-3691 L ethanol ha-1 for switchgrass. Pretreated lemongrass yielded 198 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1 and pretreated palmarosa yielded 170 mL ethanol (g biomass)-1. Additionally, lemongrass yielded 85.7 kg essential oil ha-1 and palmarosa yielded 67.0 kg ha-1 with an estimated value of USD $857 and $1005 ha-1. These data suggest that dual-use crops such as lemongrass and palmarosa may increase the economic viability of lignocellulosic biofuels.

Transformation of Starchy Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol using Ragi Tapai Synergized with Microwave Irradiation Pretreatment

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Kok Cheang Diong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Ethanol production strategy was studied using multiple strain microbes from microwave irradiation (MI pretreated sago waste. Sago waste (SW was MI-pretreated for reducing sugars production using 2 heating media (water and sulfuric acid under pretreatment conditions including MI power, pretreatment duration, and solid loading. When water was used, the pretreatment parameters were optimized using Box-Behnken Design (BBD. However, gelatinized starch and charring of SW led to an insignificant quadratic model. To mitigate the gelatinization problem while determining the best MI pretreatment conditions, water was substituted by sulfuric acid using single factor method. The highest reducing sugar yield of 261.5 mg/g SW was achieved at 7.5% solid loading, 6 min pretreatment duration, and 300 W MI power. The effectiveness of the pretreatment was ascertained by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM and chemical-composition analysis. When fermenting MI-pretreated SW using ragi tapai, simultaneous saccharification of starch and ethanol production was evidenced from the sugar/ethanol profile. A resulted yield of 7.24 g ethanol/100 g SW confirmed the fermentability of MI-pretreated SW. The ethanol production was well fitted into the modified Gompertz model.

Comparison of Different Pretreatment Strategies for Ethanol Production of West African Biomass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Sune Tjalfe; Gonzalez Londono, Jorge Enrique; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2015-01-01

husks, cocoa pods, maize cobs, maize stalks, rice straw, groundnut straw and oil palm empty fruit bunches. It was found that four biomass’ (plantain peelings, plantain trunks, maize cobs and maize stalks) were most promising for production of cellulosic ethanol with profitable enzymatic conversion......Pretreating lignocellulosic biomass for cellulosic ethanol production in a West African setting requires smaller scale and less capital expenditure compared to current state of the art. In the present study, three low-tech methods applicable for West African conditions, namely Boiling Pretreatment...... (BP), Soaking in Aqueous Ammonia (SAA) and White Rot Fungi pretreatment (WRF), were compared to the high-tech solution of hydrothermal pretreatment (HTT). The pretreatment methods were tested on 11 West African biomasses, i.e. cassava stalks, plantain peelings, plantain trunks, plantain leaves, cocoa...

Enhancing biogas production from recalcitrant lignocellulosic residue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsapekos, Panagiotis

Lignocellulosic substrates are abundant in agricultural areas around the world and lately, are utilized for biogas production in full-scale anaerobic digesters. However, the anaerobic digestion (AD) of these substrates is associated with specific difficulties due to their recalcitrant nature which...... protects them from enzymatic attack. Hence, the main purpose of this work was to define diverse ways to improve the performance of AD systems using these unconventional biomasses. Thus, mechanical and thermal alkaline pretreatments, microaeration and bioaugmentation with hydrolytic microbes were examined...... conductivity, soluble chemical oxygen demand and enzymatic hydrolysis) as a rapid way to predict the methane production. However, the precision of methane yield prediction was not high (R2

Precultivation of Bacillus coagulans DSM2314 in the presence of furfural decreases inhibitory effects of lignocellulosic by-products during L(+)-lactic acid fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Pol, Edwin; Springer, Jan; Vriesendorp, Bastienne; Weusthuis, Ruud; Eggink, Gerrit

2016-12-01

By-products resulting from thermo-chemical pretreatment of lignocellulose can inhibit fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars to lactic acid. Furfural is such a by-product, which is formed during acid pretreatment of lignocellulose. pH-controlled fermentations with 1 L starting volume, containing YP medium and a mixture of lignocellulosic by-products, were inoculated with precultures of Bacillus coagulans DSM2314 to which 1 g/L furfural was added. The addition of furfural to precultures resulted in an increase in L(+)-lactic acid productivity by a factor 2 to 1.39 g/L/h, an increase in lactic acid production from 54 to 71 g and an increase in conversion yields of sugar to lactic acid from 68 to 88 % W/W in subsequent fermentations. The improved performance was not caused by furfural consumption or conversion, indicating that the cells acquired a higher tolerance towards this by-product. The improvement coincided with a significant elongation of B. coagulans cells. Via RNA-Seq analysis, an upregulation of pathways involved in the synthesis of cell wall components such as bacillosamine, peptidoglycan and spermidine was observed in elongated cells. Furthermore, the gene SigB and genes promoted by SigB, such as NhaX and YsnF, were upregulated in the presence of furfural. These genes are involved in stress responses in bacilli.

Microwave-Assisted Alkali Pre-Treatment, Densification and Enzymatic Saccharification of Canola Straw and Oat Hull.

Science.gov (United States)

Agu, Obiora S; Tabil, Lope G; Dumonceaux, Tim

2017-03-26

The effects of microwave-assisted alkali pre-treatment on pellets' characteristics and enzymatic saccharification for bioethanol production using lignocellulosic biomass of canola straw and oat hull were investigated. The ground canola straw and oat hull were immersed in distilled water, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide solutions at two concentrations (0.75% and 1.5% w/v) and exposed to microwave radiation at power level 713 W and three residence times (6, 12 and 18 min). Bulk and particle densities of ground biomass samples were determined. Alkaline-microwave pre-treated and untreated samples were subjected to single pelleting test in an Instron universal machine, pre-set to a load of 4000 N. The measured parameters, pellet density, tensile strength and dimensional stability were evaluated and the results showed that the microwave-assisted alkali pre-treated pellets had a significantly higher density and tensile strength compared to samples that were untreated or pre-treated by microwave alone. The chemical composition analysis showed that microwave-assisted alkali pre-treatment was able to disrupt and break down the lignocellulosic structure of the samples, creating an area of cellulose accessible to cellulase reactivity. The best enzymatic saccharification results gave a high glucose yield of 110.05 mg/g dry sample for canola straw ground in a 1.6 mm screen hammer mill and pre-treated with 1.5% NaOH for 18 min, and a 99.10 mg/g dry sample for oat hull ground in a 1.6 mm screen hammer mill and pre-treated with 0.75% NaOH for 18 min microwave-assisted alkali pre-treatments. The effects of pre-treatment results were supported by SEM analysis. Overall, it was found that microwave-assisted alkali pre-treatment of canola straw and oat hull at a short residence time enhanced glucose yield.

Bioethanol production from residual lignocellulosic materials: A review – Part 1

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CRISTIAN-TEODOR BURUIANA

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Lignocellulosic materials (LCM are produced in large quantities and without clear application and their use as raw material for bioethanol production shows economic and ecologic benefits. LCM are composed mainly of three polymers: cellulose made up of glucose units, hemicellulose made up of several sugars (as xylose or arabinose, and lignin made up of phenylpropane units, interconnected in a strong structure. Pretreatment is an important step for bioethanol production from LCM, causing the solubilisation of hemicellulosic fraction (leading to the recovery of hemicellulose-derived saccharides in order to obtain a solid phase enriched in cellulose and more susceptible to enzymatic attack. This study provides a comparative data regarding the chemical composition of various LCM used for bioethanol production, as well as different pretreatment technologies for improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of LCM.

Enzyme Characterization of Cellulase and Hemicellulases Component Enzymes and Saccharification of Ionic Liquid Pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Lignocellulosic biomass is comprised of cellulose and hemicellulose, sources of polysaccharides, and lignin, a macromolecule with extensive aromaticity. Terrestrial biomass can provide a renewable carbon based feedstock for fuel and chemical production. However, recalcitrance of biomass to deconstru...

Electron beam irradiation pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of used newsprint and paper mill wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, A.W.; Labrie, J.-P.; McKeown, Joseph

1987-01-01

Electron beam pretreatment of used newsprint, pulp, as well as pulp recovered from clarifier sludge and paper mill sludge, caused the dissociation of cellulose from lignin, and rendered them suitable for enzymatic hydrolysis. A maximum dose of 1 MGy for newsprint and 1.5-2.0 MGy for pulp and paper mill sludge was required to render cellulose present in them in a form which, could be enzymatically saccharified to 90% of completion. Saccharification approaching the theoretical yield was obtained in 2 days with a cellulolytic enzyme system obtained from Trichoderma reesei. As a result of irradiation, water soluble lignin breakdown products, NaOH- soluble lignin, free cellobiose, glucose, mannose, xylose and their polymers, and acetic acid were produced from these materials. (author)

Lignocellulosic sugar management for xylitol and ethanol fermentation with multiple cell recycling by Kluyveromyces marxianus IIPE453.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Diptarka; Ghosh, Debashish; Bandhu, Sheetal; Adhikari, Dilip K

2017-07-01

Optimum utilization of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass to deliver multiple products under biorefinery concept has been reported in this work. Alcohol fermentation has been carried out with multiple cell recycling of Kluyveromyces marxianus IIPE453. The yeast utilized xylose-rich fraction from acid and steam treated biomass for cell generation and xylitol production with an average yield of 0.315±0.01g/g while the entire glucose rich saccharified fraction had been fermented to ethanol with high productivity of 0.9±0.08g/L/h. A detailed insight into its genome illustrated the strain's complete set of genes associated with sugar transport and metabolism for high-temperature fermentation. A set flocculation proteins were identified that aided in high cell recovery in successive fermentation cycles to achieve alcohols with high productivity. We have brought biomass derived sugars, yeast cell biomass generation, and ethanol and xylitol fermentation in one platform and validated the overall material balance. 2kg sugarcane bagasse yielded 193.4g yeast cell, and with multiple times cell recycling generated 125.56g xylitol and 289.2g ethanol (366mL). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Opportunities for utilization of non-conventional energy sources for biomass pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rawel; Krishna, Bhavya B; Kumar, Jitendra; Bhaskar, Thallada

2016-01-01

The increasing concerns over the depletion of fossil resources and its associated geo-political issues have driven the entire world to move toward sustainable forms of energy. Pretreatment is the first step in any biochemical conversion process for the production of valuable fuels/chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass to eliminate the lignin and produce fermentable sugars by hydrolysis. Conventional techniques have several limitations which can be addressed by using them in tandem with non-conventional methods for biomass pretreatment. Electron beam and γ (gamma)-irradiation, microwave and ultrasound energies have certain advantages over conventional source of energy and there is an opportunity that these energies can be exploited for biomass pretreatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deposition of lignin droplets produced during dilute acid pretreatment of maize stems retards enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.

Science.gov (United States)

Selig, Michael J; Viamajala, Sridhar; Decker, Stephen R; Tucker, Melvin P; Himmel, Michael E; Vinzant, Todd B

2007-01-01

Electron microscopy of lignocellulosic biomass following high-temperature pretreatment revealed the presence of spherical formations on the surface of the residual biomass. The hypothesis that these droplet formations are composed of lignins and possible lignin carbohydrate complexes is being explored. Experiments were conducted to better understand the formation of these "lignin" droplets and the possible implications they might have on the enzymatic saccharification of pretreated biomass. It was demonstrated that these droplets are produced from corn stover during pretreatment under neutral and acidic pH at and above 130 degrees C, and that they can deposit back onto the surface of residual biomass. The deposition of droplets produced under certain pretreatment conditions (acidic pH; T > 150 degrees C) and captured onto pure cellulose was shown to have a negative effect (5-20%) on the enzymatic saccharification of this substrate. It was noted that droplet density (per unit area) was greater and droplet size more variable under conditions where the greatest impact on enzymatic cellulose conversion was observed. These results indicate that this phenomenon has the potential to adversely affect the efficiency of enzymatic conversion in a lignocellulosic biorefinery.

Hyperthermophilic endoglucanase for in planta lignocellulose conversion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klose Holger

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic plant biomass into fermentable sugars is a crucial step in the sustainable and environmentally friendly production of biofuels. However, a major drawback of enzymes from mesophilic sources is their suboptimal activity under established pretreatment conditions, e.g. high temperatures, extreme pH values and high salt concentrations. Enzymes from extremophiles are better adapted to these conditions and could be produced by heterologous expression in microbes, or even directly in the plant biomass. Results Here we show that a cellulase gene (sso1354 isolated from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus can be expressed in plants, and that the recombinant enzyme is biologically active and exhibits the same properties as the wild type form. Since the enzyme is inactive under normal plant growth conditions, this potentially allows its expression in plants without negative effects on growth and development, and subsequent heat-inducible activation. Furthermore we demonstrate that the recombinant enzyme acts in high concentrations of ionic liquids and can therefore degrade α-cellulose or even complex cell wall preparations under those pretreatment conditions. Conclusion The hyperthermophilic endoglucanase SSO1354 with its unique features is an excellent tool for advanced biomass conversion. Here we demonstrate its expression in planta and the possibility for post harvest activation. Moreover the enzyme is suitable for combined pretreatment and hydrolysis applications.

Steam explosion pretreatment for enhancing biogas production of late harvested hay.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Alexander; Lizasoain, Javier; Theuretzbacher, Franz; Agger, Jane W; Rincón, María; Menardo, Simona; Saylor, Molly K; Enguídanos, Ramón; Nielsen, Paal J; Potthast, Antje; Zweckmair, Thomas; Gronauer, Andreas; Horn, Svein J

2014-08-01

Grasslands are often abandoned due to lack of profitability. Extensively cultivating grassland for utilization in a biogas-based biorefinery concept could mend this problem. Efficient bioconversion of this lignocellulosic biomass requires a pretreatment step. In this study the effect of different steam explosion conditions on hay digestibility have been investigated. Increasing severity in the pretreatment induced degradation of the hemicellulose, which at the same time led to the production of inhibitors and formation of pseudo-lignin. Enzymatic hydrolysis showed that the maximum glucose yields were obtained under pretreatment at 220 °C for 15 min, while higher xylose yields were obtained at 175 °C for 10 min. Pretreatment of hay by steam explosion enhanced 15.9% the methane yield in comparison to the untreated hay. Results indicate that hay can be effectively converted to methane after steam explosion pretreatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantification of solubilized hemicellulose from pretreated lignocellulose by acid hydrolysis and high-performance liquid chromatography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjerre, A.B.; Ploeger, A.; Simonsen, T.; Woidemann, A.; Schmidt, A.S.

1996-11-01

An investigation of the acid hydrolysis and HPLC analysis have been carried out in order to optimise the quantification of the solubilized hemicellulose fraction from wheat straw lignocellulose after pretreatment. Different acid hydrolyses have been performed to identify which conditions (concentrations of acid and hydrolysis time) gave the maximal quantification of the solubilized hemicellulose (measured as monosaccharides). Four different sugars were identified: xylose, arabinose, glucose and galactose. Some hydrolyses were carried out on aqueous samples and some using freeze-dried samples. The best overall hydrolysis was obtained by treatment of an aqueous sample with 4 %w/v sulfuric acid for 10 minutes. These conditions were not optimal for the determination of glucose, which was estimated by using a correction factor. A purification step was needed following the acid hydrolysis, and included a sulfate precipitation by barium hydroxide and elimination of remaining ions by mixed-bed ion exchange. The level of barium hydroxide addition significantly reduced the recovery of the sugars. Thus, lower than equivalent amounts of barium hydroxide were added in the purification step. For monosaccharide analysis two different HPLC columns, i.e. Aminex HPX-87P and HPX-87H with different resin ionic forms, lead (Pb{sup 2+}) and hydrogen (H{sup +}), respectively. The lead column (HPX-87P) separated all four sugars in the acid hydrolyzates, but sample purification required the removal of all interfering impurities, which resulted in poor reproducibility and a sugar recovery below 50%. The hydrogen column (HPX-87H) separated only glucose, xylose and arabinose, whereas galactose was not separated from xylose; however, the column was less sensitive towards impurities and gave improved recovery and reproducibility. Therefore, the hydrogen column (HPX-87H) was chosen for routine quantification of the hydrolyzed hemicellulose sugars. (au) 11 tabs., 8 ills., 19 refs.

Ethanol and biogas production after steam pretreatment of corn stover with or without the addition of sulphuric acid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bondesson Pia-Maria

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Lignocellulosic biomass, such as corn stover, is a potential raw material for ethanol production. One step in the process of producing ethanol from lignocellulose is enzymatic hydrolysis, which produces fermentable sugars from carbohydrates present in the corn stover in the form of cellulose and hemicellulose. A pretreatment step is crucial to achieve efficient conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to soluble sugars, and later ethanol. This study has investigated steam pretreatment of corn stover, with and without sulphuric acid as catalyst, and examined the effect of residence time (5–10 min and temperature (190–210°C on glucose and xylose recovery. The pretreatment conditions with and without dilute acid that gave the highest glucose yield were then used in subsequent experiments. Materials pretreated at the optimal conditions were subjected to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF to produce ethanol, and remaining organic compounds were used to produce biogas by anaerobic digestion (AD. Results The highest glucose yield achieved was 86%, obtained after pretreatment at 210°C for 10 minutes in the absence of catalyst, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. The highest yield using sulphuric acid, 78%, was achieved using pretreatment at 200°C for 10 minutes. These two pretreatment conditions were investigated using two different process configurations. The highest ethanol and methane yields were obtained from the material pretreated in the presence of sulphuric acid. The slurry in this case was split into a solid fraction and a liquid fraction, where the solid fraction was used to produce ethanol and the liquid fraction to produce biogas. The total energy recovery in this case was 86% of the enthalpy of combustion energy in corn stover. Conclusions The highest yield, comprising ethanol, methane and solids, was achieved using pretreatment in the presence of sulphuric acid followed by a process configuration in

Final Report on Development of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum for the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herring, Christopher D.; Kenealy, William R.; Shaw, A. Joe; Raman, Babu; Tschaplinski, Timothy J.; Brown, Steven D.; Davison, Brian H.; Covalla, Sean F.; Sillers, W. Ryan; Xu, Haowen; Tsakraklides, Vasiliki; Hogsett, David A.

2012-01-24

This project addressed the need for economical technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels, specifically the conversion of pretreated hardwood to ethanol. The technology developed is a set of strains of the bacterium Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and an associated fermentation process for pretreated hardwood. Tools for genetic engineering and analysis of the organism were developed, including a markerless mutation method, a complete genome sequence and a set of gene expression profiles that show the activity of its genes under a variety of conditions relevant to lignocellulose conversion. Improved strains were generated by selection and genetic engineering to be able to produce higher amounts of ethanol (up to 70 g/L) and to be able to better tolerate inhibitory compounds from pretreated hardwood. Analysis of these strains has generated useful insight into the genetic basis for desired properties of biofuel producing organisms. Fermentation conditions were tested and optimized to achieve ethanol production targets established in the original project proposal. The approach proposed was to add cellulase enzymes to the fermentation, a method called Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF). We had reason to think SSF would be an efficient approach because the optimal temperature and pH for the enzymes and bacterium are very close. Unfortunately, we discovered that commercially available cellulases are inactivated in thermophilic SSF by a combination of low redox potential and ethanol. Despite this, progress was made against the fermentation targets using bacterial cellulases. Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum may still prove to be a commercially viable technology should cellulase enzyme issues be addressed. Moreover, the organism was demonstrated to produce ethanol at approximately theoretical yield from oligomeric hemicellulose extracts, an ability that may prove to be uniquely valuable in pretreatment configurations in

Comparison of Different Biomass Pretreatment Techniques and Their Impact on Chemistry and Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Seema; Cheng, Gang; Sathitsuksanoh, Noppadon; Wu, Dong; Varanasi, Patanjali; George, Anthe; Balan, Venkatesh; Gao, Xiadi; Kumar, Rajeev; Dale, Bruce E.; Wyman, Charles E.; Simmons, Blake A.

2015-01-01

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a prerequisite to overcome recalcitrance and allow enzyme accessibility to cellulose and maximize product recovery for improved economics of second-generation lignocellulosic bio-refineries. Recently, the three US-DOE funded Bioenergy Research Centers [Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI), Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), and BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)] compared ionic liquid (IL), dilute sulfuric acid (DA), and ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX TM ) pretreatments and published comparative data on mass balance, total sugar yields, substrate accessibility, and microbial fermentation [Biotechnology for Biofuels 7: 71; 72 (2014)]. In this study, corn stover solids from IL, DA, and AFEX pretreatments were compared to gain comprehensive, in-depth understanding of induced morphological and chemical changes incorporated to corn stover, and how they overcome the biomass recalcitrance. These studies reveal that biomass recalcitrance is overcome by combination of structural and chemical changes to carbohydrates and lignin after pretreatment. Thermal analysis indicates that AFEX and IL pretreated corn stover showed a lower thermal stability while DA pretreated corn stover showed the opposite. The surface roughness variations measured by small-angle neutron scattering were correlated to the removal and redistribution of biomass components and was consistent with compositional analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal fluorescence imaging results. With AFM and confocal fluorescent microscopy, lignin was found to be re-deposited on cellulose surface with average cellulose fiber width significantly decreased for DA pretreated corn stover (one-third of IL and AFEX). HSQC NMR spectra revealed a ~17.9% reduction of β-aryl ether units after AFEX, ~59.8% reduction after DA, and >98% reduction after IL. Both NMR and size exclusion chromatography showed similar patterns of lignin de-polymerization with highest degree of de

Comparison of Different Biomass Pretreatment Techniques and Their Impact on Chemistry and Structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Seema, E-mail: seesing@sandia.gov; Cheng, Gang; Sathitsuksanoh, Noppadon; Wu, Dong; Varanasi, Patanjali; George, Anthe [Deconstruction Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, Biological and Materials Sciences Center, Livermore, CA (United States); Balan, Venkatesh [Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, DOE Great Lakes BioEnergy Research Center (GLBRC), Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (United States); Gao, Xiadi [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Riverside, CA (United States); Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA (United States); Kumar, Rajeev [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA (United States); Dale, Bruce E. [Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, DOE Great Lakes BioEnergy Research Center (GLBRC), Michigan State University, Lansing, MI (United States); Wyman, Charles E. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bourns College of Engineering, Riverside, CA (United States); Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), Bourns College of Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA (United States); Simmons, Blake A. [Deconstruction Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, Biological and Materials Sciences Center, Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-02-06

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a prerequisite to overcome recalcitrance and allow enzyme accessibility to cellulose and maximize product recovery for improved economics of second-generation lignocellulosic bio-refineries. Recently, the three US-DOE funded Bioenergy Research Centers [Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI), Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), and BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)] compared ionic liquid (IL), dilute sulfuric acid (DA), and ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX{sup TM}) pretreatments and published comparative data on mass balance, total sugar yields, substrate accessibility, and microbial fermentation [Biotechnology for Biofuels 7: 71; 72 (2014)]. In this study, corn stover solids from IL, DA, and AFEX pretreatments were compared to gain comprehensive, in-depth understanding of induced morphological and chemical changes incorporated to corn stover, and how they overcome the biomass recalcitrance. These studies reveal that biomass recalcitrance is overcome by combination of structural and chemical changes to carbohydrates and lignin after pretreatment. Thermal analysis indicates that AFEX and IL pretreated corn stover showed a lower thermal stability while DA pretreated corn stover showed the opposite. The surface roughness variations measured by small-angle neutron scattering were correlated to the removal and redistribution of biomass components and was consistent with compositional analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal fluorescence imaging results. With AFM and confocal fluorescent microscopy, lignin was found to be re-deposited on cellulose surface with average cellulose fiber width significantly decreased for DA pretreated corn stover (one-third of IL and AFEX). HSQC NMR spectra revealed a ~17.9% reduction of β-aryl ether units after AFEX, ~59.8% reduction after DA, and >98% reduction after IL. Both NMR and size exclusion chromatography showed similar patterns of lignin de-polymerization with highest degree

Comparison of Different Biomass Pretreatment Techniques and their Impact on Chemistry and Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seema eSingh

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a prerequisite to overcome recalcitrance and allow enzyme accessibility to cellulose and maximize product recovery for improved economics of second-generation lignocellulosic bio-refineries. Recently, the three US-DOE funded Bioenergy Research Centers (Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC, and BioEnergy Science Center (BESC compared ionic liquid (IL, dilute sulfuric acid (DA, and ammonia fiber expansion (AFEXTM pretreatments and published comparative data on mass balance, total sugar yields, substrate accessibility, and microbial fermentation (Biotechnology for Biofuels 7: 71; 72 (2014. In this study, corn stover solids from IL, DA, and AFEX pretreatments were compared to gain comprehensive, in-depth understanding of induced morphological and chemical changes incorporated to corn stover, and how they overcome the biomass recalcitrance. These studies reveal that biomass recalcitrance is overcome by combination of structural and chemical changes to carbohydrates and lignin after pretreatment. Thermal analysis indicates that AFEX and IL pretreated corn stover showed a lower thermal stability while DA pretreated corn stover showed the opposite. The surface roughness variations measured by SANS were correlated to the removal and redistribution of biomass components and was consistent with compositional analysis, AFM and confocal fluorescence imaging results. With AFM and confocal fluorescent microscopy, lignin was found to be re-deposited on cellulose surface with average cellulose fiber width significantly decreased for DA pretreated corn stover (one third of IL and AFEX. HSQC NMR spectra revealed a ~17.9% reduction of β-aryl ether units after AFEX, ~59.8% reduction after DA and >98% reduction after IL. Both NMR and SEC showed similar patterns of lignin depolymerization with highest degree of depolymerization observed for IL followed with DA and AFEX.

Effect of irradiation, as a pretreatment, on bioconversion of corn stover into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awafo, V.A.; Chahal, D.S.; Charbonneau, R.

1995-01-01

Application of irradiation for food preservation, for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials for their hydrolysis and to increase the digestibility of lignocellulosic materials for rumen animals have been reported in the literature. In the present study, irradiation (100 KGy to 1.7 MGy) of corn stover as a pretreatment to make it susceptible for its bioconversion into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju NRRL 18757 has been compared with that of mild alkali treatment (0.01 to 0.15 g NaOH/g corn stover), the most commonly used pretreatment. Protein synthesis increased with the increase in doses of irradiation as well as with the increase in concentration of NaOH. Combination pretreatment with NaOH and γ-irradiation reduced the quantity of NaOH and doses of irradiation required to get optimum yields of protein indicating a strong synergistic effect. The highest protein content of the final product, mycelial biomass, was about 45% on dry weight basis. More than 90% utilization of corn stover polysaccharides for the synthesis of protein-rich mycelial biomass of P. sajor-caju was recorded. (author)

Effect of irradiation, as a pretreatment, on bioconversion of corn stover into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awafo, V.A.; Chahal, D.S.; Charbonneau, R.

1995-01-01

Application of irradiation for food preservation, for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials for their hydrolysis and to increase the digestibility of lignocellulosic materials for rumen animals have been reported in the literature. In the present study, irradiation (100 KGy to 1.7 MGy) of corn stover as a pretreatment to make it susceptible for its bioconversion into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju NRRL 18757 has been compared with that of mied alkali treatment (0.01 to 0.15 g NaOH/g corn stover), the most commonly used pretreatment. Protein synthesis increased with the increase in doses of irradiation as well as with the increase in concentration of NaOH. Combination pretreatment with NaOH and γ-irradiation reduced the quantity of NaOH and doses of irradiation required to get optimum yields of protein indicating a strong synergistic effect. This highest protein content of the final product, mycelial biomass, was about 45% on dry weight basis. More than 90% utilization of corn stover polysaccharides for the synthesis of protein-rich mycelial biomass of P.sajor-caju was recorded. (author)

Effect of irradiation, as a pretreatment, on bioconversion of corn stover into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Awafo, V.A.; Chahal, D.S.; Charbonneau, R. [Universite du Quebec (Canada). Applied Microbiology Research Center

1995-10-01

Application of irradiation for food preservation, for pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials for their hydrolysis and to increase the digestibility of lignocellulosic materials for rumen animals have been reported in the literature. In the present study, irradiation (100 KGy to 1.7 MGy) of corn stover as a pretreatment to make it susceptible for its bioconversion into protein-rich mycelial biomass of Pleurotus sajor-caju NRRL 18757 has been compared with that of mild alkali treatment (0.01 to 0.15 g NaOH/g corn stover), the most commonly used pretreatment. Protein synthesis increased with the increase in doses of irradiation as well as with the increase in concentration of NaOH. Combination pretreatment with NaOH and {gamma}-irradiation reduced the quantity of NaOH and doses of irradiation required to get optimum yields of protein indicating a strong synergistic effect. The highest protein content of the final product, mycelial biomass, was about 45% on dry weight basis. More than 90% utilization of corn stover polysaccharides for the synthesis of protein-rich mycelial biomass of P. sajor-caju was recorded. (author).

Process and technoeconomic analysis of leading pretreatment technologies for lignocellulosic ethanol production using switchgrass.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Ling; Aden, Andy; Elander, Richard T; Pallapolu, Venkata Ramesh; Lee, Y Y; Garlock, Rebecca J; Balan, Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce E; Kim, Youngmi; Mosier, Nathan S; Ladisch, Michael R; Falls, Matthew; Holtzapple, Mark T; Sierra, Rocio; Shi, Jian; Ebrik, Mirvat A; Redmond, Tim; Yang, Bin; Wyman, Charles E; Hames, Bonnie; Thomas, Steve; Warner, Ryan E

2011-12-01

Six biomass pretreatment processes to convert switchgrass to fermentable sugars and ultimately to cellulosic ethanol are compared on a consistent basis in this technoeconomic analysis. The six pretreatment processes are ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), dilute acid (DA), lime, liquid hot water (LHW), soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA), and sulfur dioxide-impregnated steam explosion (SO(2)). Each pretreatment process is modeled in the framework of an existing biochemical design model so that systematic variations of process-related changes are consistently captured. The pretreatment area process design and simulation are based on the research data generated within the Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation (CAFI) 3 project. Overall ethanol production, total capital investment, and minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) are reported along with selected sensitivity analysis. The results show limited differentiation between the projected economic performances of the pretreatment options, except for processes that exhibit significantly lower monomer sugar and resulting ethanol yields. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pretreatment methods to obtain pumpable high solid loading wood–water slurries for continuous hydrothermal liquefaction systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dãrãbana, Iulia-Maria; Rosendahl, Lasse Aistrup; Pedersen, Thomas Helmer

2015-01-01

Feedstock pretreatment is a prerequisite step for continuous processing of lignocellulosic biomass through HTL, in order to facilitate the pumpability of biomass aqueous slurries. Until now, HTL feedstock pumpability could only be achieved at solid mass content below 15%. In this work, two...... pretreatment methods to obtain wood-based slurries with more than 20% solid mass content, for continuous processing in HTL systems, are proposed. The effect of biomass particle size and pretreatment method on the feedstock pumpability is analyzed. The experimental results show that pumpable wood-based slurries...

Potential of Black Liquor of Potassium Hydroxide to Pretreat Corn Stover for Biomethane Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Abdul Hanan Siddhu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Reducing the pretreatment cost of lignocellulosic biomass by utilizing alkali to alter its recalcitrant nature is an effective method for biofuel production. In this experiment, 1.5% KOH solution and its black liquor (spent liquor of KOH (BL were applied to pretreat corn stover (CS at a temperature of 20 °C to enhance the digestibility for anaerobic digestion (AD. Results showed no significant difference in weighted average methane content on the basis of experimental methane and biogas yields between BL-treated and original KOH-treated CS after AD. The BL process significantly increased the overall methane yield by 52.4% compared with untreated CS (135.2 mL/gVS, whereas no significant difference between the overall methane yields of 1.5% KOH-treated and BL-treated CS was observed. In addition, the BL process significantly saved water and KOH consumption, by 56.2% and 57.4%, respectively, compared with the 1.5% KOH pretreatment. Overall methane production was well explained by the modified Gompertz model. The physiochemical changes to CS after BL pretreatment were confirmed by SEM, FTIR, and XRD analyses. Our findings collectively suggest that recycling and reuse of KOH black liquor might be an efficient method for lignocellulosic biomass treatment and have the capability to reduce input costs in future AD processes.

Direct hydrogen production from dilute-acid pretreated sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate using the newly isolated Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum MJ1.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Bin-Bin; Zhu, Ming-Jun

2017-05-03

Energy shortage and environmental pollution are two severe global problems, and biological hydrogen production from lignocellulose shows great potential as a promising alternative biofuel to replace the fossil fuels. Currently, most studies on hydrogen production from lignocellulose concentrate on cellulolytic microbe, pretreatment method, process optimization and development of new raw materials. Due to no effective approaches to relieve the inhibiting effect of inhibitors, the acid pretreated lignocellulose hydrolysate was directly discarded and caused environmental problems, suggesting that isolation of inhibitor-tolerant strains may facilitate the utilization of acid pretreated lignocellulose hydrolysate. Thermophilic bacteria for producing hydrogen from various kinds of sugars were screened, and the new strain named MJ1 was isolated from paper sludge, with 99% identity to Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum by 16S rRNA gene analysis. The hydrogen yields of 11.18, 4.25 and 2.15 mol-H 2 /mol sugar can be reached at an initial concentration of 5 g/L cellobiose, glucose and xylose, respectively. The main metabolites were acetate and butyrate. More important, MJ1 had an excellent tolerance to inhibitors of dilute-acid (1%, g/v) pretreated sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate (DAPSBH) and could efficiently utilize DAPSBH for hydrogen production without detoxication, with a production higher than that of pure sugars. The hydrogen could be quickly produced with the maximum hydrogen production reached at 24 h. The hydrogen production reached 39.64, 105.42, 111.75 and 110.44 mM at 20, 40, 60 and 80% of DAPSBH, respectively. Supplementation of CaCO 3 enhanced the hydrogen production by 21.32% versus the control. These results demonstrate that MJ1 could directly utilize DAPSBH for biohydrogen production without detoxication and can serve as an excellent candidate for industrialization of hydrogen production from DAPSBH. The results also suggest that isolating unique

Tailoring Wet Explosion Process Parameters for the Pretreatment of Cocksfoot Grass for High Sugar Yields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Njoku, Stephen Ikechukwu; Ahring, Birgitte Kiær; Uellendahl, Hinrich

2013-01-01

The pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is crucial for efficient subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. In this study, wet explosion (WEx) pretreatment was applied to cocksfoot grass and pretreatment conditions were tailored for maximizing the sugar yields using response...... glucose release with low formation of by-products. Under these conditions, the cellulose and hemicellulose sugar recovery was 94 % and 70 %, respectively. The efficiency of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose under these conditions was 91 %. On the other hand, the release of pentose sugars was higher...... when applying less severe pretreatment conditions C (160 °C, 5 min, 0.2 % dilute sulfuric acid). Therefore, the choice of the most suitable pretreatment conditions is depending on the main target product, i.e., hexose or pentose sugars....

2G ethanol from the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Sandra Cerqueira; Maehara, Larissa; Machado, Cristina Maria Monteiro; Farinas, Cristiane Sanchez

2015-01-01

In the sugarcane industry, large amounts of lignocellulosic residues are generated, which includes bagasse, straw, and tops. The use of the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass for the production of second-generation (2G) ethanol can be a potential alternative to contribute to the economic viability of this process. Here, we conducted a systematic comparative study of the use of the lignocellulosic residues from the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass (bagasse, straw, and tops) from commercial sugarcane varieties for the production of 2G ethanol. In addition, the feasibility of using a mixture of these residues from a selected variety was also investigated. The materials were pretreated with dilute acid and hydrolyzed with a commercial enzymatic preparation, after which the hydrolysates were fermented using an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The susceptibility to enzymatic saccharification was higher for the tops, followed by straw and bagasse. Interestingly, the fermentability of the hydrolysates showed a different profile, with straw achieving the highest ethanol yields, followed by tops and bagasse. Using a mixture of the different sugarcane parts (bagasse-straw-tops, 1:1:1, in a dry-weight basis), it was possible to achieve a 55% higher enzymatic conversion and a 25% higher ethanol yield, compared to use of the bagasse alone. For the four commercial sugarcane varieties evaluated using the same experimental set of conditions, it was found that the variety of sugarcane was not a significant factor in the 2G ethanol production process. Assessment of use of the whole lignocellulosic sugarcane biomass clearly showed that 2G ethanol production could be significantly improved by the combined use of bagasse, straw, and tops, when compared to the use of bagasse alone. The lower susceptibility to saccharification of sugarcane bagasse, as well as the lower fermentability of its hydrolysates, can be compensated by using it in combination with straw

Lignocellulose pretreatment technologies affect the level of enzymatic cellulose oxidation by LPMO

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodríguez-Zúñiga, Ursula Fabiola; Cannella, David; de Campos Giordano, Roberto

2015-01-01

of the cellulose oxidizing enzyme lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO). The highest activity of LPMO was observed for the hydrothermally pretreated biomasses, which also contained the highest level of lignin. All hydrolysis were done at high dry matter levels, using a commercial enzyme preparation containing......Sugarcane bagasse, corn stover, and wheat straw are among the most available resources for production of cellulosic ethanol. For these biomasses we study the influence of pre-treatment methods on the chemical composition, as well as on the subsequent reactions of enzymatic hydrolysis and oxidation...

Effects of SPORL and dilute acid pretreatment on substrate morphology, cell physical and chemical wall structures, and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of lodgepole pine

Science.gov (United States)

Xinping Li; Xiaolin Luo; Kecheng Li; J.Y. Zhu; J. Dennis Fougere; Kimberley Clarke

2012-01-01

The effects of pretreatment by dilute acid and sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) on substrate morphology, cell wall physical and chemical structures, along with the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of lodgepole pine substrate were investigated. FE-SEM and TEM images of substrate structural morphological changes showed that SPORL...

Utilization of Ionic Liquids in Lignocellulose Biorefineries as Agents for Separation, Derivatization, Fractionation, or Pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Peleteiro, Susana; Rivas, Sandra; Alonso, José L; Santos, Valentín; Parajó, Juan C

2015-09-23

Ionic liquids (ILs) can play multiple roles in lignocellulose biorefineries, including utilization as agents for the separation of selected compounds or as reaction media for processing lignocellulosic materials (LCM). Imidazolium-based ILs have been proposed for separating target components from LCM biorefinery streams, for example, the dehydration of ethanol-water mixtures or the extractive separation of biofuels (ethanol, butanol) or lactic acid from the respective fermentation broths. As in other industries, ILs are potentially suitable for removing volatile organic compounds or carbon dioxide from gaseous biorefinery effluents. On the other hand, cellulose dissolution in ILs allows homogeneous derivatization reactions to be carried out, opening new ways for product design or for improving the quality of the products. Imidazolium-based ILs are also suitable for processing native LCM, allowing the integral benefit of the feedstocks via separation of polysaccharides and lignin. Even strongly lignified materials can yield cellulose-enriched substrates highly susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis upon ILs processing. Recent developments in enzymatic hydrolysis include the identification of ILs causing limited enzyme inhibition and the utilization of enzymes with improved performance in the presence of ILs.

Beam irradiation pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Hah Young; Choi, Han Suk; Yang, Soo Jeong; Lee, Ja Hyun; Kim, Sung Bong; Jung, Da Un; Kim, Seung Wook

2013-01-01

As a renewable energy resource, lignocellulosic biomass has become great attention these days. Miscanthus is considered as one of the best feed stock for sugar production due to its high carbohydrate conversion, more efficient pretreatment process was necessary for removal of enzymatic hydrolysis barriers. In this study, electron beam irradiation pretreatment was utilized to Miscanthus straw for the enhancement of sugar conversion. The prepared samples were exposed 20 ∼ 500 kGy of doses and 5 ∼ 100 kGy of dose rate under 1 MeV of energy. Optimum irradiation conditions were 300 kGy of doses, 10 kGy of doses rate and 7.4 mA of current. Finally, compared with untreated Miscanthus, the glucose conversion was 2 fold increased under optimal conditions

Improve the Anaerobic Biodegradability by Copretreatment of Thermal Alkali and Steam Explosion of Lignocellulosic Waste

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Abdul Hanan Siddhu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Effective alteration of the recalcitrance properties like crystallization of cellulose, lignin shield, and interlinking of lignocellulosic biomass is an ideal way to utilize the full-scale potential for biofuel production. This study exhibited three different pretreatment effects to enhance the digestibility of corn stover (CS for methane production. In this context, steam explosion (SE and thermal potassium hydroxide (KOH-60°C treated CS produced the maximal methane yield of 217.5 and 243.1 mL/gvs, which were 40.0% and 56.4% more than untreated CS (155.4 mL/gvs, respectively. Copretreatment of thermal potassium hydroxide and steam explosion (CPTPS treated CS was highly significant among all treatments and improved 88.46% (292.9 mL/gvs methane yield compared with untreated CS. Besides, CPTPS also achieved the highest biodegradability up to 68.90%. Three kinetic models very well simulated dynamics of methane production yield. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, and X-ray diffraction (XRD analyses declared the most effective changes in physicochemical properties after CPTPS pretreatment. Thus, CPTPS might be a promising approach to deconstructing the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic structure to improve the biodegradability for AD.

Pretreatment combining ultrasound and sodium percarbonate under mild conditions for efficient degradation of corn stover.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakashima, Kazunori; Ebi, Yuuki; Kubo, Masaki; Shibasaki-Kitakawa, Naomi; Yonemoto, Toshikuni

2016-03-01

Ultrasound (US) can be used to disrupt microcrystalline cellulose to give nanofibers via ultrasonic cavitation. Sodium percarbonate (SP), consisting of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide, generates highly reactive radicals, which cause oxidative delignification. Here, we describe a novel pretreatment technique using a combination of US and SP (US-SP) for the efficient saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose in lignocellulosic corn stover. Although US-SP pretreatment was conducted under mild condition (i.e., at room temperature and atmospheric pressure), the pretreatment greatly increased lignin removal and cellulose digestibility. We also determined the optimum US-SP treatment conditions, such as ultrasonic power output, pretreatment time, pretreatment temperature, and SP concentration for an efficient cellulose saccharification. Moreover, xylose could be effectively recovered from US-SP pretreated biomass without the formation of microbial inhibitor furfural. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioconversion potential of Trichoderma viride HN1 cellulase for a lignocellulosic biomass Saccharum spontaneum.

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Iqtedar, Mehwish; Nadeem, Mohammad; Naeem, Hira; Abdullah, Roheena; Naz, Shagufta; Qurat ul Ain Syed; Kaleem, Afshan

2015-01-01

The industrialisation of lignocellulose conversion is impeded by expensive cellulase enzymes required for saccharification in bioethanol production. Current research undertakes cellulase production from pretreated Saccharum spontaneum through Trichoderma viride HN1 under submerged fermentation conditions. Pretreatment of substrate with 2% NaOH resulted in 88% delignification. Maximum cellulase production (2603 ± 16.39 U/mL/min carboxymethyl cellulase and 1393 ± 25.55 U/mL/min FPase) was achieved at 6% substrate at pH 5.0, with 5% inoculum, incubated at 35°C for 120 h of fermentation period. Addition of surfactant, Tween 80 and metal ion Mn(+2), significantly enhanced cellulase yield. This study accounts proficient cellulase yield through process optimisation by exploiting cheaper substrate to escalate their commercial endeavour.

A new correction method for determination on carbohydrates in lignocellulosic biomass.

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Li, Hong-Qiang; Xu, Jian

2013-06-01

The accurate determination on the key components in lignocellulosic biomass is the premise of pretreatment and bioconversion. Currently, the widely used 72% H2SO4 two-step hydrolysis quantitative saccharification (QS) procedure uses loss coefficient of monosaccharide standards to correct monosaccharide loss in the secondary hydrolysis (SH) of QS and may result in excessive correction. By studying the quantitative relationships of glucose and xylose losses during special hydrolysis conditions and the HMF and furfural productions, a simple correction on the monosaccharide loss from both PH and SH was established by using HMF and furfural as the calibrators. This method was used to the component determination on corn stover, Miscanthus and cotton stalk (raw materials and pretreated) and compared to the NREL method. It has been proved that this method can avoid excessive correction on the samples with high-carbohydrate contents. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A thermophilic ionic liquid-tolerant cellulase cocktail for the production of cellulosic biofuels.

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Joshua I Park

Full Text Available Generation of biofuels from sugars in lignocellulosic biomass is a promising alternative to liquid fossil fuels, but efficient and inexpensive bioprocessing configurations must be developed to make this technology commercially viable. One of the major barriers to commercialization is the recalcitrance of plant cell wall polysaccharides to enzymatic hydrolysis. Biomass pretreatment with ionic liquids (ILs enables efficient saccharification of biomass, but residual ILs inhibit both saccharification and microbial fuel production, requiring extensive washing after IL pretreatment. Pretreatment itself can also produce biomass-derived inhibitory compounds that reduce microbial fuel production. Therefore, there are multiple points in the process from biomass to biofuel production that must be interrogated and optimized to maximize fuel production. Here, we report the development of an IL-tolerant cellulase cocktail by combining thermophilic bacterial glycoside hydrolases produced by a mixed consortia with recombinant glycoside hydrolases. This enzymatic cocktail saccharifies IL-pretreated biomass at higher temperatures and in the presence of much higher IL concentrations than commercial fungal cocktails. Sugars obtained from saccharification of IL-pretreated switchgrass using this cocktail can be converted into biodiesel (fatty acid ethyl-esters or FAEEs by a metabolically engineered strain of E. coli. During these studies, we found that this biodiesel-producing E. coli strain was sensitive to ILs and inhibitors released by saccharification. This cocktail will enable the development of novel biomass to biofuel bioprocessing configurations that may overcome some of the barriers to production of inexpensive cellulosic biofuels.

A Thermophilic Ionic Liquid-Tolerant Cellulase Cocktail for the Production of Cellulosic Biofuels

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Park, Joshua I.; Steen, Eric J.; Burd, Helcio; Evans, Sophia S.; Redding-Johnson, Alyssa M.; Batth, Tanveer; Benke, Peter I.; D'haeseleer, Patrik; Sun, Ning; Sale, Kenneth L.; Keasling, Jay D.; Lee, Taek Soon; Petzold, Christopher J.; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Singer, Steven W.; Simmons, Blake A.; Gladden, John M.

2012-01-01

Generation of biofuels from sugars in lignocellulosic biomass is a promising alternative to liquid fossil fuels, but efficient and inexpensive bioprocessing configurations must be developed to make this technology commercially viable. One of the major barriers to commercialization is the recalcitrance of plant cell wall polysaccharides to enzymatic hydrolysis. Biomass pretreatment with ionic liquids (ILs) enables efficient saccharification of biomass, but residual ILs inhibit both saccharification and microbial fuel production, requiring extensive washing after IL pretreatment. Pretreatment itself can also produce biomass-derived inhibitory compounds that reduce microbial fuel production. Therefore, there are multiple points in the process from biomass to biofuel production that must be interrogated and optimized to maximize fuel production. Here, we report the development of an IL-tolerant cellulase cocktail by combining thermophilic bacterial glycoside hydrolases produced by a mixed consortia with recombinant glycoside hydrolases. This enzymatic cocktail saccharifies IL-pretreated biomass at higher temperatures and in the presence of much higher IL concentrations than commercial fungal cocktails. Sugars obtained from saccharification of IL-pretreated switchgrass using this cocktail can be converted into biodiesel (fatty acid ethyl-esters or FAEEs) by a metabolically engineered strain of E. coli. During these studies, we found that this biodiesel-producing E. coli strain was sensitive to ILs and inhibitors released by saccharification. This cocktail will enable the development of novel biomass to biofuel bioprocessing configurations that may overcome some of the barriers to production of inexpensive cellulosic biofuels. PMID:22649505

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULOSE AND LIGNIN FROM STEAM-EXPLODED LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS

OpenAIRE

Maha M. Ibrahim; Foster A. Agblevor; Waleed K. El-Zawawy

2010-01-01

The isolation of cellulose from different lignocellulosic biomass sources such as corn cob, banana plant, cotton stalk, and cotton gin waste, was studied using a steam explosion technology as a pre-treatment process for different times followed by alkaline peroxide bleaching. The agricultural residues were steam-exploded at 220 ºC for 1-4 min for the corn cob, 2 and 4 min for the banana plant, 3-5 min for the cotton gin waste, and for 5 min for the cotton stalk. The steamed fibers were water ...

The Presence of Pretreated Lignocellulosic Solids from Birch during Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentations Leads to Increased Tolerance to Inhibitors--A Proteomic Study of the Effects.

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Koppram, Rakesh; Mapelli, Valeria; Albers, Eva; Olsson, Lisbeth

2016-01-01

The fermentation performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the cellulose to ethanol conversion process is largely influenced by the components of pretreated biomass. The insoluble solids in pretreated biomass predominantly constitute cellulose, lignin, and -to a lesser extent- hemicellulose. It is important to understand the effects of water-insoluble solids (WIS) on yeast cell physiology and metabolism for the overall process optimization. In the presence of synthetic lignocellulosic inhibitors, we observed a reduced lag phase and enhanced volumetric ethanol productivity by S. cerevisiae CEN.PK 113-7D when the minimal medium was supplemented with WIS of pretreated birch or spruce and glucose as the carbon source. To investigate the underlying molecular reasons for the effects of WIS, we studied the response of WIS at the proteome level in yeast cells in the presence of acetic acid as an inhibitor. Comparisons were made with cells grown in the presence of acetic acid but without WIS in the medium. Altogether, 729 proteins were detected and quantified, of which 246 proteins were significantly up-regulated and 274 proteins were significantly down-regulated with a fold change≥1.2 in the presence of WIS compared to absence of WIS. The cells in the presence of WIS up-regulated several proteins related to cell wall, glycolysis, electron transport chain, oxidative stress response, oxygen and radical detoxification and unfolded protein response; and down-regulated most proteins related to biosynthetic pathways including amino acid, purine, isoprenoid biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and pentose phosphate pathway. Overall, the identified differentially regulated proteins may indicate that the likelihood of increased ATP generation in the presence of WIS was used to defend against acetic acid stress at the expense of reduced biomass formation. Although, comparative proteomics of cells with and without WIS in the acetic acid containing medium revealed numerous

The Presence of Pretreated Lignocellulosic Solids from Birch during Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentations Leads to Increased Tolerance to Inhibitors--A Proteomic Study of the Effects.

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Rakesh Koppram

Full Text Available The fermentation performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the cellulose to ethanol conversion process is largely influenced by the components of pretreated biomass. The insoluble solids in pretreated biomass predominantly constitute cellulose, lignin, and -to a lesser extent- hemicellulose. It is important to understand the effects of water-insoluble solids (WIS on yeast cell physiology and metabolism for the overall process optimization. In the presence of synthetic lignocellulosic inhibitors, we observed a reduced lag phase and enhanced volumetric ethanol productivity by S. cerevisiae CEN.PK 113-7D when the minimal medium was supplemented with WIS of pretreated birch or spruce and glucose as the carbon source. To investigate the underlying molecular reasons for the effects of WIS, we studied the response of WIS at the proteome level in yeast cells in the presence of acetic acid as an inhibitor. Comparisons were made with cells grown in the presence of acetic acid but without WIS in the medium. Altogether, 729 proteins were detected and quantified, of which 246 proteins were significantly up-regulated and 274 proteins were significantly down-regulated with a fold change≥1.2 in the presence of WIS compared to absence of WIS. The cells in the presence of WIS up-regulated several proteins related to cell wall, glycolysis, electron transport chain, oxidative stress response, oxygen and radical detoxification and unfolded protein response; and down-regulated most proteins related to biosynthetic pathways including amino acid, purine, isoprenoid biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and pentose phosphate pathway. Overall, the identified differentially regulated proteins may indicate that the likelihood of increased ATP generation in the presence of WIS was used to defend against acetic acid stress at the expense of reduced biomass formation. Although, comparative proteomics of cells with and without WIS in the acetic acid containing medium

The effect of aqueous ammonia soaking pretreatment on methane generation uing different lignocellulosic feedstocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antonopoulou, Georgia; Jonuzaj, Suela; Gavala, Hariklia N.

2014-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass including agricultural and forestry residues, perennial crops, softwoods and hardwoods, can be used as feedstock for methane production. Although being abundant and almost zero cost feedstocks, the main obstacles of their use are the low efficiencies and yields attained, d...... methane potential of switchgrass. Transactions of the ASABE. 53, 1921-1927 (2010) [3] Jurado, E., Gavala., H.N., Skiadas, I.V., :Enhancement of methane yield from wheat straw, miscanthus and willow using aqueous ammonia soaking. Environmental Tecnology. 34(13-14), 2069-2075 (2013)...

Biorefining of wheat straw: accounting for the distribution of mineral elements in pretreated biomass by an extended pretreatment-severity equation.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Duy Michael; Sørensen, Hanne R; Knudsen, Niels Ole; Schjoerring, Jan K; Meyer, Anne S

2014-01-01

Mineral elements present in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks may accumulate in biorefinery process streams and cause technological problems, or alternatively can be reaped for value addition. A better understanding of the distribution of minerals in biomass in response to pretreatment factors is therefore important in relation to development of new biorefinery processes. The objective of the present study was to examine the levels of mineral elements in pretreated wheat straw in response to systematic variations in the hydrothermal pretreatment parameters (pH, temperature, and treatment time), and to assess whether it is possible to model mineral levels in the pretreated fiber fraction. Principal component analysis of the wheat straw biomass constituents, including mineral elements, showed that the recovered levels of wheat straw constituents after different hydrothermal pretreatments could be divided into two groups: 1) Phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium correlated with xylose and arabinose (that is, hemicellulose), and levels of these constituents present in the fiber fraction after pretreatment varied depending on the pretreatment-severity; and 2) Silicon, iron, copper, aluminum correlated with lignin and cellulose levels, but the levels of these constituents showed no severity-dependent trends. For the first group, an expanded pretreatment-severity equation, containing a specific factor for each constituent, accounting for variability due to pretreatment pH, was developed. Using this equation, the mineral levels could be predicted with R(2) > 0.75; for some with R(2) up to 0.96. Pretreatment conditions, especially pH, significantly influenced the levels of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and calcium in the resulting fiber fractions. A new expanded pretreatment-severity equation is proposed to model and predict mineral composition in pretreated wheat straw biomass.

Enhancement of Lignin Biopolymer Isolation from Hybrid Poplar by Organosolv Pretreatments

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Miao Wu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable resource that has the potential to displace petroleum in the production of biomaterials and biofuels. In the present study, the fractionation of different lignin biopolymers from hybrid poplar based on organosolv pretreatments using 80% aqueous methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol at 220°C for 30 min was investigated. The isolated lignin fractions were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, high-performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC, 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA. The results showed that the lignin fraction obtained with aqueous ethanol (EOL possessed the highest yield and the strongest thermal stability compared with other lignin fractions. In addition, other lignin fractions were almost absent of neutral sugars (1.16–1.46% though lignin preparation extracted with 1-butanol (BOL was incongruent (7.53%. 2D HSQC spectra analysis revealed that the four lignin fractions mainly consisted of β-O-4′ linkages combined with small amounts of β-β′ and β-5′ linkages. Furthermore, substitution of Cα in β-O-4′ substructures had occurred due to the effects of dissolvent during the autocatalyzed alcohol organosolv pretreatments. Therefore, aqueous ethanol was found to be the most promising alcoholic organic solvent compared with other alcohols to be used in noncatalyzed processes for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass in biorefinery.

A comparative study of the hydrolysis of gamma irradiated lignocelluloses

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E. Betiku

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The effect of high-dose irradiation as a pretreatment method on two common lignocellulosic materials; hardwood (Khaya senegalensis and softwood (Triplochiton scleroxylon were investigated by assessing the potential of cellulase enzyme derived from Aspergillus flavus Linn isolate NSPR 101 to hydrolyse the materials. The irradiation strongly affected the materials, causing the enzymatic hydrolysis to increase by more than 3 fold. Maximum digestibility occurred in softwood at 40kGy dosage of irradiation, while in hardwood it was at 90kGy dosage. The results also showed that, at the same dosage levels (p < 0.05, hardwood was hydrolysed significantly better compared to the softwood.

Thermostable endoglucanases in the liquefaction of hydrothermally pretreated wheat straw

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Siika-aho Matti

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Thermostable enzymes have several benefits in lignocellulose processing. In particular, they potentially allow the use of increased substrate concentrations (because the substrate viscosity decreases as the temperature increases, resulting in improved product yields and reduced capital and processing costs. A short pre-hydrolysis step at an elevated temperature using thermostable enzymes aimed at rapid liquefaction of the feedstock is seen as an attractive way to overcome the technical problems (such as poor mixing and mass transfer properties connected with high initial solid loadings in the lignocellulose to ethanol process. Results The capability of novel thermostable enzymes to reduce the viscosity of high-solid biomass suspensions using a real-time viscometric measurement method was investigated. Heterologously expressed enzymes from various thermophilic organisms were compared for their ability to liquefy the lignocellulosic substrate, hydrothermally pretreated wheat straw. Once the best enzymes were identified, the optimal temperatures for these enzymes to decrease substrate viscosity were compared. The combined hydrolytic properties of the thermostable preparations were tested in hydrolysis experiments. The studied mixtures were primarily designed to have good liquefaction potential, and therefore contained an enhanced proportion of the key liquefying enzyme, EGII/Cel5A. Conclusions Endoglucanases were shown to have a superior ability to rapidly reduce the viscosity of the 15% (w/w; dry matter hydrothermally pretreated wheat straw. Based on temperature profiling studies, Thermoascus aurantiacus EGII/Cel5A was the most promising enzyme for biomass liquefaction. Even though they were not optimized for saccharification, many of the thermostable enzyme mixtures had superior hydrolytic properties compared with the commercial reference enzymes at 55°C.

Evaluation of bacterial expansin EXLX1 as a cellulase synergist for the saccharification of lignocellulosic Agro-industrial wastes.

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Hui Lin

Full Text Available Various types of lignocellulosic wastes extensively used in biofuel production were provided to assess the potential of EXLX1 as a cellulase synergist. Enzymatic hydrolysis of natural wheat straw showed that all the treatments using mixtures of cellulase and an optimized amount of EXLX1, released greater quantities of sugars than those using cellulase alone, regardless of cellulase dosage and incubation time. EXLX1 exhibited different synergism and binding characteristics for different wastes, but this can be related to their lignocellulosic components. The cellulose proportion could be one of the important factors. However, when the cellulose proportion of different biomass samples exhibited no remarkable differences, a higher synergism of EXLX1 is prone to occur on these materials, with a high proportion of hemicellulose and a low proportion of lignin. The information could be favorable to assess whether EXLX1 is effective as a cellulase synergist for the hydrolysis of the used materials. Binding assay experiments further suggested that EXLX1 bound preferentially to alkali pretreated materials, as opposed to acid pretreated materials under the assay condition and the binding preference would be affected by incubation temperature.

Evaluation of Bacterial Expansin EXLX1 as a Cellulase Synergist for the Saccharification of Lignocellulosic Agro-Industrial Wastes

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hui; Shen, Qi; Zhan, Ju-Mei; Wang, Qun; Zhao, Yu-Hua

2013-01-01

Various types of lignocellulosic wastes extensively used in biofuel production were provided to assess the potential of EXLX1 as a cellulase synergist. Enzymatic hydrolysis of natural wheat straw showed that all the treatments using mixtures of cellulase and an optimized amount of EXLX1, released greater quantities of sugars than those using cellulase alone, regardless of cellulase dosage and incubation time. EXLX1 exhibited different synergism and binding characteristics for different wastes, but this can be related to their lignocellulosic components. The cellulose proportion could be one of the important factors. However, when the cellulose proportion of different biomass samples exhibited no remarkable differences, a higher synergism of EXLX1 is prone to occur on these materials, with a high proportion of hemicellulose and a low proportion of lignin. The information could be favorable to assess whether EXLX1 is effective as a cellulase synergist for the hydrolysis of the used materials. Binding assay experiments further suggested that EXLX1 bound preferentially to alkali pretreated materials, as opposed to acid pretreated materials under the assay condition and the binding preference would be affected by incubation temperature. PMID:24086425

Hydrodynamic cavitation-assisted alkaline pretreatment as a new approach for sugarcane bagasse biorefineries.

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Terán Hilares, Ruly; Dos Santos, Júlio César; Ahmed, Muhammad Ajaz; Jeon, Seok Hwan; da Silva, Silvio Silvério; Han, Jong-In

2016-08-01

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was employed in order to improve the efficiency of alkaline pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize pretreatment parameters: NaOH concentration (0.1-0.5M), solid/liquid ratio (S/L, 3-10%) and HC time (15-45min), in terms of glucan content, lignin removal and enzymatic digestibility. Under an optimal HC condition (0.48M of NaOH, 4.27% of S/L ratio and 44.48min), 52.1% of glucan content, 60.4% of lignin removal and 97.2% of enzymatic digestibility were achieved. Moreover, enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated SCB resulted in a yield 82% and 30% higher than the untreated and alkaline-treated controls, respectively. HC was found to be a potent and promising approach to pretreat lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scale-up and integration of alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and ethanolic fermentation.

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Banerjee, Goutami; Car, Suzana; Liu, Tongjun; Williams, Daniel L; Meza, Sarynna López; Walton, Jonathan D; Hodge, David B

2012-04-01

Alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) has several attractive features as a pretreatment in the lignocellulosic biomass-to-ethanol pipeline. Here, the feasibility of scaling-up the AHP process and integrating it with enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation was studied. Corn stover (1 kg) was subjected to AHP pretreatment, hydrolyzed enzymatically, and the resulting sugars fermented to ethanol. The AHP pretreatment was performed at 0.125 g H(2) O(2) /g biomass, 22°C, and atmospheric pressure for 48 h with periodic pH readjustment. The enzymatic hydrolysis was performed in the same reactor following pH neutralization of the biomass slurry and without washing. After 48 h, glucose and xylose yields were 75% and 71% of the theoretical maximum. Sterility was maintained during pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis without the use of antibiotics. During fermentation using a glucose- and xylose-utilizing strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, all of the Glc and 67% of the Xyl were consumed in 120 h. The final ethanol titer was 13.7 g/L. Treatment of the enzymatic hydrolysate with activated carbon prior to fermentation had little effect on Glc fermentation but markedly improved utilization of Xyl, presumably due to the removal of soluble aromatic inhibitors. The results indicate that AHP is readily scalable and can be integrated with enzyme hydrolysis and fermentation. Compared to other leading pretreatments for lignocellulosic biomass, AHP has potential advantages with regard to capital costs, process simplicity, feedstock handling, and compatibility with enzymatic deconstruction and fermentation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012; 109:922-931. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Highly thermostable xylanase production from a thermophilic Geobacillus sp. strain WSUCF1 utilizing lignocellulosic biomass

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Aditya eBhalla

2015-06-01

Full Text Available AbstractEfficient enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars requires a complete repertoire of biomass deconstruction enzymes. Hemicellulases play an important role in hydrolyzing hemicellulose component of lignocellulose to xylo-oligosaccharides and xylose. Thermostable xylanases have been a focus of attention as industrially important enzymes due to their long shelf life at high temperatures. Geobacillus sp. strain WSUCF1 produced thermostable xylanase activity (crude xylanase cocktail when grown on xylan or various inexpensive untreated and pretreated lignocellulosic biomasses such as prairie cord grass and corn stover. The optimum pH and temperature for the crude xylanase cocktail were 6.5 and 70ºC, respectively. The WSUCF1 crude xylanase was found to be highly thermostable with half-lives of 18 and 12 days at 60 and 70ºC, respectively. At 70ºC, rates of xylan hydrolysis were also found to be better with the WSUCF1 secretome than those with commercial enzymes, i.e., for WSUCF1 crude xylanase, CellicHTec2, and AccelleraseXY, the percent xylan conversions were 68.9, 49.4, and 28.92, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, WSUCF1 crude xylanase cocktail is among the most thermostable xylanases produced by thermophilic Geobacillus spp. and other thermophilic microbes (optimum growth temperature ≤70ºC. High thermostability, activity over wide range of temperatures, and better xylan hydrolysis than commercial enzymes make WSUCF1 crude xylanase suitable for thermophilic lignocellulose bioconversion processes.

Production of a generic microbial feedstock for lignocellulose biorefineries through sequential bioprocessing.

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Chang, Chen-Wei; Webb, Colin

2017-03-01

Lignocellulosic materials, mostly from agricultural and forestry residues, provide a potential renewable resource for sustainable biorefineries. Reducing sugars can be produced only after a pre-treatment stage, which normally involves chemicals but can be biological. In this case, two steps are usually necessary: solid-state cultivation of fungi for deconstruction, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis using cellulolytic enzymes. In this research, the utilisation of solid-state bioprocessing using the fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum was implemented as a simultaneous microbial pretreatment and in-situ enzyme production method for fungal autolysis and further enzyme hydrolysis of fermented solids. Suspending the fermented solids in water at 50°C led to the highest hydrolysis yields of 226mg/g reducing sugar and 7.7mg/g free amino nitrogen (FAN). The resultant feedstock was shown to be suitable for the production of various products including ethanol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of recycling stillage on conversion of dilute sulfuric acid pretreated corn stover to ethanol.

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Mohagheghi, Ali; Schell, Daniel J

2010-04-01

Both the current corn starch to ethanol industry and the emerging lignocellulosic biofuels industry view recycling of spent fermentation broth or stillage as a method to reduce fresh water use. The objective of this study was to understand the impact of recycling stillage on conversion of corn stover to ethanol. Sugars in a dilute-acid pretreated corn stover hydrolysate were fermented to ethanol by the glucose-xylose fermenting bacteria Zymomonas mobilis 8b. Three serial fermentations were performed at two different initial sugar concentrations using either 10% or 25% of the stillage as makeup water for the next fermentation in the series. Serial fermentations were performed to achieve near steady state concentration of inhibitors and other compounds in the corn stover hydrolysate. Little impact on ethanol yields was seen at sugar concentrations equivalent to pretreated corn stover slurry at 15% (w/w) with 10% recycle of the stillage. However, ethanol yields became progressively poorer as the sugar concentration increased and fraction of the stillage recycled increased. At an equivalent corn stover slurry concentration of 20% with 25% recycled stillage the ethanol yield was only 5%. For this microorganism with dilute-acid pretreated corn stover, recycling a large fraction of the stillage had a significant negative impact on fermentation performance. Although this finding is of concern for biochemical-based lignocellulose conversion processes, other microorganism/pretreatment technology combinations will likely perform differently. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phenotypic selection of a wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of AFEX pretreated corn stover

Science.gov (United States)

Mingie Jin; Cory Sarks; Christa Gunawan; Benjamin D. Bice; Shane P. Simonett; Ragothaman Avanasi Narasimhan; Laura B. Willis; Bruce E. Dale; Venkatesh Balan; Trey K. Sato

2013-01-01

Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) process involves enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass and fermentation of glucose and xylose in one bioreactor. The optimal temperatures for enzymatic hydrolysis are higher than the standard fermentation temperature of ethanologenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Moreover,...

The Presence of Pretreated Lignocellulosic Solids from Birch during Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentations Leads to Increased Tolerance to Inhibitors – A Proteomic Study of the Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Koppram, Rakesh; Mapelli, Valeria; Albers, Eva; Olsson, Lisbeth

2016-01-01

The fermentation performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the cellulose to ethanol conversion process is largely influenced by the components of pretreated biomass. The insoluble solids in pretreated biomass predominantly constitute cellulose, lignin, and -to a lesser extent- hemicellulose. It is important to understand the effects of water-insoluble solids (WIS) on yeast cell physiology and metabolism for the overall process optimization. In the presence of synthetic lignocellulosic inhibitors, we observed a reduced lag phase and enhanced volumetric ethanol productivity by S. cerevisiae CEN.PK 113-7D when the minimal medium was supplemented with WIS of pretreated birch or spruce and glucose as the carbon source. To investigate the underlying molecular reasons for the effects of WIS, we studied the response of WIS at the proteome level in yeast cells in the presence of acetic acid as an inhibitor. Comparisons were made with cells grown in the presence of acetic acid but without WIS in the medium. Altogether, 729 proteins were detected and quantified, of which 246 proteins were significantly up-regulated and 274 proteins were significantly down-regulated with a fold change≥1.2 in the presence of WIS compared to absence of WIS. The cells in the presence of WIS up-regulated several proteins related to cell wall, glycolysis, electron transport chain, oxidative stress response, oxygen and radical detoxification and unfolded protein response; and down-regulated most proteins related to biosynthetic pathways including amino acid, purine, isoprenoid biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and pentose phosphate pathway. Overall, the identified differentially regulated proteins may indicate that the likelihood of increased ATP generation in the presence of WIS was used to defend against acetic acid stress at the expense of reduced biomass formation. Although, comparative proteomics of cells with and without WIS in the acetic acid containing medium revealed numerous

Energy balance and cost-benefit analysis of biogas production from perennial energy crops pretreated by wet oxidation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Uellendahl, Hinrich; Wang, Guangtao; Møller, H.B.

2008-01-01

. The conversion into biogas in anaerobic digestion plants shows however much lower specific methane yields for the raw perennial crops like miscanthus and willow due to their lignocellulosic structure. Without pretreatment the net energy gain is therefore lower for the perennials than for corn. When applying wet...

Mild-temperature dilute acid pretreatment for integration of first and second generation ethanol processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, Ramkumar B; Kalif, Mahdi; Ferreira, Jorge A; Taherzadeh, Mohammad J; Lennartsson, Patrik R

2017-12-01

The use of hot-water (100°C) from the 1st generation ethanol plants for mild-temperature lignocellulose pretreatment can possibly cut down the operational (energy) cost of 2nd generation ethanol process, in an integrated model. Dilute-sulfuric and -phosphoric acid pretreatment at 100°C was carried out for wheat bran and whole-stillage fibers. Pretreatment time and acid type influenced the release of sugars from wheat bran, while acid-concentration was found significant for whole-stillage fibers. Pretreatment led up-to 300% improvement in the glucose yield compared to only-enzymatically treated substrates. The pretreated substrates were 191-344% and 115-300% richer in lignin and glucan, respectively. Fermentation using Neurospora intermedia, showed 81% and 91% ethanol yields from wheat bran and stillage-fibers, respectively. Sawdust proved to be a highly recalcitrant substrate for mild-temperature pretreatment with only 22% glucose yield. Both wheat bran and whole-stillage are potential substrates for pretreatment using waste heat from the 1st generation process for 2nd generation ethanol. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rich biotin content in lignocellulose biomass plays the key role in determining cellulosic glutamic acid accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

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Wen, Jingbai; Xiao, Yanqiu; Liu, Ting; Gao, Qiuqiang; Bao, Jie

2018-01-01

Lignocellulose is one of the most promising alternative feedstocks for glutamic acid production as commodity building block chemical, but the efforts by the dominant industrial fermentation strain Corynebacterium glutamicum failed for accumulating glutamic acid using lignocellulose feedstock. We identified the existence of surprisingly high biotin concentration in corn stover hydrolysate as the determining factor for the failure of glutamic acid accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum . Under excessive biotin content, induction by penicillin resulted in 41.7 ± 0.1 g/L of glutamic acid with the yield of 0.50 g glutamic acid/g glucose. Our further investigation revealed that corn stover contained 353 ± 16 μg of biotin per kg dry solids, approximately one order of magnitude greater than the biotin in corn grain. Most of the biotin remained stable during the biorefining chain and the rich biotin content in corn stover hydrolysate almost completely blocked the glutamic acid accumulation. This rich biotin existence was found to be a common phenomenon in the wide range of lignocellulose biomass and this may be the key reason why the previous studies failed in cellulosic glutamic acid fermentation from lignocellulose biomass. The extended recording of the complete members of all eight vitamin B compounds in lignocellulose biomass further reveals that the major vitamin B members were also under the high concentration levels even after harsh pretreatment. The high content of biotin in wide range of lignocellulose biomass feedstocks and the corresponding hydrolysates was discovered and it was found to be the key factor in determining the cellulosic glutamic acid accumulation. The highly reserved biotin and the high content of their other vitamin B compounds in biorefining process might act as the potential nutrients to biorefining fermentations. This study creates a new insight that lignocellulose biorefining not only generates inhibitors, but also keeps nutrients

Low-heat, mild alkaline pretreatment of switchgrass for anaerobic digestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Guang; Bierma, Tom; Walker, Paul M

2014-01-01

This study examines the effectiveness of alkaline pretreatment under mild heat conditions (100°C or 212°F) on the anaerobic co-digestion of switchgrass. The effects of alkaline concentration, types of alkaline, heating time and rinsing were evaluated. In addition to batch studies, continuous-feed studies were performed in triplicate to identify potential digester operational problems caused by switchgrass co-digestion while accounting for uncertainty due to digester variability. Few studies have examined anaerobic digestion of switchgrass or the effects of mild heating to enhance alkaline pretreatment prior to biomass digestion. Results indicate that pretreatment can significantly enhance digestion of coarse-ground (≤ 0.78 cm particle size) switchgrass. Energy conversion efficiency as high as 63% was observed, and was comparable or superior to fine-grinding as a pretreatment method. The optimal NaOH concentration was found to be 5.5% (wt/wt alkaline/biomass) with a 91.7% moisture level. No evidence of operational problems such as solids build-up, poor mixing, or floating materials were observed. These results suggest the use of waste heat from a generator could reduce the concentration of alkaline required to adequately pretreat lignocellulosic feedstock prior to anaerobic digestion.

Novel fungal consortium pretreatment of waste oat straw to enhance economic and efficient biohydrogen production

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Lirong Zhou

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Bio-pretreatment using a fungal consortium to enhance the efficiency of lignocellulosic biohydrogen production was explored.  A fungal consortium comprised of T. viride and P. chrysosporium as microbial inoculum was compared with untreated and single-species-inoculated samples. Fungal bio-pretreatment was carried out at atmospheric conditions with limited external energy input.  The effectiveness of the pretreatment is evaluated according to its lignin removal and digestibility. Enhancement of biohydrogen production is observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM analysis. Fungal consortium pretreatment effectively degraded oat straw lignin (by >47% in 7 days leading to decomposition of cell-wall structure as revealed in SEM images, increasing biohydrogen yield. The hydrogen produced from the fungal consortium pretreated straw increased by 165% 6 days later, and was more than produced from either a single fungi species of T. viride or P. chrysosponium pretreated straw (94% and 106%, respectively. No inhibitory effect on hydrogen production was observed.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as an efficient pretreatment method for lignocellulosic biomass: A parametric study.

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Terán Hilares, Ruly; de Almeida, Gabriela Faria; Ahmed, Muhammad Ajaz; Antunes, Felipe A F; da Silva, Silvio Silvério; Han, Jong-In; Santos, Júlio César Dos

2017-07-01

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), which is a highly destructive force, was employed for pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). The efficacy of HC was studied using response surface methodology (RSM) with determining parameters varied: inlet pressure of 1-3bar, temperature of 40-70°C, and alkaline concentration of 0.1-0.3M. At the best condition (3bar, 70°C and 0.3M NaOH), 93.05% and 94.45% of hydrolysis yield of cellulose and hemicellulose, respectively, were obtained within 30min of pretreatment time. Also, pretreatment time higher than 10min had little to do regarding to SCB composition changes using different orifice plates (16 and 27 holes, with corresponding cavitation number of 0.017 and 0.048, respectively), with higher hydrolysis yield observed at 20min of process. Therefore, HC-based approach could lead to a high yield of hydrolysis, as long as a treatment condition was right; it could be so at mild conditions and at short running time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enzymatic saccharification and bioethanol production from Cynara cardunculus pretreated by steam explosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Maria C; Ferro, Miguel D; Paulino, Ana F C; Mendes, Joana A S; Gravitis, Janis; Evtuguin, Dmitry V; Xavier, Ana M R B

2015-06-01

The correct choice of the specific lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment allows obtaining high biomass conversions for biorefinery implementations and cellulosic bioethanol production from renewable resources. Cynara cardunculus (cardoon) pretreated by steam explosion (SE) was involved in second-generation bioethanol production using separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) or simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) processes. Steam explosion pretreatment led to partial solubilisation of hemicelluloses and increased the accessibility of residual polysaccharides towards enzymatic hydrolysis revealing 64% of sugars yield against 11% from untreated plant material. Alkaline extraction after SE pretreatment of cardoon (CSEOH) promoted partial removal of degraded lignin, tannins, extractives and hemicelluloses thus allowing to double glucose concentration upon saccharification step. Bioethanol fermentation in SSF mode was faster than SHF process providing the best results: ethanol concentration 18.7 g L(-1), fermentation efficiency of 66.6% and a yield of 26.6g ethanol/100 g CSEOH or 10.1 g ethanol/100 g untreated cardoon. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Weibull statistics-based lignocellulose saccharification model and a built-in parameter accurately predict lignocellulose hydrolysis performance.

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Wang, Mingyu; Han, Lijuan; Liu, Shasha; Zhao, Xuebing; Yang, Jinghua; Loh, Soh Kheang; Sun, Xiaomin; Zhang, Chenxi; Fang, Xu

2015-09-01

Renewable energy from lignocellulosic biomass has been deemed an alternative to depleting fossil fuels. In order to improve this technology, we aim to develop robust mathematical models for the enzymatic lignocellulose degradation process. By analyzing 96 groups of previously published and newly obtained lignocellulose saccharification results and fitting them to Weibull distribution, we discovered Weibull statistics can accurately predict lignocellulose saccharification data, regardless of the type of substrates, enzymes and saccharification conditions. A mathematical model for enzymatic lignocellulose degradation was subsequently constructed based on Weibull statistics. Further analysis of the mathematical structure of the model and experimental saccharification data showed the significance of the two parameters in this model. In particular, the λ value, defined the characteristic time, represents the overall performance of the saccharification system. This suggestion was further supported by statistical analysis of experimental saccharification data and analysis of the glucose production levels when λ and n values change. In conclusion, the constructed Weibull statistics-based model can accurately predict lignocellulose hydrolysis behavior and we can use the λ parameter to assess the overall performance of enzymatic lignocellulose degradation. Advantages and potential applications of the model and the λ value in saccharification performance assessment were discussed. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Comparisons of five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Haifeng; Lan, Tianqing; Dien, Bruce S; Hector, Ronald E; Zhu, J Y

2014-01-01

The performances of five yeast strains under three levels of toxicity were evaluated using hydrolysates from lodgepole pine pretreated by Sulfite Pretreatment to Overcome the Recalcitrance of Lignocelluloses (SPORL). The highest level of toxicity was represented by the whole pretreated biomass slurry, while intermediate toxicity was represented by the hydrolysate with partial loading of pretreatment spent liquor. The zero toxicity was represented using the enzymatic hydrolysate produced from thoroughly washed SPORL lodgepole pine solids. The results indicate that strains D5A and YRH400 can tolerate the whole pretreated biomass slurry to produce 90.1 and 73.5% theoretical ethanol yield. Strains Y1528, YRH403, and FPL450 did not grow in whole hydrolysate cultures and were observed to have lower ethanol productivities than D5A and YRH400 on the hydrolysate with intermediate toxicity. Both YRH400 and YRH403 were genetically engineered for xylose fermentation but were not able to consume xylose efficiently in hydrolysate. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Sugarcane bagasse pretreatment using three imidazolium-based ionic liquids; mass balances and enzyme kinetics

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Karatzos Sergios

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Effective pretreatment is key to achieving high enzymatic saccharification efficiency in processing lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars, biofuels and value-added products. Ionic liquids (ILs, still relatively new class of solvents, are attractive for biomass pretreatment because some demonstrate the rare ability to dissolve all components of lignocellulosic biomass including highly ordered (crystalline cellulose. In the present study, three ILs, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mim]Cl, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C2mim]Cl, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim]OAc are used to dissolve/pretreat and fractionate sugarcane bagasse. In these IL-based pretreatments the biomass is completely or partially dissolved in ILs at temperatures greater than 130°C and then precipitated by the addition of an antisolvent to the IL biomass mixture. For the first time mass balances of IL-based pretreatments are reported. Such mass balances, along with kinetics data, can be used in process modelling and design. Results Lignin removals of 10% mass of lignin in bagasse with [C4mim]Cl, 50% mass with [C2mim]Cl and 60% mass with [C2mim]OAc, are achieved by limiting the amount of water added as antisolvent to 0.5 water:IL mass ratio thus minimising lignin precipitation. Enzyme saccharification (24 h, 15FPU yields (% cellulose mass in starting bagasse from the recovered solids rank as: [C2mim]OAc(83% > >[C2mim]Cl(53% = [C4mim]Cl(53%. Composition of [C2mim]OAc-treated solids such as low lignin, low acetyl group content and preservation of arabinosyl groups are characteristic of aqueous alkali pretreatments while those of chloride IL-treated solids resemble aqueous acid pretreatments. All ILs are fully recovered after use (100% mass as determined by ion chromatography. Conclusions In all three ILs regulated addition of water as an antisolvent effected a polysaccharide enriched precipitate since some of the lignin

Bioconversion of lignocellulose-derived sugars to ethanol by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Madhavan, Anjali; Srivastava, Aradhana; Kondo, Akihiko; Bisaria, Virendra S

2012-03-01

Lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural and agro-industrial residues represents one of the most important renewable resources that can be utilized for the biological production of ethanol. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used for the commercial production of bioethanol from sucrose or starch-derived glucose. While glucose and other hexose sugars like galactose and mannose can be fermented to ethanol by S. cerevisiae, the major pentose sugars D-xylose and L-arabinose remain unutilized. Nevertheless, D-xylulose, the keto isomer of xylose, can be fermented slowly by the yeast and thus, the incorporation of functional routes for the conversion of xylose and arabinose to xylulose or xylulose-5-phosphate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can help to improve the ethanol productivity and make the fermentation process more cost-effective. Other crucial bottlenecks in pentose fermentation include low activity of the pentose phosphate pathway enzymes and competitive inhibition of xylose and arabinose transport into the cell cytoplasm by glucose and other hexose sugars. Along with a brief introduction of the pretreatment of lignocellulose and detoxification of the hydrolysate, this review provides an updated overview of (a) the key steps involved in the uptake and metabolism of the hexose sugars: glucose, galactose, and mannose, together with the pentose sugars: xylose and arabinose, (b) various factors that play a major role in the efficient fermentation of pentose sugars along with hexose sugars, and (c) the approaches used to overcome the metabolic constraints in the production of bioethanol from lignocellulose-derived sugars by developing recombinant S. cerevisiae strains.

Fast and efficient nanoshear hybrid alkaline pretreatment of corn stover for biofuel and materials production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei; Ji, Shaowen; Lee, Ilsoon

2013-01-01

We report a fast and efficient nano-scale shear hybrid alkaline (NSHA) pretreatment method of lignocellulosic biomass. In this work, corn stover was pretreated in a modified Taylor–Couette reactor with alkali (sodium hydroxide) at room temperature for two minutes. Up to 82% of high cellulose content in the remaining solids was achieved with the novel NSHA pretreatment process. Compared with untreated corn stover, an approximately 4-fold increase in enzymatic cellulose conversion and a 5-fold increase in hemicellulose conversion were achieved. Compositional analysis proved significant removals of both lignin and hemicellulose after the NSHA pretreatment. SEM images revealed that the synergistic effect of NSHA pretreatment caused the severe disruption of biomass structure and exposure of cellulose microfibril aggregates in NSHA pretreated corn stover. Highlights: ► A fast nanoshear hybrid alkaline (NSHA) pretreatment method is reported. ► A modified Taylor–Couette reactor was applied. ► The retention time of the NSHA method is only 2 min. ► A 100% conversion of glucan was achieved in one day. ► NSHA greatly removed both lignin and xylan

Bacillus coagulans MA-13: a promising thermophilic and cellulolytic strain for the production of lactic acid from lignocellulosic hydrolysate.

Science.gov (United States)

Aulitto, Martina; Fusco, Salvatore; Bartolucci, Simonetta; Franzén, Carl Johan; Contursi, Patrizia

2017-01-01

The transition from a petroleum-based economy towards more sustainable bioprocesses for the production of fuels and chemicals (circular economy) is necessary to alleviate the impact of anthropic activities on the global ecosystem. Lignocellulosic biomass-derived sugars are suitable alternative feedstocks that can be fermented or biochemically converted to value-added products. An example is lactic acid, which is an essential chemical for the production of polylactic acid, a biodegradable bioplastic. However, lactic acid is still mainly produced by Lactobacillus species via fermentation of starch-containing materials, the use of which competes with the supply of food and feed. A thermophilic and cellulolytic lactic acid producer was isolated from bean processing waste and was identified as a new strain of Bacillus coagulans , named MA-13. This bacterium fermented lignocellulose-derived sugars to lactic acid at 55 °C and pH 5.5. Moreover, it was found to be a robust strain able to tolerate high concentrations of hydrolysate obtained from wheat straw pre-treated by acid-catalysed (pre-)hydrolysis and steam explosion, especially when cultivated in controlled bioreactor conditions. Indeed, unlike what was observed in microscale cultivations (complete growth inhibition at hydrolysate concentrations above 50%), B. coagulans MA-13 was able to grow and ferment in 95% hydrolysate-containing bioreactor fermentations. This bacterium was also found to secrete soluble thermophilic cellulases, which could be produced at low temperature (37 °C), still retaining an optimal operational activity at 50 °C. The above-mentioned features make B. coagulans MA-13 an appealing starting point for future development of a consolidated bioprocess for production of lactic acid from lignocellulosic biomass, after further strain development by genetic and evolutionary engineering. Its optimal temperature and pH of growth match with the operational conditions of fungal enzymes hitherto

Effect of Hot-Pressing Temperature on the Subsequent Enzymatic Saccharification and Fermentation Performance of SPORL Pretreated Forest Biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Jingzhi Zhang; Andrea Laguna; Craig Clemons; Michael P. Wolcott; Rolland Gleisner; J.Y. Zhu; Xu Zhang

2015-01-01

Methods to increase the energy density ofbiofuel feedstock for shipment are important towards improving supply chain efficiency in upstream processes. Towards this end, densified pretreated lignocellulosic biomass was produced using hot-pressing. The effects offiber hornification induced by hot-pressing on enzymatic digestibilities of lodgepolepine and poplar NE222...

Enhanced glucose yield and structural characterization of corn stover by sodium carbonate pretreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ilgook; Rehman, Muhammad Saif Ur; Han, Jong-In

2014-01-01

Na2CO3 was employed as an efficient yet cheap alkaline catalyst for the pretreatment of corn stover. To systematically obtain an optimal condition, the effects of critical pretreatment parameters including Na2CO3 concentration (2-6%), temperature (120-160 °C), and reaction time (10-30 min) on glucose yield were evaluated in lab-scale using response surface methodology. The best conditions were found to be Na2CO3 of 4.1%, temperature of 142.6 °C, and reaction time of 18.0 min, under which glucose yield reached to 267.5 g/kg biomass. Physical properties, based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imagery, surface area, pore volume and size, and crystallinity of pretreated corn stover, were examined. The Na2CO3 pretreatment apparently damaged the surface and altered structural features of corn stover, which resulted in the enhancement of enzymatic of hydrolysis. These results evidently support that Na2CO3 is indeed a robust and feasible catalyst for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microstructural study of pre-treated and enzymatic hydrolyzed bamboo

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Funsho O. KOLAWOLE

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Bamboo was used as biomass feedstock which was pre-treated using dilute acid hydrolysis followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. The bamboo was mechanical ground to particle sizes 212–500µm, followed by pre-treatment with dilute sulfuric acid at a concentration of 0.5 and 1.0 (%v/v at temperatures of 25, 110, 120, 150 and 200°C with time intervals of 2 and 4 hours. Pre-hydrolyzate was later analyzed for reducing sugar using UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Under the above conditions, a maximum glucose yield of 153.1 mg/g was obtained at 200°C and acid concentrations of 1% for 4 hours. Water insoluble solids obtained were subsequently hydrolyzed with Celluclast (Trichoderma reesi and β-glucosidase (Novozyme 188 for 72 hours. Optical Microscope and ESEM images of bamboo samples were obtained at various stages of pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Result reveals a breakdown in the ligno-cellulosic structure of the bamboo during exposure to dilute acid and enzymatic hydrolysis.

COMPARISON OF PRETREATMENT STRATEGIES FOR CONVERSION OF COCONUT HUSK FIBER TO FERMENTABLE SUGARS

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Teck Y. Ding,

2012-02-01

Full Text Available In the present study, coconut husk was employed as biomass feedstock for production of bioethanol, due to its abundance in Malaysia. Due to the complex structures of coconut husk, a pretreatment process is crucial in extracting fermentable sugars from the embedded cellulose matrix for subsequent ethanol fermentation process. The ground coconut husk was subjected to three different pretreatment processes inclusive of thermal, chemical, and microwave-assisted-alkaline techniques, prior to enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process. The composition profile of coconut husk was significantly altered upon the microwave-assisted-alkaline treatment as compared to the untreated sample, with the cellulose content increasing from 18-21% to 38-39% while lignin content decreased from 46-53% to 31-33%. Among the pretreatment methods applied, enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk pretreated by microwave-assisted-alkaline method recorded the highest yield of fermentable sugars, 0.279 g sugar/g substrate. SEM imaging showed the obvious and significant disruption of coconut husks’ structure after microwave-assisted-alkaline pretreatment. In conclusion, by employing suitable pretreatment technique in treating the lignocellulosic materials of coconut husk, the extracted fermentable sugar is a potential substrate for bioethanol production.

Treatment of the lignocellulosic biomass by the gamma ray and its effect on lignin degradation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Abdi, Ines

2009-01-01

The development of alternative energies requires many research effort, with an aim of exploiting the lignocellulosic biomass. In fact, the stage of pretreatment makes it possible to facilitate the hydrolysis of the cellulose fractions, to give fermentable sugars by yeasts. However, several methods of pretreatment were identified, among them the treatment by the gamma rays. In this context, we have studied initially the effect of the gamma irradiation on the lignin degradation and on second place we added to the irradiation the treatment by dilute acid in order to optimize the rate of sugars. Thus, from 20 KGy there is a good degradation of lignins to give polyphenols components for about 4 Mg per gram of vegetable matter. However, the irradiation with 100KGy plus the acid treatment 1% has made possible to release 80% of fermentable sugars. (Author)

A critical review of ionic liquids for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass

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Prashant Reddy

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Ionic liquids have been the subject of active research over the course of the last decade and have in the past been touted as one of the most promising technologies for revolutionising the chemical and petro-chemical industries. The sheer abundance of potential ionic liquid structures coupled with their tuneable physico-chemical properties has endeared ionic liquids to the scientific community across a broad range of disciplines with potential applications that include pharmaceuticals, electrolytes, thermal energy storage media and liquid mirror telescopes. Within the context of a biorefinery for the production of biofuels and other bio-based products from renewable resources, the unique abilities of some ionic liquids to selectively dissolve biomass components or whole native biomass have been demonstrated. This ability has sparked extensive investigations of ionic liquids for the pretreatment of different biomass types, particularly for the production of cellulosic biofuels. However, the esoteric nature of ionic liquids persists and constructing a fundamental framework for correlating ionic liquid structures with useful applications remains a significant challenge. In addition to the above, the more practical challenges of toxicity, high costs, high viscosities, low solids loading and complex recycling are key factors hindering the wide-scale uptake of ionic liquids as pretreatment solvents in a commercial biorefinery. This critical review provides insights from academic studies and the implications thereof for elevating ionic liquids from the status of �promising� to �commercialisable� in the pretreatment of biomass. It is vital that key hurdles for the commercialisation of ionic liquids in the form of high costs, high viscosities, poor water tolerance, toxicity, low solids loading and recovery/recycling be addressed.

Improved Activity of a Thermophilic Cellulase, Cel5A, from Thermotoga maritima on Ionic Liquid Pretreated Switchgrass

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhiwei; Pereira, Jose H.; Liu, Hanbin; Tran, Huu M.; Hsu, Nathan S. Y.; Dibble, Dean; Singh, Seema; Adams, Paul D.; Sapra, Rajat; Hadi, Masood Z.; Simmons, Blake A.; Sale, Kenneth L.

2013-01-01

Ionic liquid pretreatment of biomass has been shown to greatly reduce the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, resulting in improved sugar yields after enzymatic saccharification. However, even under these improved saccharification conditions the cost of enzymes still represents a significant proportion of the total cost of producing sugars and ultimately fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Much of the high cost of enzymes is due to the low catalytic efficiency and stability of lignocellulolytic enzymes, especially cellulases, under conditions that include high temperatures and the presence of residual pretreatment chemicals, such as acids, organic solvents, bases, or ionic liquids. Improving the efficiency of the saccharification process on ionic liquid pretreated biomass will facilitate reduced enzyme loading and cost. Thermophilic cellulases have been shown to be stable and active in ionic liquids but their activity is typically at lower levels. Cel5A_Tma, a thermophilic endoglucanase from Thermotoga maritima, is highly active on cellulosic substrates and is stable in ionic liquid environments. Here, our motivation was to engineer mutants of Cel5A_Tma with higher activity on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]) pretreated biomass. We developed a robotic platform to screen a random mutagenesis library of Cel5A_Tma. Twelve mutants with 25–42% improvement in specific activity on carboxymethyl cellulose and up to 30% improvement on ionic-liquid pretreated switchgrass were successfully isolated and characterized from a library of twenty thousand variants. Interestingly, most of the mutations in the improved variants are located distally to the active site on the protein surface and are not directly involved with substrate binding. PMID:24244549

Improved activity of a thermophilic cellulase, Cel5A, from Thermotoga maritima on ionic liquid pretreated switchgrass.

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Zhiwei Chen

Full Text Available Ionic liquid pretreatment of biomass has been shown to greatly reduce the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, resulting in improved sugar yields after enzymatic saccharification. However, even under these improved saccharification conditions the cost of enzymes still represents a significant proportion of the total cost of producing sugars and ultimately fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Much of the high cost of enzymes is due to the low catalytic efficiency and stability of lignocellulolytic enzymes, especially cellulases, under conditions that include high temperatures and the presence of residual pretreatment chemicals, such as acids, organic solvents, bases, or ionic liquids. Improving the efficiency of the saccharification process on ionic liquid pretreated biomass will facilitate reduced enzyme loading and cost. Thermophilic cellulases have been shown to be stable and active in ionic liquids but their activity is typically at lower levels. Cel5A_Tma, a thermophilic endoglucanase from Thermotoga maritima, is highly active on cellulosic substrates and is stable in ionic liquid environments. Here, our motivation was to engineer mutants of Cel5A_Tma with higher activity on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc] pretreated biomass. We developed a robotic platform to screen a random mutagenesis library of Cel5A_Tma. Twelve mutants with 25-42% improvement in specific activity on carboxymethyl cellulose and up to 30% improvement on ionic-liquid pretreated switchgrass were successfully isolated and characterized from a library of twenty thousand variants. Interestingly, most of the mutations in the improved variants are located distally to the active site on the protein surface and are not directly involved with substrate binding.

Hydrodynamic cavitation as a novel pretreatment approach for bioethanol production from reed.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ilgook; Lee, Ilgyu; Jeon, Seok Hwan; Hwang, Taewoon; Han, Jong-In

2015-09-01

In this study, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was employed as a physical means to improve alkaline pretreatment of reed. The HC-assisted alkaline pretreatment was undertaken to evaluate the influence of NaOH concentration (1-5%), solid-to-liquid ratio (5-15%), and reaction time (20-60 min) on glucose yield. The optimal condition was found to be 3.0% NaOH at solid-to-liquid (S/L) ratio of 11.8% for 41.1 min, which resulted in the maximum glucose yield of 326.5 g/kg biomass. Furthermore, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was conducted to assess the ethanol production. An ethanol concentration of 25.9 g/L and ethanol yield of 90% were achieved using batch SSF. These results clearly demonstrated HC system can be indeed a promising pretreatment tool for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing symbiotic consortia for lignocellulosic biofuel production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuroff, Trevor R.; Curtis, Wayne R. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2012-02-15

The search for petroleum alternatives has motivated intense research into biological breakdown of lignocellulose to produce liquid fuels such as ethanol. Degradation of lignocellulose for biofuel production is a difficult process which is limited by, among other factors, the recalcitrance of lignocellulose and biological toxicity of the products. Consolidated bioprocessing has been suggested as an efficient and economical method of producing low value products from lignocellulose; however, it is not clear whether this would be accomplished more efficiently with a single organism or community of organisms. This review highlights examples of mixtures of microbes in the context of conceptual models for developing symbiotic consortia for biofuel production from lignocellulose. Engineering a symbiosis within consortia is a putative means of improving both process efficiency and stability relative to monoculture. Because microbes often interact and exist attached to surfaces, quorum sensing and biofilm formation are also discussed in terms of consortia development and stability. An engineered, symbiotic culture of multiple organisms may be a means of assembling a novel combination of metabolic capabilities that can efficiently produce biofuel from lignocellulose. (orig.)

Chemical characterization and hydrothermal pretreatment of Salicornia bigelovii straw for enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis and bioethanol potential

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cybulska, Iwona; Chaturvedi, Tanmay; Brudecki, Grzegorz P.

2014-01-01

equipment and avoid inhibition of enzymes and yeast. Composition of the washed biomass was comparable to traditional lignocellulosic biomasses with relatively high glucan and xylan content (26 and 22. g/100. gDM, respectively) but with lower lignin content (7. g/100. gDM). The washed feedstock was subjected...... to hydrothermal pretreatment, producing highly digestible (up to 92% glucan-to-glucose conversion) and fermentable (up to 100% glucose-to-ethanol conversion) fiber fractions. Liquid fractions obtained in the pretreatment did not show inhibition towards Saccharomyces cerevisiae. No significant differences among...... the enzymatic convertibility and microbial fermentability of the fibers as well as low xylose recoveries suggest that lower severity pretreatment conditions could be exploited for S. bigelovii. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd....

Can lignocellulosic hydrocarbon liquids rival lignocellulose-derived ethanol as a future transport fuel?

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Yao Ding

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Although transport fuels are currently obtained mainly from petroleum, alternative fuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass (LB have drawn much attention in recent years in light of the limited reserves of crude oil and the associated environmental issues. Lignocellulosic ethanol (LE and lignocellulosic hydrocarbons (LH are two typical representatives of the LB-derived transport fuels. This editorial systematically compares LE and LB from production to their application in transport fuels. It can be demonstrated that LH has many advantages over LE relative to such uses. However, most recent studies on the production of the LB-derived transport fuels have focused on LE production. Hence, it is strongly recommended that more research should be aimed at developing an efficient and economically viable process for industrial LH production.

Community dynamics and glycoside hydrolase activities of thermophilic bacterial consortia adapted to switchgrass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gladden, J.M.; Allgaier, M.; Miller, C.S.; Hazen, T.C.; VanderGheynst, J.S.; Hugenholtz, P.; Simmons, B.A.; Singer, S.W.

2011-05-01

Industrial-scale biofuel production requires robust enzymatic cocktails to produce fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass. Thermophilic bacterial consortia are a potential source of cellulases and hemicellulases adapted to harsher reaction conditions than commercial fungal enzymes. Compost-derived microbial consortia were adapted to switchgrass at 60 C to develop thermophilic biomass-degrading consortia for detailed studies. Microbial community analysis using small-subunit rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing and short-read metagenomic sequencing demonstrated that thermophilic adaptation to switchgrass resulted in low-diversity bacterial consortia with a high abundance of bacteria related to thermophilic paenibacilli, Rhodothermus marinus, and Thermus thermophilus. At lower abundance, thermophilic Chloroflexi and an uncultivated lineage of the Gemmatimonadetes phylum were observed. Supernatants isolated from these consortia had high levels of xylanase and endoglucanase activities. Compared to commercial enzyme preparations, the endoglucanase enzymes had a higher thermotolerance and were more stable in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]), an ionic liquid used for biomass pretreatment. The supernatants were used to saccharify [C2mim][OAc]-pretreated switchgrass at elevated temperatures (up to 80 C), demonstrating that these consortia are an excellent source of enzymes for the development of enzymatic cocktails tailored to more extreme reaction conditions.

Glycoside hydrolase activities of thermophilic bacterial consortia adapted to switchgrass.

Science.gov (United States)

Gladden, John M; Allgaier, Martin; Miller, Christopher S; Hazen, Terry C; VanderGheynst, Jean S; Hugenholtz, Philip; Simmons, Blake A; Singer, Steven W

2011-08-15

Industrial-scale biofuel production requires robust enzymatic cocktails to produce fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass. Thermophilic bacterial consortia are a potential source of cellulases and hemicellulases adapted to harsher reaction conditions than commercial fungal enzymes. Compost-derived microbial consortia were adapted to switchgrass at 60°C to develop thermophilic biomass-degrading consortia for detailed studies. Microbial community analysis using small-subunit rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing and short-read metagenomic sequencing demonstrated that thermophilic adaptation to switchgrass resulted in low-diversity bacterial consortia with a high abundance of bacteria related to thermophilic paenibacilli, Rhodothermus marinus, and Thermus thermophilus. At lower abundance, thermophilic Chloroflexi and an uncultivated lineage of the Gemmatimonadetes phylum were observed. Supernatants isolated from these consortia had high levels of xylanase and endoglucanase activities. Compared to commercial enzyme preparations, the endoglucanase enzymes had a higher thermotolerance and were more stable in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]), an ionic liquid used for biomass pretreatment. The supernatants were used to saccharify [C2mim][OAc]-pretreated switchgrass at elevated temperatures (up to 80°C), demonstrating that these consortia are an excellent source of enzymes for the development of enzymatic cocktails tailored to more extreme reaction conditions.

Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of peracetic acid pretreated sugar cane bagasse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teixeira, L.C. [Fundacao Centro Tecnologico de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Linden, J.C.; Schroeder, H.A. [Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)

1999-07-01

Previous work in our laboratory has demonstrated that peracetic acid improves the enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic materials. From the same studies, use of dilute alkali solutions as a pre-pretreatment prior to peracetic acid lignin oxidation increases sugar conversion yields in a synergistic, not additive, manner. Deacetylation of xylan is conducted easily by use of dilute alkali solutions at mild conditions. In this paper, the effectiveness of peracetic acid pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse combined with an alkaline pre-pretreatment, is evaluated through simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) procedures. A practical 92% of theoretical ethanol yield using recombinant Zymomonas mobilis CP4/pZB5 is achieved using 6% NaOH/I5% peracetic acid pretreated substrate. No sugar accumulation is observed during SSCF; the recombinant microorganism exhibits greater glucose utilization rates than those of xylose. Acetate levels at the end of the co-fermentations are less than 0.2% (w/v). Based on demonstrated reduction of acetyl groups of the biomass, alkaline pre-pretreatments help to reduce peracetic acid requirements. The influence of deacetylation is more pronounced in combined pretreatments using lower peracetic acid loadings. Stereochemical impediments of the acetyl groups in hemicellulase on the activity of specific enzymes may be involved. (author)

Effect of pre-treatments on methane production potential of energy crops and crop residues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehtomaki, A.; Ronkainen; Rintala, J.A. [Jyvaskla Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences; Viinikainen, T.A. [Jyvaskla Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Chemistry

2004-07-01

Energy crops, that is, crops grown specifically for energy purposes are an alternative to food production in areas with sufficient agricultural land. Crop residues are also a potential source of energy. The anaerobic digestion of solid materials is limited by hydrolysis of complex polymeric substances such as lignocellulose. The methane producing potential of ligno cellulosic material is to pretreat the substrate in order to break up the polymer chains to more easily accessible soluble compounds. In this study, three different substrates were used: sugar beet tops, grass hay, and straw of oats. Biological pretreatments were the following: enzyme treatment, composting, white-rot fungi treatment. Also, pretreatment in water was tried. Chemical pretreatments included peracetic acid treatment, and treatment with two different alkalis. Alkaline pretreatments of hay and sugar beet tops have the potential to improve the methane yield. For instance, the yield of grass hay was increased 15 per cent by one particular alkaline treatment. Straw did not respond to any of the treatments tried. 18 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

Lignocellulose fermentation and residual solids characterization for senescent switchgrass fermentation by Clostridium thermocellum in the presence and absence of continuous in situ ball-milling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balch, Michael L.; Holwerda, Evert K.; Davis, Mark F.; Sykes, Robert W.; Happs, Renee M.; Kumar, Rajeev; Wyman, Charles E.; Lynd, Lee R.

2017-04-12

Milling during lignocellulosic fermentation, henceforth referred to as cotreatment, is investigated as an alternative to thermochemical pretreatment as a means of enhancing biological solubilization of lignocellulose. We investigate the impact of milling on soluble substrate fermentation by Clostridium thermocellum with comparison to yeast, document solubilization for fermentation of senescent switchgrass with and without ball milling, and characterize residual solids. Soluble substrate fermentation by C. thermocellum proceeded readily in the presence of continuous ball milling but was completely arrested for yeast. Total fractional carbohydrate solubilization achieved after fermentation of senescent switchgrass by C. thermocellum for 5 days was 0.45 without cotreatment or pretreatment, 0.81 with hydrothermal pretreatment (200 degrees C, 15 minutes, severity 4.2), and 0.88 with cotreatment. Acetate and ethanol were the main fermentation products, and were produced at similar ratios with and without cotreatment. Analysis of solid residues was undertaken using molecular beam mass spectrometry (PyMBMS) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) in order to provide insight into changes in plant cell walls during processing via various modes. The structure of lignin present in residual solids remaining after fermentation with cotreatment appeared to change little, with substantially greater changes observed for hydrothermal pretreatment - particularly with respect to formation of C-C bonds. The observation of high solubilization with little apparent modification of the residue is consistent with cotreatment enhancing solubilization primarily by increasing the access of saccharolytic enzymes to the feedstock, and C. thermocellum being able to attack all the major linkages in cellulosic biomass provided that these linkages are accessible.

Dominant ectosymbiotic bacteria of cellulolytic protists in the termite gut also have the potential to digest lignocellulose.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuki, Masahiro; Kuwahara, Hirokazu; Shintani, Masaki; Izawa, Kazuki; Sato, Tomoyuki; Starns, David; Hongoh, Yuichi; Ohkuma, Moriya

2015-12-01

Wood-feeding lower termites harbour symbiotic gut protists that support the termite nutritionally by degrading recalcitrant lignocellulose. These protists themselves host specific endo- and ectosymbiotic bacteria, functions of which remain largely unknown. Here, we present draft genomes of a dominant, uncultured ectosymbiont belonging to the order Bacteroidales, 'Candidatus Symbiothrix dinenymphae', which colonizes the cell surface of the cellulolytic gut protists Dinenympha spp. We analysed four single-cell genomes of Ca. S. dinenymphae, the highest genome completeness was estimated to be 81.6-82.3% with a predicted genome size of 4.28-4.31 Mb. The genome retains genes encoding large parts of the amino acid, cofactor and nucleotide biosynthetic pathways. In addition, the genome contains genes encoding various glycoside hydrolases such as endoglucanases and hemicellulases. The genome indicates that Ca. S. dinenymphae ferments lignocellulose-derived monosaccharides to acetate, a major carbon and energy source of the host termite. We suggest that the ectosymbiont digests lignocellulose and provides nutrients to the host termites, and hypothesize that the hydrolytic activity might also function as a pretreatment for the host protist to effectively decompose the crystalline cellulose components. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Enzymatic Saccharification and Ethanol Fermentation of Reed Pretreated with Liquid Hot Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Lu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Reed is a widespread-growing, inexpensive, and readily available lignocellulosic material source in northeast China. The objective of this study is to evaluate the liquid hot water (LHW pretreatment efficiency of reed based on the enzymatic digestibility and ethanol fermentability of water-insoluble solids (WISs from reed after the LHW pretreatment. Several variables in the LHW pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process were optimized. The conversion of glucan to glucose and glucose concentrations are considered as response variables in different conditions. The optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed area temperature of 180°C for 20min and a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1 : 10. These optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed resulted in a cellulose conversion rate of 82.59% in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis at 50°C for 72 h with a cellulase loading of 30 filter paper unit per gram of oven-dried WIS. Increasing the pretreatment temperature resulted in a higher enzymatic digestibility of the WIS from reed. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation of WIS showed that the conversion of glucan to ethanol reached 99.5% of the theoretical yield. The LHW pretreatment of reed is a suitable method to acquire a high recovery of fermentable sugars and high ethanol conversion yield.

Production of L(+)-lactic acid from acid pretreated sugarcane bagasse using Bacillus coagulans DSM2314 in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation strategy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pol, van der Edwin C.; Eggink, Gerrit; Weusthuis, Ruud A.

2016-01-01

Background: Sugars derived from lignocellulose-rich sugarcane bagasse can be used as feedstock for production of L(+)-lactic acid, a precursor for renewable bioplastics. In our research, acid-pretreated bagasse was hydrolysed with the enzyme cocktail GC220 and fermented by the moderate

Enhancing methane production of corn stover through a novel way: sequent pretreatment of potassium hydroxide and steam explosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jianghao; Zhang, Ruihong; Siddhu, Muhammad Abdul Hanan; He, Yanfeng; Wang, Wen; Li, Yeqing; Chen, Chang; Liu, Guangqing

2015-04-01

Getting over recalcitrance of lignocellulose is effective way to fuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. In current work, different pretreatments were applied to enhance the digestibility of corn stover (CS). Results showed that steam explosion (SE)-treated CS produced maximal methane yield (223.2 mL/gvs) at 1.2 MPa for 10 min, which was 55.2% more than untreated (143.8 mL/gvs). Whereas 1.5% KOH-treated CS produced maximum methane yield of 208.6 mL/gvs, and significantly (αpotassium hydroxide and steam explosion (SPPE) (1.5% KOH-1.2 MPa, 10 min) achieved a very significant (α<0.01) improvement (80.0%) of methane yield (258.8 mL/gvs) compared with untreated CS. Methane production could be well explained by the first-order and modified Gompertz models. Besides, SEM, FTIR, and XRD analyses validated structural changes of CS after SPPE. SPPE might be a promising method to pretreat CS in the future AD industry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Response surface optimization of the thermal acid pretreatment of sugar beet pulp for bioethanol production using Trichoderma viride and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Gendy, Nour Sh; Madian, Hekmat R; Nassar, Hussein N; Amr, Salem S Abu

2015-09-15

Worldwide nowadays, relying on the second generation bioethanol from the lignocellulosic feedstock is a mandatory aim. However, one of the major drawbacks for high ethanol yield is the physical and chemical pretreatment of this kind of feedstock. As the pretreatment is a crucial process operation that modifies the lignocellulosic structure and enhances its accessibility for the high cost hydrolytic enzymes in an attempt to maximize the yield of the fermentable sugars. The objective of this work was to optimize and integrate a physicochemical pretreatment of one of the major agricultural wastes in Egypt; the sugar beet pulp (SBP) and the enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated SBP using a whole fungal cells with a separate bioethanol fermentation batch processes to maximize the bioethanol yield. The response surface methodology was employed in this study to statistically evaluate and optimize the conditions for a thermal acid pretreatment of SBP. The significance and the interaction effects of the concentrations of HCl and SBP and the reaction temperature and time were studied using a three-level central composite design of experiments. A quadratic model equation was obtained to maximize the production of the total reducing sugars. The validity of the predicted model was confirmed. The thermally acid pretreated SBP was further subjected to a solid state fermentation batch process using Trichoderma viride F94. The thermal acid pretreatment and fungal hydrolyzes were integrated with two parallel batch fermentation processes of the produced hydrolyzates using Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y39, that yielded a total of ≈ 48 g/L bioethanol, at a conversion rate of ≈ 0.32 g bioethanol/ g SBP. Applying the proposed integrated process, approximately 97.5 gallon of ethanol would be produced from a ton (dry weight) of SBP.

The effect of nonenzymatic protein on lignocellulose enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui; Kobayashi, Shinichi; Hiraide, Hatsue; Cui, Zongjun; Mochidzuki, Kazuhiro

2015-01-01

Nonenzymatic protein was added to cellulase hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of different biomass materials. Adding bovine serum albumin (BSA) and corn steep before cellulase enhanced enzyme activity in solution and increased cellulose and xylose conversion rates. The cellulose conversion rate of filter paper hydrolysis was increased by 32.5 % with BSA treatment. When BSA was added before cellulase, the remaining activity in the solution was higher than that in a control without BSA pretreatment. During SSF with pretreated rice straw as the substrate, adding 1.0 mg/mL BSA increased the ethanol yield by 13.6 % and final xylose yield by 42.6 %. The results indicated that lignin interaction is not the only mechanism responsible for the positive BSA effect. BSA had a stabilizing effect on cellulase and relieved cumulative sugar inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass materials. Thus, nonenzymatic protein addition represents a promising strategy in the biorefining of lignocellulose materials.

Effect of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors on growth and hydrogen production by Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum W16

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cao, Guang-Li; Ren, Nan-Qi; Wang, Ai-Jie; Guo, Wan-Qian; Xu, Ji-Fei; Liu, Bing-Feng [State Key Lab of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090 (China)

2010-12-15

In the process of producing H{sub 2} from lignocellulosic materials, inhibitory compounds could be potentially formed during pre-treatment. This work experimentally investigated the effect of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors on growth and hydrogen production by Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum W16. Representative compounds presented in corn stover acid hydrolysate were added in various concentrations, individually or in various combinations and subsequently inhibitions on growth and H{sub 2} production were quantified. Acetate sodium was not inhibitory to T. thermosaccharolyticum W16, rather than it was stimulatory to the growth and H{sub 2} production. Alternatively, furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), vanillin and syringaldehyde were potent inhibitors of growth and hydrogen production even though these compounds showed inhibitory effect depending on their concentrations. Synergistic inhibitory effects were exhibited in the introduction of combinations of inhibitors to the medium and in hydrolysate with concentrated inhibitors. Fermentation results from hydrolysates revealed that to increase the efficiency of this bioprocess from corn stover hydrolysate, the inhibitory compounds concentration must be reduced to the levels present in the raw hydrolysate. (author)

Dilute H2SO4-catalyzed hydrothermal pretreatment to enhance enzymatic digestibility of Jatropha curcas fruit hull for ethanol fermentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marasabessy, Ahmad; Kootstra, Maarten; Sanders, Johan P.M.; Weusthuis, Ruud A.

2012-01-01

Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of the Jatropha curcas fruit hull at high temperatures (140°C to 180°C) performed in a 110-mL stainless steel reactor was investigated to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of its lignocellulosic components. Carbohydrates accounted for 43% of the dry matter of

Effects of Pretreatment of Single and Mixed Lignocellulosic Substrates on Production of Endoglucanase by Bacillus aerius S5.2

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Mushafau Adebayo Oke

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A mixed substrate (MS comprising oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB, oil palm frond (OPF, and rice husk (RH was evaluated for endoglucanase production by Bacillus aerius S5.2. Effects of sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide, N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO, and hydrothermal pretreatments on endoglucanase production were investigated. Endoglucanase production by B. aerius on the untreated (0.677 U/mL and pretreated MS (0.305 – 0.630 U/mL was generally similar, except that the acid (0.305 U/mL and hydrothermal (0.549 U/mL pretreatments that were more severe consequently produced significantly lower titres. Alkali pretreatment supported the highest enzyme production (0.630 U/mL among all pretreatments that were studied. When endoglucanase production on the alkali-pretreated MS and single substrates (SS was compared, alkali-pretreated EFB produced a titre (0.655 U/mL similar to the MS, and this was significantly higher than titres recorded on OPF (0.504 U/mL and RH (0.525 U/mL. Lower enzyme production was found to be consistent with higher pretreatment severity and greater removal of amorphous regions in all the pretreatments. Furthermore, combining the SS showed no adverse effects on endoglucanase production.

Effect of thermal, chemical and thermo-chemical pre-treatments to enhance methane production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafique, Rashad; Nizami, Abdul-Sattar; Murphy, Jerry D.; Kiely, Gerard [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College Cork (Ireland); Poulsen, Tjalfe Gorm [Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University (Denmark); Asam, Zaki-ul-Zaman [Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland)

2010-12-15

The rise in oil price triggered the exploration and enhancement of various renewable energy sources. Producing biogas from organic waste is not only providing a clean sustainable indigenous fuel to the number of on-farm digesters in Europe, but also reducing the ecological and environmental deterioration. The lignocellulosic substrates are not completely biodegraded in anaerobic digesters operating at commercial scale due to their complex physical and chemical structure, which result in meager energy recovery in terms of methane yield. The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of pre-treatments: thermal, thermo-chemical and chemical pre-treatments on the biogas and methane potential of dewatered pig manure. A laboratory scale batch digester is used for these pre-treatments at different temperature range (25 C-150 C). Results showed that thermo-chemical pretreatment has high effect on biogas and methane potential in the temperature range (25-100 C). Maximum enhancement is observed at 70 C with increase of 78% biogas and 60% methane production. Thermal pretreatment also showed enhancement in the temperature range (50-10 C), with maximum enhancement at 100 C having 28% biogas and 25% methane increase. (author)

Dynamic modeling and validation of a lignocellulosic enzymatic hydrolysis process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Sin, Gürkan

2013-01-01

The enzymatic hydrolysis process is one of the key steps in second generation biofuel production. After being thermally pretreated, the lignocellulosic material is liquefied by enzymes prior to fermentation. The scope of this paper is to evaluate a dynamic model of the hydrolysis process...... on a demonstration scale reactor. The following novel features are included: the application of the Convection–Diffusion–Reaction equation to a hydrolysis reactor to assess transport and mixing effects; the extension of a competitive kinetic model with enzymatic pH dependency and hemicellulose hydrolysis......; a comprehensive pH model; and viscosity estimations during the course of reaction. The model is evaluated against real data extracted from a demonstration scale biorefinery throughout several days of operation. All measurements are within predictions uncertainty and, therefore, the model constitutes a valuable...

Investigation of Bioethanol Productivity from Sargassum sp. (Brown Seaweed) by Pressure Cooker and Steam Cooker Pretreatments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Yu Wah; Kyaw Nyein Aye; Tint Tint Kyaw; Moe Moe Kyaw

2011-12-01

Production of biothanol from Sargassum sp. (Brown seaweed) is more suitable than using any other raw materials because it can easily collect on Chaung Tha Beach in Myanmar without any environmental damages. In this regard an attempt for bioethanol production from sargassum sp. by separation hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) with saccharomyces cerevisiae was made. Sargassum sp. was pretreated with steam cooker at 120 C and 1 bar for 30 min and pressure cooker at 65 C for 2 hour. The pretreated sargassum sp. was liquefied with the crude enzyme from Trichoderma sp. at the temperature of 50 C and pH of 4 for the first liquefaction step and 95 C, pH of 5 and enzyme of SPEZYME FERD were employed for the second liquefaction step. OPTIDEX L-400 was used as saccharified enzyme with the temperature of 65 C and pH of 4.5 at saccharification step. The process of fermentation was followed by distillation at 78 C for alcohol extraction. Concentrations of crude ethanol were about 1.8% by using steam cooker and 2% for pressure cooker treatment with enzyme mediated saccharification followed by yeast fermentation. Yields of bioethanol were 23% for pressure cooker treatment and 21% for steam cooker treatment at SHF process.

Model-based optimization and scale-up of multi-feed simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of steam pre-treated lignocellulose enables high gravity ethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruifei; Unrean, Pornkamol; Franzén, Carl Johan

2016-01-01

High content of water-insoluble solids (WIS) is required for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) operations to reach the high ethanol concentrations that meet the techno-economic requirements of industrial-scale production. The fundamental challenges of such processes are related to the high viscosity and inhibitor contents of the medium. Poor mass transfer and inhibition of the yeast lead to decreased ethanol yield, titre and productivity. In the present work, high-solid SSCF of pre-treated wheat straw was carried out by multi-feed SSCF which is a fed-batch process with additions of substrate, enzymes and cells, integrated with yeast propagation and adaptation on the pre-treatment liquor. The combined feeding strategies were systematically compared and optimized using experiments and simulations. For high-solid SSCF process of SO2-catalyzed steam pre-treated wheat straw, the boosted solubilisation of WIS achieved by having all enzyme loaded at the beginning of the process is crucial for increased rates of both enzymatic hydrolysis and SSCF. A kinetic model was adapted to simulate the release of sugars during separate hydrolysis as well as during SSCF. Feeding of solid substrate to reach the instantaneous WIS content of 13 % (w/w) was carried out when 60 % of the cellulose was hydrolysed, according to simulation results. With this approach, accumulated WIS additions reached more than 20 % (w/w) without encountering mixing problems in a standard bioreactor. Feeding fresh cells to the SSCF reactor maintained the fermentation activity, which otherwise ceased when the ethanol concentration reached 40-45 g L(-1). In lab scale, the optimized multi-feed SSCF produced 57 g L(-1) ethanol in 72 h. The process was reproducible and resulted in 52 g L(-1) ethanol in 10 m(3) scale at the SP Biorefinery Demo Plant. SSCF of WIS content up to 22 % (w/w) is reproducible and scalable with the multi-feed SSCF configuration and model-aided process

Acetylation of woody lignocellulose: significance and regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prashant Mohan-Anupama Pawar

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Non-cellulosic cell wall polysaccharides constitute approximately one quarter of usable biomass for human exploitation. In contrast to cellulose, these components are usually substituted by O-acetyl groups, which affect their properties and interactions with other polymers, thus affecting their solubility and extractability. However, details of these interactions are still largely obscure. Moreover, polysaccharide hydrolysis to constituent monosaccharides, is hampered by the presence of O-acetyl groups, necessitating either enzymatic (esterase or chemical de-acetylation, increasing the costs and chemical consumption. Reduction of polysaccharide acetyl content in planta is a way to modify lignocellulose towards improved saccharification. In this review we: 1 summarize literature on lignocellulose acetylation in different tree species, 2 present data and current hypotheses concerning the role of O-acetylation in determining woody lignocellulose properties, 3 describe plant proteins involved in lignocellulose O-acetylation, 4 give examples of microbial enzymes capable to de-acetylate lignocellulose, and 5 discuss prospects for exploiting these enzymes in planta to modify xylan acetylation.

Scale-up study of oxalic acid pretreatment of agricultural lignocellulosic biomass for the production of bioethanol

Science.gov (United States)

Jae-Won Lee; Carl J. Houtman; Hye-Yun Kim; In-Gyu Choi; Thomas W. Jeffries

2011-01-01

Building on our laboratory-scale optimization, oxalic acid was used to pretreat corncobs on the pilotscale. The hydrolysate obtained after washing the pretreated biomass contained 32.55 g/l of xylose, 2.74 g/l of glucose and low concentrations of inhibitors. Ethanol production, using Scheffersomyces stipitis, from this hydrolysate was 10.3 g/l, which approached the...

Impact of lignins isolated from pretreated lignocelluloses on enzymatic cellulose saccharification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barsberg, Søren Talbro; Selig, Michael Joseph; Felby, Claus

2013-01-01

and cellulose-lignin systems. Consequently, the presence of the lignins had minimal effect, if any, on enzymatic cellulose conversion. Furthermore, this result, coupled with significant calcium levels in the isolated lignins, supports previous work suggesting lignin-calcium complexes reduce enzyme......Lignins were enzymatically isolated from corn stover and wheat straw samples and subjected to hydrothermal or wet oxidation pretreatments for enzyme adsorption experimentations. Lignin contents of the isolates ranged from 26 to 71 % (w/w); cellulose ranged from 3 to 22 % (w/w); xylan from 0.7 to 6...

Optimization of hydrothermal pretreatment of wheat straw for production of bioethanol at low water consumption without addition of chemicals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard Petersen, Mai; Larsen, Jan; Thomsen, Mette Hedegaard

2009-01-01

straw at pilot scale (up to 100 kg h(-1)) where six different pretreatment conditions have been investigated; all pretreatment conditions have been evaluated with regards to recovery of sugars after pretreatment (both C5 and C6) and convertibility of the cellulosic part of the fibers into ethanol......In the IBUS process (Integrated Biomass Utilization System) lignocellulosic biomass is converted into ethanol at high dry matter content without addition of chemicals and with a strong focus on energy efficiency. This study describes optimization of continuous hydrothermal pretreatment of wheat....... The experiments show that the optimum pretreatment parameters are 195 degrees C for 6-12 min. At these conditions, a total of app. 70% of the hemicellulose is recovered, 93-94% of the cellulose is recovered in the fibers and app. 89% of the cellulose in the fibers can be converted into ethanol by commercial...

Engineering sugar utilization and microbial tolerance toward lignocellulose conversion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lizbeth M. Nieves

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Production of fuels and chemicals through a fermentation-based manufacturing process that uses renewable feedstock such as lignocellulosic biomass is a desirable alternative to petrochemicals. Although it is still in its infancy, synthetic biology offers great potential to overcome the challenges associated with lignocellulose conversion. In this review, we will summarize the identification and optimization of synthetic biological parts used to enhance the utilization of lignocellulose-derived sugars and to increase the biocatalyst tolerance for lignocellulose-derived fermentation inhibitors. We will also discuss the ongoing efforts and future applications of synthetic integrated biological systems used to improve lignocellulose conversion.

Biochemical Conversion Processes of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Fuels and Chemicals - A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Brethauer, Simone; Studer, Michael H

2015-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass - such as wood, agricultural residues or dedicated energy crops - is a promising renewable feedstock for production of fuels and chemicals that is available at large scale at low cost without direct competition for food usage. Its biochemical conversion in a sugar platform biorefinery includes three main unit operations that are illustrated in this review: the physico-chemical pretreatment of the biomass, the enzymatic hydrolysis of the carbohydrates to a fermentable sugar stream by cellulases and finally the fermentation of the sugars by suitable microorganisms to the target molecules. Special emphasis in this review is put on the technology, commercial status and future prospects of the production of second-generation fuel ethanol, as this process has received most research and development efforts so far. Despite significant advances, high enzyme costs are still a hurdle for large scale competitive lignocellulosic ethanol production. This could be overcome by a strategy termed 'consolidated bioprocessing' (CBP), where enzyme production, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation is integrated in one step - either by utilizing one genetically engineered superior microorganism or by creating an artificial co-culture. Insight is provided on both CBP strategies for the production of ethanol as well as of advanced fuels and commodity chemicals.

Continuous enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass with simultaneous detoxification and enzyme recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurram, Raghu N; Menkhaus, Todd J

2014-07-01

Recovering hydrolysis enzymes and/or alternative enzyme addition strategies are two potential mechanisms for reducing the cost during the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic materials into renewable biofuels and biochemicals. Here, we show that enzymatic hydrolysis of acid-pretreated pine wood with continuous and/or fed-batch enzyme addition improved sugar conversion efficiencies by over sixfold. In addition, specific activity of the hydrolysis enzymes (cellulases, hemicellulases, etc.) increased as a result of continuously washing the residual solids with removal of glucose (avoiding the end product inhibition) and other enzymatic inhibitory compounds (e.g., furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural, organic acids, and phenolics). As part of the continuous hydrolysis, anion exchange resin was tested for its dual application of simultaneous enzyme recovery and removal of potential enzymatic and fermentation inhibitors. Amberlite IRA-96 showed favorable adsorption profiles of inhibitors, especially furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural, and acetic acid with low affinity toward sugars. Affinity of hydrolysis enzymes to adsorb onto the resin allowed for up to 92 % of the enzymatic activity to be recovered using a relatively low-molar NaCl wash solution. Integration of an ion exchange column with enzyme recovery into the proposed fed-batch hydrolysis process can improve the overall biorefinery efficiency and can greatly reduce the production costs of lignocellulosic biorenewable products.

Chemical Pretreatment Methods for the Production of Cellulosic Ethanol: Technologies and Innovations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edem Cudjoe Bensah

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Pretreatment of lignocellulose has received considerable research globally due to its influence on the technical, economic and environmental sustainability of cellulosic ethanol production. Some of the most promising pretreatment methods require the application of chemicals such as acids, alkali, salts, oxidants, and solvents. Thus, advances in research have enabled the development and integration of chemical-based pretreatment into proprietary ethanol production technologies in several pilot and demonstration plants globally, with potential to scale-up to commercial levels. This paper reviews known and emerging chemical pretreatment methods, highlighting recent findings and process innovations developed to offset inherent challenges via a range of interventions, notably, the combination of chemical pretreatment with other methods to improve carbohydrate preservation, reduce formation of degradation products, achieve high sugar yields at mild reaction conditions, reduce solvent loads and enzyme dose, reduce waste generation, and improve recovery of biomass components in pure forms. The use of chemicals such as ionic liquids, NMMO, and sulphite are promising once challenges in solvent recovery are overcome. For developing countries, alkali-based methods are relatively easy to deploy in decentralized, low-tech systems owing to advantages such as the requirement of simple reactors and the ease of operation.

LIGNOCELLULOSE NANOCOMPOSITE CONTAINING COPPER SULFIDE

OpenAIRE

Sanchi Nenkova; Peter Velev; Mirela Dragnevska; Diyana Nikolova; Kiril Dimitrov

2011-01-01

Copper sulfide-containing lignocellulose nanocomposites with improved electroconductivity were obtained. Two methods for preparing the copper sulfide lignocellulose nanocomposites were developed. An optimization of the parameters for obtaining of the nanocomposites with respect to obtaining improved electroconductivity, economy, and lower quantities and concentration of copper and sulfur ions in waste waters was conducted. The mechanisms and schemes of delaying and subsequent connection of co...

Synergism between ultrasonic pretreatment and white rot fungal enzymes on biodegradation of wheat chaff.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabarez, Henry; Oliver, Christine Maree; Mawson, Raymond; Dumsday, Geoff; Singh, Tanoj; Bitto, Natalie; McSweeney, Chris; Augustin, Mary Ann

2014-11-01

Lignocellulosic biomass samples (wheat chaff) were pretreated by ultrasound (US) (40kHz/0.5Wcm(-2)/10min and 400kHz/0.5Wcm(-2)/10min applied sequentially) prior to digestion by enzyme extracts obtained from fermentation of the biomass with white rot fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium or Trametes sp.). The accessibility of the cellulosic components in wheat chaff was increased, as demonstrated by the increased concentration of sugars produced by exposure to the ultrasound treatment prior to enzyme addition. Pretreatment with ultrasound increased the concentration of lignin degradation products (guaiacol and syringol) obtained from wheat chaff after enzyme addition. In vitro digestibility of wheat chaff was also enhanced by the ultrasonics pretreatment in combination with treatment with enzyme extracts. Degradation was enhanced with the use of a mixture of the enzyme extracts compared to that for a single enzyme extract. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The effect of dilute acid pre-treatment process in bioethanol production from durian (Durio zibethinus) seeds waste

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazali, K. A.; Salleh, S. F.; Riayatsyah, T. M. I.; Aditiya, H. B.; Mahlia, T. M. I.

2016-03-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the promising feedstocks for bioethanol production. The process starts from pre-treatment, hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation and finally obtaining the final product, ethanol. The efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass depends heavily on the effectiveness of the pre-treatment step which main function is to break the lignin structure of the biomass. This work aims to investigate the effects of dilute acid pre-treatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of durian seeds waste to glucose and the subsequent bioethanol fermentation process. The yield of glucose from dilute acid pre-treated sample using 0.6% H2SO4 and 5% substrate concentration shows significant value of 23.4951 g/L. Combination of dilute acid pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis using 150U of enzyme able to yield 50.0944 g/L of glucose content higher compared to normal pre-treated sample of 8.1093 g/L. Dilute acid pre-treatment sample also shows stable and efficient yeast activity during fermentation process with lowest glucose content at 2.9636 g/L compared to 14.7583g/L for normal pre-treated sample. Based on the result, it can be concluded that dilute acid pre-treatment increase the yield of ethanol from bioethanol production process.

Continuous anaerobic digestion of swine manure: ADM1-based modelling and effect of addition of swine manure fibers pretreated with aqueous ammonia soaking

OpenAIRE

Jurado, E.; Antonopoulou, G.; Lyberatos, G.; Gavala, Hariklia N.; Skiadas, Ioannis V.

2016-01-01

Anaerobic digestion of manure fibers presents challenges due to their low biodegradability. Aqueous ammonia soaking (AAS) has been tested as a simple method to disrupt the lignocellulose and increase the methane yield of manure fibers. In the present study, mesophilic anaerobic digestion of AAS pretreated manure fibers was performed in CSTR-type digesters, fed with swine manure and/or a mixtureof swine manure and AAS pretreated manure fibers (at a total solids based ratio of 0.52 manure per0....

2G ethanol from the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass

OpenAIRE

Pereira, Sandra Cerqueira; Maehara, Larissa; Machado, Cristina Maria Monteiro; Farinas, Cristiane Sanchez

2015-01-01

Background In the sugarcane industry, large amounts of lignocellulosic residues are generated, which includes bagasse, straw, and tops. The use of the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass for the production of second-generation (2G) ethanol can be a potential alternative to contribute to the economic viability of this process. Here, we conducted a systematic comparative study of the use of the lignocellulosic residues from the whole sugarcane lignocellulosic biomass (bagasse, straw, and to...

Pretreated of banana pseudo-stem as raw material for enzymatic hydrolysis and bioethanol production

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Kusmiyati

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Development of alternative energy is needed to solve the energy problem, including bioethanol. Banana pseudo-stem is a lignocellulose material that can used to produce bioethanol. Banana pseudo-stem has 28.83% cellulose and 19.39% lignin. The amount of lignin will reduce by pretreatment process. Variations of pretreatment methods by autoclaving of banana-pseudo stem in a steam, 0.5N, 1N, 1.5N, 2N NaOH solutions for 90 minutes were employed. Then the preteated samples were further enzymatic hydrolysed for 24, 48, 72 hours. The fermentation method of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF was applied using cellulase enzyme and yeast of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 120 hours. The variation of the pretreatment process by increasing of NaOH concentration solutions led to decreased the lignin content while increased in cellulose content. The lowest lignin content was 11.44% and the highest cellulose was 51.66%. The highest sugar content was 29.8 g/L (at pretreatment 2N NaOH solution, 72 hours hydrolysis. The highest bioethanol amount (4.32 g/L was produced from pretreated banana stem using 2N NaOH solution.

Survey of Lignin-Structure Changes and Depolymerization during Ionic Liquid Pretreatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dutta, Tanmoy; Isern, Nancy G.; Sun, Jian; Wang, Eileen; Hull, Sarah; Cort, John R.; Simmons, Blake A.; Singh, Seema

2017-09-26

of the ILs. The insight gained on lignin structure changes and possible depolymerized products during IL pretreatment process would help future lignin valorization efforts in a potential IL-based lignocellulosic biorefinery.

Microwave assisted acid and alkali pretreatment of Miscanthus biomass for biorefineries

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Zongyuan Zhu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Miscanthus is a major bioenergy crop in Europe and a potential feedstock for second generation biofuels. Thermochemical pretreatment is a significant step in the process of converting lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. In this work, microwave energy was applied to facilitate NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatments of Miscanthus. This was carried out at 180 ℃ in a monomode microwave cavity at 300 W. Our results show that H2SO4 pretreatment contributes to the breakdown of hemicelluloses and cellulose, leading to a high glucose yield. The maximum sugar yield from available carbohydrates during pretreatment is 75.3% (0.2 M H2SO4 20 Min, and glucose yield is 46.7% under these conditions. NaOH and water pretreatments tend to break down only hemicellulose in preference to cellulose, contributing to high xylose yield. Compared to conventional heating NaOH/H2SO4 pretreatment, 12 times higher sugar yield was obtained by using microwave assisted pretreatment within half the time. NaOH pretreatments lead to a significantly enhanced digestibility of the residue, because the effective removal of lignin and hemicellulose makes cellulose fibres more accessible to cellulases. Morphological study of biomass shows that the tightly packed fibres in the Miscanthus were dismantled and exposed under NaOH condition. We studied sugar degradation under microwave assisted H2SO4 conditions. The results shows that 6-8% biomass was converted into levulinic acid (LA during pretreatment, showing the possibility of using microwave technology to produce LA from biomass. The outcome of this work shows great potential for using microwave in the thermo-chemical pretreatment for biomass and also selective production of LA from biomass.

Analytical Methods for Biomass Characterization during Pretreatment and Bioconversion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pu, Yunqiao [ORNL; Meng, Xianzhi [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK); Yoo, Chang Geun; Li, Mi; Ragauskas, Arthur J [ORNL

2016-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass has been introduced as a promising resource for alternative fuels and chemicals because of its abundance and complement for petroleum resources. Biomass is a complex biopolymer and its compositional and structural characteristics largely vary depending on its species as well as growth environments. Because of complexity and variety of biomass, understanding its physicochemical characteristics is a key for effective biomass utilization. Characterization of biomass does not only provide critical information of biomass during pretreatment and bioconversion, but also give valuable insights on how to utilize the biomass. For better understanding biomass characteristics, good grasp and proper selection of analytical methods are necessary. This chapter introduces existing analytical approaches that are widely employed for biomass characterization during biomass pretreatment and conversion process. Diverse analytical methods using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for biomass characterization are reviewed. In addition, biomass accessibility methods by analyzing surface properties of biomass are also summarized in this chapter.

Removal of oil palm trunk lignin in ammonium hydroxide pretreatment

Science.gov (United States)

Az-Zahraa, Balqis; Zakaria, Sarani; Daud, Muhammad F. B.; Jaafar, Sharifah Nabihah Syed

2018-04-01

Alkaline pretreatment using ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH serves as one of a process to remove lignin from lignocellulosic biomass such as oil palm trunk fiber. In this study, the effect of NH4OH pretreatment on removal of oil palm trunk lignin was investigated. The oil palm trunk fiber was dissolved in NH4OH with different concentrations (6, 8 and 10 %), different duration (3, 5 and 7 h) and temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C). The samples were analyzed by using UV-Vis to estimate the concentration of extracted lignin. The result indicates that the optimum conditions to gain maximum extracted lignin were 8% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 64 mgL-1 while the lowest was at 6% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 62.5 mgL-1.

Enhancing cellulose accessibility of corn stover by deep eutectic solvent pretreatment for butanol fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Guo-Chao; Ding, Ji-Cai; Han, Rui-Zhi; Dong, Jin-Jun; Ni, Ye

2016-03-01

In this study, an effective corn stover (CS) pretreatment method was developed for biobutanol fermentation. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs), consisted of quaternary ammonium salts and hydrogen donors, display similar properties to room temperature ionic liquid. Seven DESs with different hydrogen donors were facilely synthesized. Choline chloride:formic acid (ChCl:formic acid), an acidic DES, displayed excellent performance in the pretreatment of corn stover by removal of hemicellulose and lignin as confirmed by SEM, FTIR and XRD analysis. After optimization, glucose released from pretreated CS reached 17.0 g L(-1) and yield of 99%. The CS hydrolysate was successfully utilized in butanol fermentation by Clostridium saccharobutylicum DSM 13864, achieving butanol titer of 5.63 g L(-1) with a yield of 0.17 g g(-1) total sugar and productivity of 0.12 g L(-1)h(-1). This study demonstrates DES could be used as a promising and biocompatible pretreatment method for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revealing the Molecular Structural Transformation of Hardwood and Softwood in Dilute Acid Flowthrough Pretreatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Libing; Pu, Yunqiao; Cort, John R.; Ragauskas, Arthur J.; Yang, Bin

2016-12-05

To better understand the intrinsic recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, the main hurdle to its efficient deconstruction, the effects of dilute acid flowthrough pretreatment on the dissolution chemistry of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin for both hardwood (e.g. poplar wood) and softwood (e.g. lodgepole pine wood) were investigated at temperatures of 200 °C to 270 °C and a flow rate of 25 mL/minute with 0.05% (w/w) H2SO4. Results suggested that the softwood cellulose was more readily to be degraded into monomeric sugars than that of hardwood under same pretreatment conditions. However, while the hardwood lignin was completely removed into hydrolysate, ~30% of the softwood lignin remained as solid residues under identical conditions, which was plausibly caused by vigorous C5-active recondensation reactions (C-C5). Unique molecular structural features that pronounced the specific recalcitrance of hardwood and softwood to dilute acid pretreatment were identified for the first time in this study, providing important insights to establish the effective biomass pretreatment.

Enhanced Ethanol and Biogas Production from Pinewood by NMMO Pretreatment and Detailed Biomass Analysis

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Marzieh Shafiei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available N-Methyl morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO is an environmentally friendly and commercially applied cellulose solvent that is suggested for pretreatment of lignocelluloses to improve biofuel productions. However, the underlying mechanisms of the improvements have been poorly understood yet. In an attempt to investigate the mechanisms, pinewood powder and chips were pretreated with 85% (w/w NMMO at 120°C for 1–15 h. The pretreatment improved ethanol production yield from 7.2% (g/g for the untreated wood powder to 68.1–86.1% (g/g and from 1.7% (g/g for the untreated wood chips to 12.6–51.2% (g/g of theoretical yield. Similarly, the biogas yields of untreated wood chips and powder were improved from 21 and 66 (mL/g volatile solids by 3.5–6.8- and 2.6–3.4-folds, respectively. SEM micrographs indicated major increase in the wood porosity by the pretreatment, which would confirm increase in the water swelling capacity as well as enzyme adsorption. The analysis of X-ray diffraction showed considerable reduction in the cellulose crystallinity by the pretreatment, while FTIR spectroscopy results indicated reduction of lignin on the wood surface by the pretreatment.

Ionic liquid pretreatment of poplar wood at room temperature: swelling and incorporation of nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Marcel; Macdonald, Brian A; Wagner, Gregory L; Joyce, Stephen A; Rector, Kirk D

2010-08-01

Lignocellulosic biomass offers economic and environmental advantages over corn starch for biofuels production. However, its fractionation currently requires energy-intensive pretreatments, due to the lignin chemical resistance and complex cell wall structure. Recently, ionic liquids have been used to dissolve biomass at high temperatures. In this study, thin sections of poplar wood were swollen by ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate) pretreatment at room temperature. The samples contract when rinsed with deionized water. The controlled expansion and contraction of the wood structure can be used to incorporate enzymes and catalysts deep into the wood structure for improved pretreatments and accelerated cellulose hydrolysis. As a proof of concept, silver and gold nanoparticles of diameters ranging from 20 to 100 nm were incorporated at depths up to 4 mum. Confocal surface-enhanced Raman images at different depths show that a significant number of nanoparticles were incorporated into the pretreated sample, and they remained on the samples after rinsing. Quantitative X-ray fluorescence microanalyses indicate that the majority of nanoparticle incorporation occurs after an ionic liquid pretreatment of less than 1 h. In addition to improved pretreatments, the incorporation of materials and chemicals into wood and paper products enables isotope tracing, development of new sensing, and imaging capabilities.

Optimization of alkaline and dilute acid pretreatment of agave bagasse by response surface methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abimael I. Ávila-Lara

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Utilization of lignocellulosic materials for the production of value-added chemicals or biofuels generally requires a pretreatment process to overcome the recalcitrance of the plant biomass for further enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation stages. Two of the most employed pretreatment processes are the ones that used dilute acid (DA and alkaline (AL catalyst providing specific effects on the physicochemical structure of the biomass such as high xylan and lignin removal for DA and AL, respectively. Another important effect that need to be studied is the use of a high solids pretreatment (≥15% since offers many advantaged over lower solids loadings, including increased sugar and ethanol concentrations (in combination with a high solids saccharification which will be reflected in lower capital costs, however this data is currently limited. In this study, several variables such as catalyst loading, retention time and solids loading, were studied using Response Surface Methodology (RSM based on a factorial Central Composite Design (CCD of DA and AL pretreatment on agave bagasse using a range of solids from 3 to 30% (w/w to obtain optimal process conditions for each pretreatment. Subsequently enzymatic hydrolysis was performed using Novozymes Cellic CTec2 and HTec2 presented as total reducing sugar (TRS yield. Pretreated biomass

Dilute acid pretreatment of rye straw and bermudagrass for ethanol production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ye Sun; Jay J Cheng [North Carolina State Univ., Dept. of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Raleigh, NC (United States)

2005-09-01

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic materials provides an alternative energy production system. Rye and bermudagrass that are used in hog farms for nutrient uptake from swine wastewater have the potential for fuel ethanol production because they have a relative high cellulose and hemicellulose content. Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of rye straw and bermudagrass before enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was investigated in this study. The biomass at a solid loading rate of 10% was pretreated at 121 deg C with different sulfuric acid concentrations (0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5%, w/w) and residence times (30, 60, and 90 min). Total reducing sugars, arabinose, galactose, glucose, and xylose in the prehydrolyzate were analyzed. In addition, the solid residues were hydrolyzed by cellulases to investigate the enzymatic digestibility. With the increasing acid concentration and residence time, the amount of arabinose and galactose in the filtrates increased. The glucose concentration in the prehydrolyzate of rye straw was not significantly influenced by the sulfuric acid concentration and residence time, but it increased in the prehydrolyzate of bermudagrass with the increase of pretreatment severity. The xylose concentration in the filtrates increased with the increase of sulfuric acid concentration and residence time. Most of the arabinan, galactan and xylan in the biomass were hydrolyzed during the acid pretreatment. Cellulose remaining in the pretreated feedstock was highly digestible by cellulases from Trichoderma reesei. (Author)

Production of l(+)-lactic acid from acid pretreated sugarcane bagasse using Bacillus coagulans DSM2314 in a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Pol, Edwin C; Eggink, Gerrit; Weusthuis, Ruud A

2016-01-01

Sugars derived from lignocellulose-rich sugarcane bagasse can be used as feedstock for production of l(+)-lactic acid, a precursor for renewable bioplastics. In our research, acid-pretreated bagasse was hydrolysed with the enzyme cocktail GC220 and fermented by the moderate thermophilic bacterium Bacillus coagulans DSM2314. Saccharification and fermentation were performed simultaneously (SSF), adding acid-pretreated bagasse either in one batch or in two stages. SSF was performed at low enzyme dosages of 10.5-15.8 FPU/g DW bagasse. The first batch SSF resulted in an average productivity of 0.78 g/l/h, which is not sufficient to compete with lactic acid production processes using high-grade sugars. Addition of 1 g/l furfural to precultures can increase B. coagulans resistance towards by-products present in pretreated lignocellulose. Using furfural-containing precultures, productivity increased to 0.92 g/l/h, with a total lactic acid production of 91.7 g in a 1-l reactor containing 20% W/W DW bagasse. To increase sugar concentrations, bagasse was solubilized with a liquid fraction, obtained directly after acid pretreatment. Solubilizing the bagasse fibres with water increased the average productivity to 1.14 g/l/h, with a total lactic acid production of 84.2 g in a 1-l reactor. Addition of bagasse in two stages reduced viscosity during SSF, resulting in an average productivity in the first 23 h of 2.54 g/l/h, similar to productivities obtained in fermentations using high-grade sugars. Due to fast accumulation of lactic acid, enzyme activity was repressed during two-stage SSF, resulting in a decrease in productivity and a slightly lower total lactic acid production of 75.6 g. In this study, it is shown that an adequate production of lactic acid from lignocellulose was successfully accomplished by a two-stage SSF process, which combines acid-pretreated bagasse, B. coagulans precultivated in the presence of furfural as microorganism, and GC220 as enzyme

Deep Eutectic Solvents pretreatment of agro-industrial food waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Procentese, Alessandra; Raganati, Francesca; Olivieri, Giuseppe; Russo, Maria Elena; Rehmann, Lars; Marzocchella, Antonio

2018-01-01

Waste biomass from agro-food industries are a reliable and readily exploitable resource. From the circular economy point of view, direct residues from these industries exploited for production of fuel/chemicals is a winning issue, because it reduces the environmental/cost impact and improves the eco-sustainability of productions. The present paper reports recent results of deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment on a selected group of the agro-industrial food wastes (AFWs) produced in Europe. In particular, apple residues, potato peels, coffee silverskin, and brewer's spent grains were pretreated with two DESs, (choline chloride-glycerol and choline chloride-ethylene glycol) for fermentable sugar production. Pretreated biomass was enzymatic digested by commercial enzymes to produce fermentable sugars. Operating conditions of the DES pretreatment were changed in wide intervals. The solid to solvent ratio ranged between 1:8 and 1:32, and the temperature between 60 and 150 °C. The DES reaction time was set at 3 h. Optimal operating conditions were: 3 h pretreatment with choline chloride-glycerol at 1:16 biomass to solvent ratio and 115 °C. Moreover, to assess the expected European amount of fermentable sugars from the investigated AFWs, a market analysis was carried out. The overall sugar production was about 217 kt yr -1 , whose main fraction was from the hydrolysis of BSGs pretreated with choline chloride-glycerol DES at the optimal conditions. The reported results boost deep investigation on lignocellulosic biomass using DES. This investigated new class of solvents is easy to prepare, biodegradable and cheaper than ionic liquid. Moreover, they reported good results in terms of sugars' release at mild operating conditions (time, temperature and pressure).

Kinetic study of enzymatic hydrolysis of acid-pretreated coconut coir

Science.gov (United States)

Fatmawati, Akbarningrum; Agustriyanto, Rudy

2015-12-01

Biomass waste utilization for biofuel production such as bioethanol, has become more prominent currently. Coconut coir is one of lignocellulosic food wastes, which is abundant in Indonesia. Bioethanol production from such materials consists of more than one step. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis is crucial steps to produce sugar which can then be fermented into bioethanol. In this research, ground coconut coir was pretreated using dilute sulfuric acid at 121°C. This pretreatment had increased the cellulose content and decreased the lignin content of coconut coir. The pretreated coconut coir was hydrolyzed using a mix of two commercial cellulase enzymes at pH of 4.8 and temperature of 50°C. The enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted at several initial coconut coir slurry concentrations (0.1-2 g/100 mL) and reaction times (2-72 hours). The reducing sugar concentration profiles had been produced and can be used to obtain reaction rates. The highest reducing sugar concentration obtained was 1,152.567 mg/L, which was produced at initial slurry concentration of 2 g/100 mL and 72 hours reaction time. In this paper, the reducing sugar concentrations were empirically modeled as a function of reaction time using power equations. Michaelis-Menten kinetic model for enzymatic hydrolysis reaction is adopted. The kinetic parameters of that model for sulfuric acid-pretreated coconut coir enzymatic hydrolysis had been obtained which are Vm of 3.587×104 mg/L.h, and KM of 130.6 mg/L.

Effects of SPORL and dilute acid pretreatment on substrate morphology, cell physical and chemical wall structures, and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of lodgepole pine.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinping; Luo, Xiaolin; Li, Kecheng; Zhu, J Y; Fougere, J Dennis; Clarke, Kimberley

2012-11-01

The effects of pretreatment by dilute acid and sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) on substrate morphology, cell wall physical and chemical structures, along with the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of lodgepole pine substrate were investigated. FE-SEM and TEM images of substrate structural morphological changes showed that SPORL pretreatment resulted in fiber separation, where SPORL high pH (4.2) pretreatment exhibited better fiber separation than SPORL low pH (1.9) pretreatment. Dilute acid pretreatment produced very poor fiber separation, consisting mostly of fiber bundles. The removal of almost all hemicelluloses in the dilute acid pretreated substrate did not overcome recalcitrance to achieve a high cellulose conversion when lignin removal was limited. SPORL high pH pretreatment removed more lignin but less hemicellulose, while SPORL low pH pretreatment removed about the same amount of lignin and hemicelluloses in lodgepole pine substrates when compared with dilute acid pretreatment. Substrates pretreated with either SPORL process had a much higher cellulose conversion than those produced with dilute acid pretreatment. Lignin removal in addition to removal of hemicellulose in SPORL pretreatment plays an important role in improving the cellulose hydrolysis of the substrate.

Degradation of lignocelluloses in rice straw by BMC-9, a composite microbial system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hongyan; Yu, Hairu; Yuan, Xufeng; Piao, Renzhe; Li, Hulin; Wang, Xiaofen; Cui, Zongjun

2014-05-01

To evaluate the potential utility of pretreatment of raw biomass with a complex microbial system, we investigated the degradation of rice straw by BMC-9, a lignocellulose decomposition strain obtained from a biogas slurry compost environment. The degradation characteristics and corresponding changes in the bacterial community were assessed. The results showed that rapid degradation occurred from day 0 to day 9, with a peak total biomass bacterium concentration of 3.3 × 10(8) copies/ml on day 1. The pH of the fermentation broth declined initially and then increased, and the mass of rice straw decreased steadily. The highest concentrations of volatile fatty acid contents (0.291 mg/l lactic acid, 0.31 mg/l formic acid, 1.93 mg/l acetic acid, and 0.73 mg/l propionic acid) as well as the highest xylanse activity (1.79 U/ml) and carboxymethyl cellulase activity (0.37 U/ml) occurred on day 9. The greatest diversity among the microbial community also occurred on day 9, with the presence of bacteria belonging to Clostridium sp., Bacillus sp., and Geobacillus sp. Together, our results indicate that BMC-9 has a strong ability to rapidly degrade the lignocelluloses of rice straw under relatively inexpensive conditions, and the optimum fermentation time is 9 days.

Exergy analysis of a combined heat and power plant with integrated lignocellulosic ethanol production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lythcke-Jørgensen, Christoffer; Haglind, Fredrik; Clausen, Lasse R.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We model a system where lignocellulosic ethanol production is integrated with a combined heat and power (CHP) plant. • We conduct an exergy analysis for the ethanol production in six different system operation points. • Integrated operation, district heating (DH) production and low CHP loads all increase the exergy efficiency. • Separate operation has the largest negative impact on the exergy efficiency. • Operation is found to have a significant impact on the exergy efficiency of the ethanol production. - Abstract: Lignocellulosic ethanol production is often assumed integrated in polygeneration systems because of its energy intensive nature. The objective of this study is to investigate potential irreversibilities from such integration, and what impact it has on the efficiency of the integrated ethanol production. An exergy analysis is carried out for a modelled polygeneration system in which lignocellulosic ethanol production based on hydrothermal pretreatment is integrated in an existing combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The ethanol facility is driven by steam extracted from the CHP unit when feasible, and a gas boiler is used as back-up when integration is not possible. The system was evaluated according to six operation points that alternate on the following three different operation parameters: Load in the CHP unit, integrated versus separate operation, and inclusion of district heating production in the ethanol facility. The calculated standard exergy efficiency of the ethanol facility varied from 0.564 to 0.855, of which the highest was obtained for integrated operation at reduced CHP load and full district heating production in the ethanol facility, and the lowest for separate operation with zero district heating production in the ethanol facility. The results suggest that the efficiency of integrating lignocellulosic ethanol production in CHP plants is highly dependent on operation, and it is therefore suggested that the

Microbial pretreatment of cotton stalks by Phanerochaete chrysosporium for bioethanol production

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jian

Lignocellulosic biomass has been recognized as a widespread, potentially low cost renewable source of mixed sugars for fermentation to fuel ethanol. Pretreatment, as the first step towards conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol, remains one of the main barriers to technical and commercial success of the processing technology. Existing pretreatment methods have largely been developed on the basis of physiochemical technologies which are considered relatively expensive and usually involve adverse environmental impacts. In this study, an environmentally benign alternative, microbial pretreatment using Phanerochaete chrysosporium, was explored to degrade lignin in cotton stalks and facilitate their conversion into ethanol. Two submerged liquid pretreatment techniques (SmC), shallow stationary and agitated cultivation, at three inorganic salt concentrations (no salts, modified salts without Mn2+, modified salts with Mn2+) were compared by evaluating their pretreatment efficiencies. Shallow stationary cultivation with no salt was superior to other pretreatment conditions and gave 20.7% lignin degradation along with 76.3% solids recovery and 29.0% carbohydrate availability over a 14 day period. The influence of substrate moisture content (65%, 75% and 80% M.C. wet-basis), inorganic salt concentration (no salts, modified salts without Mn2+ , modified salts with Mn2+) and culture time (0-14 days) on pretreatment effectiveness in solid state (SSC) systems was also examined. It was shown that solid state cultivation at 75% M.C. without salts was the most preferable pretreatment resulting in 27.6% lignin degradation, 71.1% solids recovery and 41.6% carbohydrate availability over a period of 14 days. A study on hydrolysis and fermentation of cotton stalks treated microbially using the most promising SmC (shallow stationary, no salts) and SSC (75% moisture content, no salts) methods resulted in no increase in cellulose conversion with direct enzyme application (10.98% and 3

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of alkaline-pretreated corn stover to ethanol using a recombinant yeast strain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Jing; Xia, Liming [Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

2009-10-15

Bio-ethanol converted from cheap and abundant lignocellulosic materials is a potential renewable resource to replace depleting fossil fuels. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of alkaline-pretreated corn stover for the production of ethanol was investigated using a recombinant yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae ZU-10. Low cellobiase activity in Trichoderma reesei cellulase resulted in cellobiose accumulation. Supplementing the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation system with cellobiase greatly reduced feedback inhibition caused by cellobiose to the cellulase reaction, thereby increased the ethanol yield. 12 h of enzymatic prehydrolysis at 50 C prior to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation was found to have a negative effect on the overall ethanol yield. Glucose and xylose produced from alkaline-pretreated corn stover could be co-fermented to ethanol effectively by S. cerevisiae ZU-10. An ethanol concentration of 27.8 g/L and the corresponding ethanol yield on carbohydrate in substrate of 0.350 g/g were achieved within 72 h at 33 C with 80 g/L of substrate and enzyme loadings of 20 filter paper activity units (FPU)/g substrate and 10 cellobiase units (CBU)/g substrate. The results are meaningful in co-conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose fraction of lignocellulosic materials to fuel ethanol. (author)

Identification of a laccase from Ganoderma lucidum CBS 229.93 having potential for enhancing cellulase catalyzed lignocellulose degradation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sitarz, Anna K; Mikkelsen, Jørn D; Højrup, Peter; Meyer, Anne S

2013-12-10

Based on a differential pre-screening of 44 white-rot fungi on a lignocellulose-supplemented minimal medium, four basidiomycetes were selected for further study: Ganoderma lucidum, Polyporus brumalis, Polyporus ciliatus and Trametes versicolor. Only G. lucidum was able to grow vividly on malt extract or minimal media supplemented with alkali lignin. When grown on malt extract or minimal medium supplemented with lignocellulose (sugar cane bagasse), the crude G. lucidum protein extract exhibited high laccase activity, ∼3U/mL toward syringaldazine. This activity was 13-17 fold higher than the corresponding activities of the crude protein extracts of P. brumalis, P. ciliatus and T. versicolor. Native PAGE electrophoresis of the crude G. lucidum extract confirmed the presence of an active laccase. The G. lucidum laccase had a molecular weight of ∼62.5kDa, and a Km value of 0.107mM (determined on ABTS). A partial amino acid sequence analysis of four short de novo sequenced peptides, defined after trypsin digest analysis using MALDI-TOF MS/MS analysis, revealed 64-100% homology to sequences in related laccases in the UniProt database, but also indicated that certain sequence stretches had low homology. Addition of the laccase-rich G. lucidum broth to lignocellulosic biomass (pretreated sugar cane bagasse) together with a state-of-the-art cellulase enzyme preparation (Cellic™CTec1) produced significantly increased cellulolytic yields, which were also better than those obtained with a T. versicolor laccase addition, indicating that the laccase from G. lucidum has unique properties that may be momentous in lignocellulosic biomass conversion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Eco-friendly dry chemo-mechanical pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass: Impact on energy and yield of the enzymatic hydrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barakat, Abdellatif; Chuetor, Santi; Monlau, Florian; Solhy, Abderrahim; Rouau, Xavier

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Innovative dry NaOH chemo-mechanical pretreatment was developed. • Dry (TS dry ) and dilute (TS dilute ) NaOH chemo-mechanical pretreatment were compared. • TS dilute consumed higher amounts of water and energy compared to TS dry . • Energy efficiency obtained for TS dilute was 0.417 kg glucose kW h −1 and 0.888 for TS dry . - Abstract: In this study, we developed an eco-friendly dry alkaline chemomechanical pretreatment of wheat straw without production of waste and liquid fractions with objective to save energy input, to decrease the environmental impact and to increase enzymatic hydrolysis. Wheat straw was pretreated with NH 3 , NaOH-H 2 O 2 , NH 3 -H 2 O 2 and NaOH at high materials concentration (5 kg/L) equivalent to biomass/liquid ratio of 1/5 (dry chemomechanical) and at low materials concentration (0.2 kg/L) equivalent to biomass/liquid ratio of 5/1 (dilute chemomechanical). Untreated and chemical treated wheat straw samples were subjected to grinding and milling following by enzymatic hydrolysis with commercial cellulases. NaOH and NaOH-H 2 O 2 dry chemomechanical pretreatments were found to be more effective in decreasing the particle size and energy consumption and increasing the surface area. However, alkaline dilute-chemomechanical treatments consumed higher amounts of water (5 L water/1 kg biomass) and energy compared to dry-chemomechanical treatments. In point of fact, the lowest energy efficiency obtained was 0.417 kg glucose kW h −1 for dilute-chemomechanical treatments compared to 0.888 kg glucose kW h −1 glucose kW h −1 for dry-chemomechanical treatments. Alkaline dry-chemomechanical pretreatments approach appears more attractive and efficient in terms of glucose, energy efficiency and environmental impact, compared to conventional alkaline chemomechanical pretreatments

Process analysis and optimization of simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of ethylenediamine-pretreated corn stover for ethanol production.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Lei; Zhao, Xiong; Li, Wen-Chao; Zhu, Jia-Qing; Liu, Li; Li, Bing-Zhi; Yuan, Ying-Jin

2018-01-01

Improving ethanol concentration and reducing enzyme dosage are main challenges in bioethanol refinery from lignocellulosic biomass. Ethylenediamine (EDA) pretreatment is a novel method to improve enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulose. In this study, simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) process using EDA-pretreated corn stover was analyzed and optimized to verify the constraint factors on ethanol production. Highest ethanol concentration was achieved with the following optimized SSCF conditions at 6% glucan loading: 12-h pre-hydrolysis, 34 °C, pH 5.4, and inoculum size of 5 g dry cell/L. As glucan loading increased from 6 to 9%, ethanol concentration increased from 33.8 to 48.0 g/L, while ethanol yield reduced by 7%. Mass balance of SSCF showed that the reduction of ethanol yield with the increasing solid loading was mainly due to the decrease of glucan enzymatic conversion and xylose metabolism of the strain. Tween 20 and BSA increased ethanol concentration through enhancing enzymatic efficiency. The solid-recycled SSCF process reduced enzyme dosage by 40% (from 20 to 12 mg protein/g glucan) to achieve the similar ethanol concentration (~ 40 g/L) comparing to conventional SSCF. Here, we established an efficient SSCF procedure using EDA-pretreated biomass. Glucose enzymatic yield and yeast viability were regarded as the key factors affecting ethanol production at high solid loading. The extensive analysis of SSCF would be constructive to overcome the bottlenecks and improve ethanol production in cellulosic ethanol refinery.

Hydrothermal pretreatment of wood by mild steam explosion and hot water extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtasz-Mucha, Joanna; Hasani, Merima; Theliander, Hans

2017-10-01

The aim of this work was to compare the two most common hydrothermal pre-treatments for wood - mild steam explosion and hot water extraction - both with the prospect of enabling extraction of hemicelluloses and facilitating further processing. Although both involve autohydrolysis of the lignocellulosic tissue, they are performed under different conditions: the most prominent difference is the rapid, disintegrating, discharge employed in the steam explosion opening up the structure. In this comparative study, the emphasis was placed on local composition of the pre-treated wood chips (of industrially relevant size). The results show that short hot water extraction treatments lead to significant variations in the local composition within the wood chips, while steam explosion accomplishes a comparably more even removal of hemicelluloses due to the advective mass transport during the explosion step. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of high-titer lactic acid fermentation from NaOH- and NH3-H2O2-pretreated corncob by Bacillus coagulans using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhenting; Xie, Yuejiao; He, Xiaolan; Li, Xinli; Hu, Jinlong; Ruan, Zhiyong; Zhao, Shumiao; Peng, Nan; Liang, Yunxiang

2016-01-01

Lignocellulose is one of the most abundant renewable feedstocks that has attracted considerable attention as a substrate for biofuel and biochemical production. One such biochemical product, lactic acid, is an important fermentation product because of its great potential for the production of biodegradable and biocompatible polylactic acid. High-titer lactic acid production from lignocellulosic materials has been achieved recently; however, it requires biodetoxification or results in large amounts of waste washing water. In this study, we employed two alkaline pretreatment methods and compared their effects on lactic acid fermentation of pretreated corncob by Bacillus coagulans LA204 using fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation under non-sterile conditions. The lactic acid titer, yield, and productivity from 16% (w/w) NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob were 122.99 g/L, 0.77 g/g corncob, and 1.37 g/L/h, respectively, and from 16% NH3-H2O2-pretreated and washed corncob were 118.60 g/L, 0.74 g/g corncob, and 1.32 g/L/h, respectively. Importantly, the lactic acid titer, yield, and productivity from 18.4% NH3-H2O2-pretreated and unwashed corncob by using fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation reached 79.47 g/L, 0.43 g/g corncob, and 1.10 g/L/h, respectively, demonstrating that this method is possible for industrial applications and saves washing water. PMID:27853308

Comparison of high-titer lactic acid fermentation from NaOH- and NH3-H2O2-pretreated corncob by Bacillus coagulans using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhenting; Xie, Yuejiao; He, Xiaolan; Li, Xinli; Hu, Jinlong; Ruan, Zhiyong; Zhao, Shumiao; Peng, Nan; Liang, Yunxiang

2016-11-17

Lignocellulose is one of the most abundant renewable feedstocks that has attracted considerable attention as a substrate for biofuel and biochemical production. One such biochemical product, lactic acid, is an important fermentation product because of its great potential for the production of biodegradable and biocompatible polylactic acid. High-titer lactic acid production from lignocellulosic materials has been achieved recently; however, it requires biodetoxification or results in large amounts of waste washing water. In this study, we employed two alkaline pretreatment methods and compared their effects on lactic acid fermentation of pretreated corncob by Bacillus coagulans LA204 using fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation under non-sterile conditions. The lactic acid titer, yield, and productivity from 16% (w/w) NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob were 122.99 g/L, 0.77 g/g corncob, and 1.37 g/L/h, respectively, and from 16% NH 3 -H 2 O 2 -pretreated and washed corncob were 118.60 g/L, 0.74 g/g corncob, and 1.32 g/L/h, respectively. Importantly, the lactic acid titer, yield, and productivity from 18.4% NH 3 -H 2 O 2 -pretreated and unwashed corncob by using fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation reached 79.47 g/L, 0.43 g/g corncob, and 1.10 g/L/h, respectively, demonstrating that this method is possible for industrial applications and saves washing water.

Lignocellulose biotechnology: issues of bioconversion and enzyme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Lignocellulose biotechnology: issues of bioconversion and enzyme production. ... and secondly to highlight some of the modern approaches which potentially could be used to tackle one of the major impediments, namely high enzyme cost, to speed-up the extensive commercialisation of the lignocellulose bioprocessing.

Adsorption of monocomponent enzymes in enzyme mixture analyzed quantitatively during hydrolysis of lignocellulose substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Várnai, Anikó; Viikari, Liisa; Marjamaa, Kaisa; Siika-aho, Matti

2011-01-01

The adsorption of purified Trichoderma reesei cellulases (TrCel7A, TrCel6A and TrCel5A) and xylanase TrXyn11 and Aspergillus niger β-glucosidase AnCel3A was studied in enzyme mixture during hydrolysis of two pretreated lignocellulosic materials, steam pretreated and catalytically delignified spruce, along with microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel). The enzyme mixture was compiled to resemble the composition of commercial cellulase preparations. The hydrolysis was carried out at 35 °C to mimic the temperature of the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Enzyme adsorption was followed by analyzing the activity and the protein amount of the individual free enzymes in the hydrolysis supernatant. Most enzymes adsorbed quickly at early stages of the hydrolysis and remained bound throughout the hydrolysis, although the conversion reached was fairly high. Only with the catalytically oxidized spruce samples, the bound enzymes started to be released as the hydrolysis degree reached 80%. The results based on enzyme activities and protein assay were in good accordance. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the Effects of Thermal Pretreatment, Steam Explosion and Ultrasonic Disintegration on Digestibility of Corn Stover

OpenAIRE

Andras Dallos; Gyula Dörgő; Dániel Capári

2016-01-01

The energy demand of the corn-based bioethanol production could be reduced using the agricultural byproducts as bioenergy feedstock for biogas digesters. The release of lignocellulosic material and therefore the acceleration of degradation processes can be achieved using thermal and mechanical pretreatments, which assist to hydrolyze the cell walls and speed the solubilization of biopolymers in biogas feedstock. This study is focused on liquid hot water, steam explosion and ultrasonic pretrea...

Potential for use of lignocellulosic materials in feeding ruminants in temperate regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnamurti, C.R.; Kitts, W.D.

1983-01-01

The potential sources of lignocellulosic materials (LCM) in the temperate regions are residues from forestry and allied industries, agricultural crop by-products and animal wastes. Economic considerations and shortage of fossil fuels have prompted research workers to use LCM as a source of energy, chemicals and animal feeds. For use in animal nutrition LCM have to be pretreated by physical, chemical, enzymatic and/or microbiological techniques in order to make the cellulose and other carbohydrates available to rumen microbes or to convert them into a biomass. The choice of method would depend upon the economics of collection, transport and processing of these residues and increase of their nutritional value following pretreatment. Irradiation has long been recognized as a potential pretreatment for the degradation of LCM, but its cost has so far prevented commercial application of this technique. Although irradiation increases the nutritive value of woody residues, it decreases that of poor quality roughages. More fundamental research is necessary on the identity of free radicals and new compounds formed during the course of irradiation of LCM at high doses. The effects of these compounds on rumen microbial activity and on the ruminant host have to be clarified. In the light of recent observations that degradation of LCM occurs at lower irradiation doses in the presence of halogens, it appears that efforts should be made to optimize irradiation conditions which may prove technologically and economically advantageous for applying this technique to increasing the feeding value of LCM. (author)

Life cycle evaluation of emerging lignocellulosic ethanol conversion technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Spatari, Sabrina; Bagley, David M; MacLean, Heather L

2010-01-01

Lignocellulosic ethanol holds promise for addressing climate change and energy security issues associated with personal transportation through lowering the fuel mixes' carbon intensity and petroleum demand. We compare the technological features and life cycle environmental impacts of near- and mid-term ethanol bioconversion technologies in the United States. Key uncertainties in the major processes: pre-treatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation are evaluated. The potential to reduce fossil energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions varies among bioconversion processes, although all options studied are considerably more attractive than gasoline. Anticipated future performance is found to be considerably more attractive than that published in the literature as being achieved to date. Electricity co-product credits are important in characterizing the GHG impacts of different ethanol production pathways; however, in the absence of near-term liquid transportation fuel alternatives to gasoline, optimizing ethanol facilities to produce ethanol (as opposed to co-products) is important for reducing the carbon intensity of the road transportation sector and for energy security.

Microwaves as a pretreatment for enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis of pineapple industrial waste for bioethanol production

OpenAIRE

Conesa Domínguez, Claudia; Seguí Gil, Lucía; Laguarda-Miro, Nicolas; Fito Maupoey, Pedro

2016-01-01

[EN] The pineapple industry generates significant amounts of residues which are classified as lignocellulosic residual biomass. In the present paper, microwaves are studied as a pretreatment to improve pineapple waste saccharification. Different microwave (MW) powers (10.625, 8.5, 6.375, 4.25 and 2.125 W/g) and exposure times (1-20 min) were applied to the solid part of the waste before enzymatic hydrolysis. Infrared thermography was used to assess temperature evolution and structural modific...

Improvement of enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol production from corn stalk by alkali and N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide pretreatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Ling-Yan; Ma, Yu-Long; Ma, Xiao-Xia; Lv, Jun-Min

2016-07-01

A combinative technology of alkali and N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) was used to pretreat corn stalk (CS) for improving the efficiencies of subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. The results showed that this strategy could not only remove hemicellulose and lignin but also decrease the crystallinity of cellulose. About 98.0% of enzymatic hydrolysis yield was obtained from the pretreated CS as compared with 46.9% from the untreated sample. The yield for corresponding ethanol yield was 64.6% while untreated CS was only 18.8%. Besides, xylose yield obtained from the untreated CS was only 11.1%, while this value was 93.8% for alkali with NMMO pretreated sample. These results suggest that a combination of alkali with 50% (wt/wt) NMMO solution may be a promising alternative for pretreatment of lignocellulose, which can increase the productions of subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using biomimetic cell wall models to identify new plant lignin bioengineering targets for improving forage and biomass utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Bioengineering of lignin to contain atypical components derived from other metabolic pathways is increasingly being pursued to custom design lignified cell walls that are inherently more digestible by livestock or more easily pretreated and saccharified for biofuel production. Because plants produce...

Hydrothermal Pretreatment of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L. Leaflets and Rachis to Enhance Enzymatic Digestibility and Bioethanol Potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuanji Fang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Date palm residues are one of the most promising lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production in the Middle East. In this study, leaflets and rachis were subjected to hydrothermal pretreatment to overcome the recalcitrance of the biomass for enzymatic conversion. Evident morphological, structural, and chemical changes were observed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy after pretreatment. High glucan (>90% for both leaflets and rachis and xylan (>75% for leaflets and >79% for rachis recovery were achieved. Under the optimal condition of hydrothermal pretreatment (210°C/10 min highly digestible (glucan convertibility, 100% to leaflets, 78% to rachis and fermentable (ethanol yield, 96% to leaflets, 80% to rachis solid fractions were obtained. Fermentability test of the liquid fractions proved that no considerable inhibitors to Saccharomyces cerevisiae were produced in hydrothermal pretreatment. Given the high sugar recovery, enzymatic digestibility, and ethanol yield, production of bioethanol by hydrothermal pretreatment could be a promising way of valorization of date palm residues in this region.

Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Dilute Acid Pretreated Coconut Husk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudy Agustriyanto

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Coconut husk is classified as complex lignocellulosic material that contains cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and some other extractive compounds. Cellulose from coconut husk can be used as fermentation substrate after enzymatic hydrolysis. In contrary, lignin content from the coconut husk will act as an inhibitor in this hydrolysis process. Therefore, a pretreatment process is needed to enhance the hydrolysis of cellulose. The objective of this research is to investigate the production of the glucose through dilute acid pretreatment and to obtain its optimum operating conditions. In this study, the pretreatment was done using dilute sulfuric acid in an autoclave reactor. The pretreatment condition were varied at 80°C, 100°C, 120°C and 0.9%, 1.2%, 1.5% for temperature and acid concentration respectively. The acid pretreated coconut husk was then hydrolyzed using commercial cellulase (celluclast and β-glucosidase (Novozyme 188. The hydrolysis time was 72 hours and the operating conditions were varied at several temperature and pH. From the experimental results it can be concluded that the delignification temperature variation has greater influence than the acid concentration. The optimum operating condition was obtained at pH 4 and 50°C which was pretreated at 100°C using 1.5% acid concentration. Copyright © 2012 by BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved. (Selected Paper from International Conference on Chemical and Material Engineering (ICCME 2012Received: 28th September 2012, Revised: 2nd October 2012, Accepted: 4th October 2012[How to Cite: R. Agustriyanto, A. Fatmawati, Y. Liasari. (2012. Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Dilute Acid Pretreated Coconut Husk. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 7(2: 137-141. doi:10.9767/bcrec.7.2.4046.137-141] [How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.7.2.4046.137-141 ] | View in 

Adsorptive detoxification of fermentation inhibitors in acid pretreated liquor using functionalized polymer designed by molecular simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Devendra, Leena P; Pandey, Ashok

2017-11-01

Acid pretreatment is the most common method employed in the lignocellulosic biorefinery leading to the separation of pentose and hexose sugar. The liquor obtained after pretreatment (acid pretreatment liquor or APL) needs to be detoxified prior to fermentation. The aim of this study was to design functional groups on a polymer matrix which are selective in their interaction to inhibitors with little or no specificity to sugars. Molecular modeling was used as a tool to design a suitable adsorbent for selective adsorption of inhibitors from a complex mixture of APL. Phenyl glycine-p-sulfonic acid loaded on chloromethylated polystyrene polymer was designed as an adsorbent for selective interaction with inhibitors. Experimental verification of the selectivity was successfully achieved. The current study provides insights on the adsorptive separation processes at the molecular level by design of specific adsorbent which can be tailor made for the better selectivity of the desired component.

Lignin plays a negative role in the biochemical process for producing lignocellulosic biofuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Yining; Zhao, Shuai; Yang, Shihui; Ding, Shi-You

2014-06-01

A biochemical platform holds the most promising route toward lignocellulosic biofuels, in which polysaccharides are hydrolyzed by cellulase enzymes into simple sugars and fermented to ethanol by microbes. However, these polysaccharides are cross-linked in the plant cell walls with the hydrophobic network of lignin that physically impedes enzymatic deconstruction. A thermochemical pretreatment process is often required to remove or delocalize lignin, which may also generate inhibitors that hamper enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Here we review recent advances in understanding lignin structure in the plant cell walls and the negative roles of lignin in the processes of converting biomass to biofuels. Perspectives and future directions to improve the biomass conversion process are also discussed. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

LIGNOCELLULOSE NANOCOMPOSITE CONTAINING COPPER SULFIDE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanchi Nenkova

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Copper sulfide-containing lignocellulose nanocomposites with improved electroconductivity were obtained. Two methods for preparing the copper sulfide lignocellulose nanocomposites were developed. An optimization of the parameters for obtaining of the nanocomposites with respect to obtaining improved electroconductivity, economy, and lower quantities and concentration of copper and sulfur ions in waste waters was conducted. The mechanisms and schemes of delaying and subsequent connection of copper sulfides in the lignocellulosic matrix were investigated. The modification with a system of 2 components: cupric sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4. 5H2O and sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate (Na2S2O3.5H2O for wood fibers is preferred. Optimal parameters were established for the process: 40 % of the reduction system; hydromodule M=1:6; and ratio of cupric sulfate pentahydrate:sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate = 1:2. The coordinative connection of copper ions with oxygen atoms of cellulose OH groups and aromatic nucleus in lignin macromolecule was observed.

Reviving the carbohydrate economy via multi-product lignocellulose biorefineries.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y-H Percival

2008-05-01

Before the industrial revolution, the global economy was largely based on living carbon from plants. Now the economy is mainly dependent on fossil fuels (dead carbon). Biomass is the only sustainable bioresource that can provide sufficient transportation fuels and renewable materials at the same time. Cellulosic ethanol production from less costly and most abundant lignocellulose is confronted with three main obstacles: (1) high processing costs (dollars /gallon of ethanol), (2) huge capital investment (dollars approximately 4-10/gallon of annual ethanol production capacity), and (3) a narrow margin between feedstock and product prices. Both lignocellulose fractionation technology and effective co-utilization of acetic acid, lignin and hemicellulose will be vital to the realization of profitable lignocellulose biorefineries, since co-product revenues would increase the margin up to 6.2-fold, where all purified lignocellulose co-components have higher selling prices (> approximately 1.0/kg) than ethanol ( approximately 0.5/kg of ethanol). Isolation of large amounts of lignocellulose components through lignocellulose fractionation would stimulate R&D in lignin and hemicellulose applications, as well as promote new markets for lignin- and hemicellulose-derivative products. Lignocellulose resource would be sufficient to replace significant fractionations (e.g., 30%) of transportation fuels through liquid biofuels, internal combustion engines in the short term, and would provide 100% transportation fuels by sugar-hydrogen-fuel cell systems in the long term.

Ensiling – Wet-storage method for lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr; Thomsen, Anne Belinda; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2011-01-01

, and consequently by lowing pH, inhibiting other microbes to degrade the polysaccharides. Following silage treatment, enzymatic convertibility tests showed that 51.5%, 36.5%, and 41.9% of the cellulose was converted by cellulytic enzymes in ensiled maize, rye, and clover grass, respectively. In addition, tests......Ensiling of humid biomass samples wrapped in plastic bales has been investigated as a wet-storage for bioethanol production from three lignocellulosic biomass samples i.e. maize, rye, and clover grass. During the silage process, lactic acid bacteria fermented free sugars to lactic acid.......5% (by S. cerevisiae); the yields significantly increased after hydrothermal pretreatment: 77.7%, 72.8%, 79.5% (by K. marxianus) and 72.0%, 80.7%, 75.7% (by S. cerevisiae) of the theoretical based on the C6 sugar contents in maize, rye, and clover grass, respectively....

Dynamic Modeling and Validation of a Biomass Hydrothermal Pretreatment Process - A Demonstration Scale Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Blanke, Mogens; Jakobsen, Jon Geest

2015-01-01

for the enzymatic hydrolysis process. Several by-products are also formed, which disturb and act as inhibitors downstream. The objective of this study is to formulate and validate a large scale hydrothermal pretreatment dynamic model based on mass and energy balances, together with a complex conversion mechanism......Hydrothermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a cost effective technology for second generation biorefineries. The process occurs in large horizontal and pressurized thermal reactors where the biomatrix is opened under the action of steam pressure and temperature to expose cellulose...... and kinetics. The study includes a comprehensive sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, with parameter estimation from real-data in the 178-185° range. To highlight the application utility of the model, a state estimator for biomass composition is developed. The predictions capture well the dynamic trends...

Accessory enzymes influence cellulase hydrolysis of the model substrate and the realistic lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fubao Fuebiol; Hong, Jiapeng; Hu, Jinguang; Saddler, Jack N; Fang, Xu; Zhang, Zhenyu; Shen, Song

2015-11-01

The potential of cellulase enzymes in the developing and ongoing "biorefinery" industry has provided a great motivation to develop an efficient cellulase mixture. Recent work has shown how important the role that the so-called accessory enzymes can play in an effective enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, three newest Novozymes Cellic CTec cellulase preparations (CTec 1/2/3) were compared to hydrolyze steam pretreated lignocellulosic substrates and model substances at an identical FPA loading. These cellulase preparations were found to display significantly different hydrolytic performances irrelevant with the FPA. And this difference was even observed on the filter paper itself when the FPA based assay was revisited. The analysis of specific enzyme activity in cellulase preparations demonstrated that different accessory enzymes were mainly responsible for the discrepancy of enzymatic hydrolysis between diversified substrates and various cellulases. Such the active role of accessory enzymes present in cellulase preparations was finally verified by supplementation with β-glucosidase, xylanase and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases AA9. This paper provides new insights into the role of accessory enzymes, which can further provide a useful reference for the rational customization of cellulase cocktails in order to realize an efficient conversion of natural lignocellulosic substrates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thermogravimetric study and kinetic analysis of fungal pretreated corn stover using the distributed activation energy model.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Fuying; Zeng, Yelin; Wang, Jinjin; Yang, Yang; Yang, Xuewei; Zhang, Xiaoyu

2013-01-01

Non-isothermal thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry (TG/DTG) measurements are used to determine pyrolytic characteristics and kinetics of lignocellulose. TG/DTG experiments at different heating rates with corn stover pretreated with monocultures of Irpex lacteus CD2 and Auricularia polytricha AP and their cocultures were conducted. Heating rates had little effect on the pyrolysis process, but the peak of weight loss rate in the DTG curves shifted towards higher temperature with heating rate. The maximum weight loss of biopretreated samples was 1.25-fold higher than that of the control at the three heating rates, and the maximum weight loss rate of the co-culture pretreated samples was intermediate between that of the two mono-cultures. The activation energies of the co-culture pretreated samples were 16-72 kJ mol(-1) lower than that of the mono-culture at the conversion rate range from 10% to 60%. This suggests that co-culture pretreatment can decrease activation energy and accelerate pyrolysis reaction thus reducing energy consumption. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High titer ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine by simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and combined fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lan, T Q; Gleisner, Roland; Zhu, J Y; Dien, Bruce S; Hector, Ronald E

2013-01-01

Lodgepole wood chips were pretreated by sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) at 25% solids loading and 180 °C for 20 min with sulfuric acid and sodium bisulfite charges of 2.2 and 8 wt/wt% on an oven-dry wood basis, respectively. The pretreated wood chips were disk-milled with pretreatment spent liquor and water, and the solid fraction was separated from the liquor stream. The liquor was neutralized and concentrated through vacuum evaporation. Quasi-simultaneous enzymatic saccharification of the cellulosic solids and combined fermentation with the concentrated liquor was conducted at up to 20% total solids loading. Fed-batching of the solids facilitated liquefaction and saccharification, as well as managing instantaneous inhibitor concentrations. At a commercial cellulase (CTec2) loading of only 9 FPU or 0.06 mL/g untreated wood, a maximum ethanol titer of 47.4 g/L was achieved, resulting in a calculated yield of 285 L/tonne of wood using Saccharomyces cerevisiae YRH400 at 35 °C and pH 5.5. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Life cycle analysis of multi-crop lignocellulosic material (perennial grasses) for bioethanol production in western Canada : a review.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tripathy, A. [Saskatchewan Univ., Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Dept. of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Bioproducts and Bioprocessing; Panigrahi, S. [Saskatchewan Univ., Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Dept. of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering; Mupondwa, E.K. [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Bioproducts and Bioprocessing

2009-07-01

This paper presented a life cycle assessment of multi-crop lignocellulosic biomass to determine the environmental performance of a bioethanol biorefinery in western Canada. The study investigated the economic aspects of the ethanol fuel system such as biorefinery operating costs and possible improvements in biorefinery economics resulting from pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation processes. The eco-efficiency was determined by comparing economic parameters with selected environmental parameters. The study also compared the efficiency of the lignoce lulosic biorefinery with grain-based dry milling ethanol plants that produce ethanol as well as dried grains and solubles used as animal feed. The study showed that the choice of feedstock and location of the biorefinery is very important. The location should be carefully chosen where there is no water shortage. Various low valued lignocellulosic energy crops such as switch grass, alfalfa, and other perennial grasses can grow in marginal or pasture land and can decrease production costs considerably, thus improving the economic viability of biorefineries. The use of co-products can also add value to the process and can decrease the cost of ethanol production. tabs., figs.

Saccharification of Sugarcane Bagasse by Enzymatic Treatment for bioethanol production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed, F. M.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Aims: The escalating demands for traditional fossil fuels with unsecured deliverance and issues of climate change compel the researchers to develop alternative fuels like bioethanol. This study examines the prospect of biofuel production from high carbohydrate containing lignocellulosic material, e.g. sugarcane bagasse through biological means. Methodology and Results: Cellulolytic enzymes were collected from the culture filtrate of thermotolerant Trichodermaviride grown on variously pre-treated sugarcane bagasse. CMCase and FPase enzyme activities were determined as a measure of suitable substrate pre-treatment and optimum condition for cellulolytic enzyme production. The highest CMCase and FPase activity was found to be 1.217 U/ml and 0.109 U/ml respectively under the production conditions of 200 rpm, pH 4.0 and 50 °C using steamed NaOH treated bagasse as substrate. SEM was carried out to compare and confirm the activity of cellulolytic enzymes on sugarcane bagasse. Saccharification of pre-treated bagasse was carried out with crude enzymes together using a two-factor experimental design. Under optimized conditions the pre-treated bagasse was saccharified up to 42.7 % in 24 h. The hydrolysate was concentrated by heating to suitable concentration and then used for fermentation by an indigenous isolate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. With 50 and 80 % brix containing liquor the concentration of alcohol was 0.579 % and 1.15 % respectively. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: This is the first report in Bangladesh for the production of cellulosicethanol using local isolates. Though the rate of alcohol production was very low, a great impetus in this field can maximize the production thereby meet the demand for fuel in future.

Enzymatic lignocellulose hydrolysis: Improved cellulase productivity by insoluble solids recycling

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background It is necessary to develop efficient methods to produce renewable fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. One of the main challenges to the industrialization of lignocellulose conversion processes is the large amount of cellulase enzymes used for the hydrolysis of cellulose. One method for decreasing the amount of enzyme used is to recycle the enzymes. In this study, the recycle of enzymes associated with the insoluble solid fraction after the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was investigated for pretreated corn stover under a variety of recycling conditions. Results It was found that a significant amount of cellulase activity could be recovered by recycling the insoluble biomass fraction, and the enzyme dosage could be decreased by 30% to achieve the same glucose yields under the most favorable conditions. Enzyme productivity (g glucose produced/g enzyme applied) increased between 30 and 50% by the recycling, depending on the reaction conditions. While increasing the amount of solids recycled increased process performance, the methods applicability was limited by its positive correlation with increasing total solids concentrations, reaction volumes, and lignin content of the insoluble residue. However, increasing amounts of lignin rich residue during the recycle did not negatively impact glucose yields. Conclusions To take advantage of this effect, the amount of solids recycled should be maximized, based on a given processes ability to deal with higher solids concentrations and volumes. Recycling of enzymes by recycling the insoluble solids fraction was thus shown to be an effective method to decrease enzyme usage, and research should be continued for its industrial application. PMID:23336604

Enzymatic lignocellulose hydrolysis: Improved cellulase productivity by insoluble solids recycling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiss Noah

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It is necessary to develop efficient methods to produce renewable fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. One of the main challenges to the industrialization of lignocellulose conversion processes is the large amount of cellulase enzymes used for the hydrolysis of cellulose. One method for decreasing the amount of enzyme used is to recycle the enzymes. In this study, the recycle of enzymes associated with the insoluble solid fraction after the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was investigated for pretreated corn stover under a variety of recycling conditions. Results It was found that a significant amount of cellulase activity could be recovered by recycling the insoluble biomass fraction, and the enzyme dosage could be decreased by 30% to achieve the same glucose yields under the most favorable conditions. Enzyme productivity (g glucose produced/g enzyme applied increased between 30 and 50% by the recycling, depending on the reaction conditions. While increasing the amount of solids recycled increased process performance, the methods applicability was limited by its positive correlation with increasing total solids concentrations, reaction volumes, and lignin content of the insoluble residue. However, increasing amounts of lignin rich residue during the recycle did not negatively impact glucose yields. Conclusions To take advantage of this effect, the amount of solids recycled should be maximized, based on a given processes ability to deal with higher solids concentrations and volumes. Recycling of enzymes by recycling the insoluble solids fraction was thus shown to be an effective method to decrease enzyme usage, and research should be continued for its industrial application.

Dilute acid/metal salt hydrolysis of lignocellulosics

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Quang A.; Tucker, Melvin P.

2002-01-01

A modified dilute acid method of hydrolyzing the cellulose and hemicellulose in lignocellulosic material under conditions to obtain higher overall fermentable sugar yields than is obtainable using dilute acid alone, comprising: impregnating a lignocellulosic feedstock with a mixture of an amount of aqueous solution of a dilute acid catalyst and a metal salt catalyst sufficient to provide higher overall fermentable sugar yields than is obtainable when hydrolyzing with dilute acid alone; loading the impregnated lignocellulosic feedstock into a reactor and heating for a sufficient period of time to hydrolyze substantially all of the hemicellulose and greater than 45% of the cellulose to water soluble sugars; and recovering the water soluble sugars.

Biochemical characterization of thermophilic lignocellulose degrading enzymes and their potential for biomass bioprocessing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zambare, Vasudeo; Zambare, Archana; Christopher, Lew P. [Center for Bioprocessing Research & Development, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City 57701, SD (United States); Muthukumarappan, Kasiviswanath [Center for Bioprocessing Research & Development, South Dakota State University, Brookings 57007, SD (United States)

2011-07-01

A thermophilic microbial consortium (TMC) producing hydrolytic (cellulolytic and xylanolytic) enzymes was isolated from yard waste compost following enrichment with carboxymethyl cellulose and birchwood xylan. When grown on 5% lignocellulosic substrates (corn stover and prairie cord grass) at 60C, the thermophilic consortium produced more xylanase (up to 489 U/l on corn stover) than cellulase activity (up to 367 U/l on prairie cord grass). Except for the carboxymethyl cellulose-enriched consortium, thermo-mechanical extrusion pretreatment of these substrates had a positive effect on both activities with up to 13% and 21% increase in the xylanase and cellulase production, respectively. The optimum temperatures of the crude cellulase and xylanase were 60C and 70C with half-lives of 15 h and 18 h, respectively, suggesting higher thermostability for the TMC xylanase. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the crude enzyme exhibited protein bands of 25-77 kDa with multiple enzyme activities containing 3 cellulases and 3 xylanases. The substrate specificity declined in the following descending order: avicel>birchwood xylan>microcrystalline cellulose>filter paper>pine wood saw dust>carboxymethyl cellulose. The crude enzyme was 77% more active on insoluble than soluble cellulose. The Km and Vmax values were 36.49 mg/ml and 2.98 U/mg protein on avicel (cellulase), and 22.25 mg/ml and 2.09 U/mg protein, on birchwood xylan (xylanase). A total of 50 TMC isolates were screened for cellulase and xylanase secretion on agar plates. All single isolates showed significantly lower enzyme activities when compared to the thermophilic consortia. This is indicative of the strong synergistic interactions that exist within the thermophilic microbial consortium and enhance its hydrolytic capabilities. It was further demonstrated that the thermostable enzyme-generated lignocellulosic hydrolyzates can be fermented to bioethanol by a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli

Profiling microbial lignocellulose degradation and utilization by emergent omics technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosnow, Joshua J; Anderson, Lindsey N; Nair, Reji N; Baker, Erin S; Wright, Aaron T

2017-08-01

The use of plant materials to generate renewable biofuels and other high-value chemicals is the sustainable and preferable option, but will require considerable improvements to increase the rate and efficiency of lignocellulose depolymerization. This review highlights novel and emerging technologies that are being developed and deployed to characterize the process of lignocellulose degradation. The review will also illustrate how microbial communities deconstruct and metabolize lignocellulose by identifying the necessary genes and enzyme activities along with the reaction products. These technologies include multi-omic measurements, cell sorting and isolation, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), activity-based protein profiling, and direct measurement of enzyme activity. The recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose necessitates the need to characterize the methods microbes employ to deconstruct lignocellulose to inform new strategies on how to greatly improve biofuel conversion processes. New technologies are yielding important insights into microbial functions and strategies employed to degrade lignocellulose, providing a mechanistic blueprint in order to advance biofuel production.

Cellulolytic enzyme expression and simultaneous conversion of lignocellulosic sugars into ethanol and xylitol by a new Candida tropicalis strain.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattam, Anu Jose; Kuila, Arindam; Suralikerimath, Niranjan; Choudary, Nettem; Rao, Peddy V C; Velankar, Harshad Ravindra

2016-01-01

Lignocellulosic ethanol production involves major steps such as thermochemical pretreatment of biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-treated biomass and the fermentation of released sugars into ethanol. At least two different organisms are conventionally utilized for producing cellulolytic enzymes and for ethanol production through fermentation, whereas in the present study a single yeast isolate with the capacity to simultaneously produce cellulases and xylanases and ferment the released sugars into ethanol and xylitol has been described. A yeast strain isolated from soil samples and identified as Candida tropicalis MTCC 25057 expressed cellulases and xylanases over a wide range of temperatures (32 and 42 °C) and in the presence of different cellulosic substrates [carboxymethylcellulose and wheat straw (WS)]. The studies indicated that the cultivation of yeast at 42 °C in pre-treated hydrolysate containing 0.5 % WS resulted in proportional expression of cellulases (exoglucanases and endoglucanases) at concentrations of 114.1 and 97.8 U g(-1) ds, respectively. A high xylanase activity (689.3 U g(-1) ds) was also exhibited by the yeast under similar growth conditions. Maximum expression of cellulolytic enzymes by the yeast occurred within 24 h of incubation. Of the sugars released from biomass after pretreatment, 49 g L(-1) xylose was aerobically converted into 15.8 g L(-1) of xylitol. In addition, 25.4 g L(-1) glucose released after the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass was fermented by the same yeast to obtain an ethanol titer of 7.3 g L(-1). During the present study, a new strain of C. tropicalis was isolated and found to have potential for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) applications. The strain could grow in a wide range of process conditions (temperature, pH) and in the presence of lignocellulosic inhibitors such as furfural, HMF and acetic acid. The new yeast produced cellulolytic enzymes over a wide temperature range and in the presence of

An efficient Azorean thermophilic consortium for lignocellulosic biomass degradation

OpenAIRE

Martins, Rita; Teixeira, Mário; Toubarro, Duarte; Simões, Nelson; Domingues, Lucília; Teixeira, J. A.

2015-01-01

[Excerpt] Lignocellulosic plant biomass is being envisioned by biorefinery industry as an alternative to current petroleum platform because of the large scale availability, low cost and environmentally benign production. The industrial bioprocessing designed to transform lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels are harsh and the enzymatic reactions may be severely compromised reducing the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass. Thermophilic bacteria consortium are a potent...

RT-CaCCO process: an improved CaCCO process for rice straw by its incorporation with a step of lime pretreatment at room temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiroma, Riki; Park, Jeung-yil; Al-Haq, Muhammad Imran; Arakane, Mitsuhiro; Ike, Masakazu; Tokuyasu, Ken

2011-02-01

We improved the CaCCO process for rice straw by its incorporation with a step of lime pretreatment at room temperature (RT). We firstly optimized the RT-lime pretreatment for the lignocellulosic part. When the ratio of lime/dry-biomass was 0.2 (w/w), the RT lime-pretreatment for 7-d resulted in an effect on the enzymatic saccharification of cellulose and xylan equivalent to that of the pretreatment at 120°C for 1h. Sucrose, starch and β-1,3-1,4-glucan, which could be often detected in rice straw, were mostly stable under the RT-lime pretreatment condition. Then, the pretreatment condition in the conventional CaCCO process was modified by the adaptation of the optimized RT lime-pretreatment, resulting in significantly better carbohydrate recoveries via enzymatic saccharification than those of the CaCCO process (120°C for 1 h). Thus, the improved CaCCO process (the RT-CaCCO process) could preserve/pretreat the feedstock at RT in a wet form with minimum loss of carbohydrates. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying new lignin bioengineering targets for improving biomass and forage utilization: a review of biomimetic studies with maize cell walls

Science.gov (United States)

Bioengineering of lignin to contain atypical components derived from other metabolic pathways is increasingly being pursued to custom design lignified cell walls that are more readily pretreated and saccharified for biofuel production or easily digested by livestock. Because plants produce such a di...

ADM1-based modeling of anaerobic digestion of swine manure fibers pretreated with aqueous ammonia soaking

OpenAIRE

Jurado, Esperanza; Gavala, Hariklia N.; Skiadas, Ioannis

2012-01-01

Anaerobic digestion of manure fibers present challenges due to their low biodegradability. Aqueous ammonia soaking (AAS) and subsequent ammonia removal has been tested as a simple and cheap method to disrupt the lignocellulose and increase the methane potential and the biogas productivity of manure fibers. In the present study, mesophilic anaerobic digestion of AAS pretreated manure fibers was tested in CSTR-type digesters fed with swine manure and/or a mixture of swine manure and AAS pretrea...

Robust cellulosic ethanol production from SPORL-pretreated lodgepole pine using an adapted strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae without detoxification.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, S; Luo, X L; Yang, X S; Zhu, J Y

2010-11-01

This study reports an ethanol yield of 270L/ton wood from lodgepole pine pretreated with sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL) using an adapted strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5, without detoxification. The enzymatic hydrolysate produced from pretreated cellulosic solids substrate was combined with pretreatment hydrolysate before fermentation. Detoxification of the pretreatment hydrolysate using overliming or XAD-4 resin before being combined with enzymatic hydrolysate improved ethanol productivity in the first 4h of fermentation and overall fermentation efficiency. However, detoxification did not improve final ethanol yield because of sugar losses. The Y5 strain showed excellent ethanol productivities of 2.0 and 0.8g/L/h averaged over a period of 4 and 24h, respectively, in the undetoxified run. The furan metabolization rates of the Y5 strain were significantly higher for the undetoxified run than those for the detoxidfied runs, suggesting it can tolerate even higher furan concentrations than those studied. Preliminary mass and energy balances were conducted. SPORL produced an excellent monomeric sugar recovery value of about 85% theoretical and a net energy output of 4.05GJ/ton wood with an ethanol energy production efficiency of 178% before distillation.

Optimization of Alkaline and Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Agave Bagasse by Response Surface Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Ávila-Lara, Abimael I.; Camberos-Flores, Jesus N.; Mendoza-Pérez, Jorge A.; Messina-Fernández, Sarah R.; Saldaña-Duran, Claudia E.; Jimenez-Ruiz, Edgar I.; Sánchez-Herrera, Leticia M.; Pérez-Pimienta, Jose A.

2015-01-01

Utilization of lignocellulosic materials for the production of value-added chemicals or biofuels generally requires a pretreatment process to overcome the recalcitrance of the plant biomass for further enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation stages. Two of the most employed pretreatment processes are the ones that used dilute acid (DA) and alkaline (AL) catalyst providing specific effects on the physicochemical structure of the biomass, such as high xylan and lignin removal for DA and AL, respectively. Another important effect that need to be studied is the use of a high solids pretreatment (≥15%) since offers many advantaged over lower solids loadings, including increased sugar and ethanol concentrations (in combination with a high solids saccharification), which will be reflected in lower capital costs; however, this data is currently limited. In this study, several variables, such as catalyst loading, retention time, and solids loading, were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a factorial central composite design of DA and AL pretreatment on agave bagasse using a range of solids from 3 to 30% (w/w) to obtain optimal process conditions for each pretreatment. Subsequently enzymatic hydrolysis was performed using Novozymes Cellic CTec2 and HTec2 presented as total reducing sugar (TRS) yield. Pretreated biomass was characterized by wet-chemistry techniques and selected samples were analyzed by calorimetric techniques, and scanning electron/confocal fluorescent microscopy. RSM was also used to optimize the pretreatment conditions for maximum TRS yield. The optimum conditions were determined for AL pretreatment: 1.87% NaOH concentration, 50.3 min and 13.1% solids loading, whereas DA pretreatment: 2.1% acid concentration, 33.8 min and 8.5% solids loading. PMID:26442260

Efficient conversion of pretreated brewer's spent grain and wheat bran by submerged cultivation of Hericium erinaceus.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolters, Niklas; Schabronath, Christoph; Schembecker, Gerhard; Merz, Juliane

2016-12-01

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) and wheat bran (WB) are industrial byproducts that accumulate in millions of tons per year and are typically applied as animal feed. Since both byproducts show a great potential as substrates for fermentation, the approach developed in this study consists of utilizing these lignocellulosic byproducts for biomass production of the medicinal fungus Hericium erinaceus through submerged cultivation. To increase the biological efficiency of the bioconversion, acidic pretreatment was applied yielding a bioconversion of 38.6% for pretreated BSG and 34.8% for pretreated WB. This study shows that the complete degradation of (hemi)cellulose into monosaccharides was not required for an efficient bioconversion. The produced fungal biomass was applied in a second fermentation step to induce the secondary metabolite erinacine C production. Thus, biomass was produced as a functional food ingredient with erinacine C contents of 174.8mg/g for BSG and 99.3mg/g for WB based bioconversions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of lime and hydrothermal pretreatments for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of raw sugarcane bagasse.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimaldi, Maira Prearo; Marques, Marina Paganini; Laluce, Cecília; Cilli, Eduardo Maffud; Sponchiado, Sandra Regina Pombeiro

2015-01-01

Ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse requires a pretreatment step to disrupt the cellulose-hemicellulose-lignin complex and to increase biomass digestibility, thus allowing the obtaining of high yields of fermentable sugars for the subsequent fermentation. Hydrothermal and lime pretreatments have emerged as effective methods in preparing the lignocellulosic biomass for bioconversion. These pretreatments are advantageous because they can be performed under mild temperature and pressure conditions, resulting in less sugar degradation compared with other pretreatments, and also are cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. In this study, we evaluated the effect of these pretreatments on the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of raw sugarcane bagasse obtained directly from mill without prior screening. In addition, we evaluated the structure and composition modifications of this bagasse after lime and hydrothermal pretreatments. The highest cellulose hydrolysis rate (70 % digestion) was obtained for raw sugarcane bagasse pretreated with lime [0.1 g Ca(OH)2/g raw] for 60 min at 120 °C compared with hydrothermally pretreated bagasse (21 % digestion) under the same time and temperature conditions. Chemical composition analyses showed that the lime pretreatment of bagasse promoted high solubilization of lignin (30 %) and hemicellulose (5 %) accompanied by a cellulose accumulation (11 %). Analysis of pretreated bagasse structure revealed that lime pretreatment caused considerable damage to the bagasse fibers, including rupture of the cell wall, exposing the cellulose-rich areas to enzymatic action. We showed that lime pretreatment is effective in improving enzymatic digestibility of raw sugarcane bagasse, even at low lime loading and over a short pretreatment period. It was also demonstrated that this pretreatment caused alterations in the structure and composition of raw bagasse, which had a pronounced effect on the enzymes accessibility to the

Hydrolysis of Miscanthus for bioethanol production using dilute acid presoaking combined with wet explosion pre-treatment and enzymatic treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Annette; Teller, Philip Johan; Hilstrøm, Troels

2008-01-01

xylose prior to wet explosion. The acid presoaking extracted 63.2% xylose and 5.2% glucose. Direct enzymatic hydrolysis of the presoaked biomass was found to give only low sugar yields of 24-26% glucose. Wet explosion is a pre-treatment method that combines wet-oxidation and steam explosion. The effect...... of wet explosion on non-presoaked and presoaked Miscanthus was investigated using both atmospheric air and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizing agent. All wet explosion pre-treatments showed to have a disrupting effect on the lignocellulosic biomass, making the sugars accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis......Miscanthus is a high yielding bioenergy crop. In this study we used acid presoaking, wet explosion, and enzymatic hydrolysis to evaluate the combination of the different pre-treatment methods for bioethanol production with Miscanthus. Acid presoaking is primarily carried out in order to remove...

Properties important for solid–liquid separations change during the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated wheat straw

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weiss, Noah Daniel; Felby, Claus; Thygesen, Lisbeth Garbrecht

2018-01-01

Objectives The biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into renewable fuels and chemicals provides new challenges for industrial scale processes. One such process, which has received little attention, but is of great importance for efficient product recovery, is solid–liquid separations......, which may occur both after pretreatment and after the enzymatic hydrolysis steps. Due to the changing nature of the solid biomass during processing, the solid–liquid separation properties of the biomass can also change. The objective of this study was to show the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis...... of cellulose upon the water retention properties of pretreated biomass over the course of the hydrolysis reaction. Results Water retention value measurements, coupled with 1H NMR T2 relaxometry data, showed an increase in water retention and constraint of water by the biomass with increasing levels...

Surface properties correlate to the digestibility of hydrothermally pretreated lignocellulosic Poaceae biomass feedstocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tristan Djajadi, Demi; Hansen, Aleksander R.; Jensen, Anders

2017-01-01

physical and chemical features of the biomass surfaces, specifically contact angle measurements (wettability) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy (surfacebiopolymer composition) produced data correlating pretreatment severity and enzymatic digestibility......, and they also revealed differences that correlated to enzymatic glucose yield responses among the three different biomass types. Conclusion: The study revealed that to a large extent, factors related to physico-chemical surface properties, namely surface wettability as assessed by contact angle measurements...

Techno-Economic Analysis of Bioethanol Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass in China: Dilute-Acid Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Corn Stover

OpenAIRE

Zhao, Lili; Zhang, Xiliang; Xu, Jie; Ou, Xunmin; Chang, Shiyan; Wu, Maorong

2015-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass-based ethanol is categorized as 2 nd generation bioethanol in the advanced biofuel portfolio. To make sound incentive policy proposals for the Chinese government and to develop guidance for research and development and industrialization of the technology, the paper reports careful techno-economic and sensitivity analyses performed to estimate the current competitiveness of the bioethanol and identify key components which have the greatest impact on its plant-gate price...

Renewable biofuels bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass by microbial community

CERN Document Server

Rana, Vandana

2017-01-01

This book offers a complete introduction for novices to understand key concepts of biocatalysis and how to produce in-house enzymes that can be used for low-cost biofuels production. The authors discuss the challenges involved in the commercialization of the biofuel industry, given the expense of commercial enzymes used for lignocellulose conversion. They describe the limitations in the process, such as complexity of lignocellulose structure, different microbial communities’ actions and interactions for degrading the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulosic materials, hydrolysis mechanism and potential for bio refinery. Readers will gain understanding of the key concepts of microbial catalysis of lignocellulosic biomass, process complexities and selection of microbes for catalysis or genetic engineering to improve the production of bioethanol or biofuel.

Relationship to reducing sugar production and scanning electron microscope structure to pretreated hemp hurd biomass (Cannabis sativa)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abraham, Reinu E.; Barrow, Colin J.; Puri, Munish

2013-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is a highly rigid and recalcitrant structure which requires pretreatment to loosen chemical bonds to make accessible monomeric sugars for biofuel production. In this study, locally available biomass, that is hemp (Cannabis sativa), a low cost feedstock for ethanol production, has been used for the production of fermentable sugars. Hemp hurd biomass (HHB) was exposed to five different pretreatments which included dilute acid (H 2 SO 4 ), alkaline (NaOH), alkaline peroxide, hot water and one stage dilute acid (H 2 SO 4 ). Different pretreatments resulted in loosening and degradation of HHB structure thus facilitating enzymatic saccharification at optimized parameters (pH–4.8 and 50 °C). The changes in the reactive groups (hydroxyl or acetyl) of the HHB were confirmed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to characterize the surface morphology of untreated and treated HHB. Finally, enzymatic saccharification demonstrated maximum yield of total sugars (743 mg g −1 ) that are suitable for biofuel production. -- Highlights: • Hemp hurd biomass (HHB) was used for producing fermentable sugars. • Alkaline pretreatment resulted in loosening and degradation of hemp structure. • Pretreated HHB was characterized using FTIR studies. • SEM studies evaluated the opening of fiber bundles in pretreatment, thereby increasing cellulose access to enzymes. • Enzymatic saccharification of pretreated HHB demonstrated maximum yield of reducing sugars

ETHANOL ORGANOSOLV PRETREATMENT OF BAMBOO FOR EFFICIENT ENZYMATIC SACCHARIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiqiang Li,

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Bamboo is a potential lignocellulosic biomass for the production of bioethanol because of its high cellulose and hemicelluloses content. In this research, ethanol organosolv pretreatment with dilute sulfuric acid as the catalyst was studied in order to enhance enzymatic saccharification of moso bamboo. The addition of 2% (w/w bamboo dilute sulfuric acid in 75% ethanol had a particularly strong effect on fractionation of bamboo. It yielded a solids fraction containing 83.4% cellulose in the treated substrate. The cellulose conversion to glucose yield reached 77.1 to 83.4% after enzymatic hydrolysis of the solids fraction for 48 h at an enzyme loading of 15 FPU cellulase/g cellulose and 30 IU β-glucosidase/g cellulose. The enzymatic hydrolysis rate was significantly accelerated as the ethanol organosolv pretreatment time increased, reaching the highest enzymatic glucose yield of 83.4% after 48 h at 50 °C. The concentrations of fermentation inhibitors such as HMF (5-hydroxy-2-methyl furfural and furfural were 0.96 g/L and 4.38 g/L in the spent liquor after the ethanol organosolv pretreatment, which were slightly lower than the concentrations quantified during H2SO4-water treatment. Spent liquor was diluted with water, and more than 87.2% of lignin in raw bamboo was recovered as ethanol organosolv lignin through the filtration process.

Influence of the crystalline structure of cellulose on the production of ethanol from lignocellulose biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Smuga-Kogut, Małgorzata; Zgórska, Kazimiera; Szymanowska-Powałowska, Daria

2016-01-01

In recent years, much attention has been devoted to the possibility of using lignocellulosic biomass for energy. Bioethanol is a promising substitute for conventional fossil fuels and can be produced from straw and wood biomass. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium pretreatment on the structure of cellulose and the acquisition of reducing sugars and bioethanol from cellulosic materials. Material used in the study was rye straw and microcrystalline cellulose subjected to ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium pretreatment. The morphology of cellulose fibres in rye straw and microcrystalline cellulose was imaged prior to and after ionic liquid pretreatment. Solutions of ionic liquid-treated and untreated cellulosic materials were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis in order to obtain reducing sugars, which constituted a substrate for alcoholic fermentation. An influence of the ionic liquid on the cellulose structure, accumulation of reducing sugars in the process of hydrolysis of this material, and an increase in ethanol amount after fermentation was observed. The ionic liquid did not affect cellulolytic enzymes negatively and did not inhibit yeast activity. The amount of reducing sugars and ethyl alcohol was higher in samples purified with 1-ethyl-3-methy-limidazolium acetate. A change in the supramolecular structure of cellulose induced by the ionic liquid was also observed.

Performance and techno-economic assessment of several solid-liquid separation technologies for processing dilute-acid pretreated corn stover.

Science.gov (United States)

Sievers, David A; Tao, Ling; Schell, Daniel J

2014-09-01

Solid-liquid separation of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass slurries is a critical unit operation employed in several different processes for production of fuels and chemicals. An effective separation process achieves good recovery of solute (sugars) and efficient dewatering of the biomass slurry. Dilute acid pretreated corn stover slurries were subjected to pressure and vacuum filtration and basket centrifugation to evaluate the technical and economic merits of these technologies. Experimental performance results were used to perform detailed process simulations and economic analysis using a 2000 tonne/day biorefinery model to determine differences between the various filtration methods and their process settings. The filtration processes were able to successfully separate pretreated slurries into liquor and solid fractions with estimated sugar recoveries of at least 95% using a cake washing process. A continuous vacuum belt filter produced the most favorable process economics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cellulase-lignin interactions in the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahikainen, J.

2013-11-01

Today, the production of transportation fuels and chemicals is heavily dependent on fossil carbon sources, such as oil and natural gas. Their limited availability and the environmental concerns arising from their use have driven the search for renewable alternatives. Lignocellulosic plant biomass is the most abundant, but currently underutilised, renewable carbon-rich resource for fuel and chemical production. Enzymatic degradation of structural polysaccharides in lignocellulose produces soluble carbohydrates that serve as ideal precursors for the production of a vast amount of different chemical compounds. The difficulty in full exploitation of lignocellulose for fuel and chemical production lies in the complex and recalcitrant structure of the raw material. Lignocellulose is mainly composed of structural polysaccharides, cellulose and hemicellulose, but also of lignin, which is an aromatic polymer. Enzymatic degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose is restricted by several substrate- and enzyme-related factors, among which lignin is considered as one of the most problematic issues. Lignin restricts the action of hydrolytic enzymes and enzyme binding onto lignin has been identified as a major inhibitory mechanism preventing efficient hydrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks. In this thesis, the interactions between cellulase enzymes and lignin-rich compounds were studied in detail and the findings reported in this work have the potential to help in controlling the harmful cellulase-lignin interactions, and thus improve the biochemical processing route from lignocellulose to fuels and chemicals.

Impact of lignins isolated from pretreated lignocelluloses on enzymatic cellulose saccharification.

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Barsberg, Søren; Selig, Michael Joseph; Felby, Claus

2013-02-01

Lignins were enzymatically isolated from corn stover and wheat straw samples and subjected to hydrothermal or wet oxidation pretreatments for enzyme adsorption experimentations. Lignin contents of the isolates ranged from 26 to 71 % (w/w); cellulose ranged from 3 to 22 % (w/w); xylan from 0.7 to 6 % (w/w) and ash was from 5.8 to 30 % (w/w). ATR-IR analyses indicated significant and similar levels of calcium in all lignin isolates. Commercial cellulase adsorption studies showed that the presence of these lignins had no significant impact on the total amount of adsorbed enzyme in cellulose and cellulose-lignin systems. Consequently, the presence of the lignins had minimal effect, if any, on enzymatic cellulose conversion. Furthermore, this result, coupled with significant calcium levels in the isolated lignins, supports previous work suggesting lignin-calcium complexes reduce enzyme-lignin interactions.

Bioleaching of fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration using kitchen waste saccharified solution as culture medium

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Wei, S.; Juan, W.; Qunhui, W.

2013-01-01

Summary: Reduced sugar in saccharified solution from kitchen waste was used as the carbon source. Domesticated A. niger AS 3.879C , which can withstand 20% of kitchen waste, was used as the inoculum in the bioleaching process of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash. The effect of reduced sugar concentration, fly ash concentration, and medium volume on the heavy metal extraction and yield of fly ash as well as the optimum bioleaching conditions; the inoculation amount of AS 3 .879C 1% (v/v), reduced sugar concentration of 80 g/l, fly ash concentration of 20 g/l, medium volume of 200 ml, and the addition of fly ash (20 g/l) after culturing for 4 days at 30 degree C and 140 r/min were obtained. Under the optimum condition, the extraction yield of the seven tested heavy metals are in the order of Cd > Zn > Cu > Mn > Pb > Cr > Fe; the extraction yield of Cd and Zn reached 88.7% and 73.1% respectively. Fly ash satisfied the Standard for Pollution Control on the Security Landfill Site for Hazardous Wastes (GB 18598-2001) after heavy metal extraction. (author)

Cell recycle batch fermentation of high-solid lignocellulose using a recombinant cellulase-displaying yeast strain for high yield ethanol production in consolidated bioprocessing.

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Matano, Yuki; Hasunuma, Tomohisa; Kondo, Akihiko

2013-05-01

The aim of this study is to develop a scheme of cell recycle batch fermentation (CRBF) of high-solid lignocellulosic materials. Two-phase separation consisting of rough removal of lignocellulosic residues by low-speed centrifugation and solid-liquid separation enabled effective collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells with decreased lignin and ash. Five consecutive batch fermentation of 200 g/L rice straw hydrothermally pretreated led to an average ethanol titer of 34.5 g/L. Moreover, the display of cellulases on the recombinant yeast cell surface increased ethanol titer to 42.2 g/L. After, five-cycle fermentation, only 3.3 g/L sugar was retained in the fermentation medium, because cellulase displayed on the cell surface hydrolyzed cellulose that was not hydrolyzed by commercial cellulases or free secreted cellulases. Fermentation ability of the recombinant strain was successfully kept during a five-cycle repeated batch fermentation with 86.3% of theoretical yield based on starting biomass. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-Yield Production of Levulinic Acid from Pretreated Cow Dung in Dilute Acid Aqueous Solution

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Jialei Su

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Agricultural waste cow dung was used as feedstock for the production of a high value–added chemical levulinic acid (LA in dilute acid aqueous solutions. A high LA yield of 338.9 g/kg was obtained from the pretreated cow dung, which was much higher than that obtained from the crude cow dung (135 g/kg, mainly attributed to the breakage of the lignin fraction in the lignocellulose structure of the cow dung by potassium hydroxide (KOH pretreatment, and thus enhanced the accessibility of cow dung to the acid sites in the catalytic reaction. Meanwhile, another value-added chemical formic acid could be obtained with a yield of ca. 160 g/kg in the process, implying a total production of ca. 500 g/kg yield for LA and formic acid from the pretreated cow dung with the proposed process. The developed process was shown to be tolerant to high initial substrate loading with a satisfied LA yield. This work provides a promising strategy for the value-increment utilization of liglocellulosic agricultural residues.

Effect of the steam explosion pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus wood and sweet sorghum baggages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negro, M. J.; Martinez, J. M.; Manero, J.; Saez, F.; Martin, C.

1991-01-01

The effect of steam explosion treatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis yield of two different lignocellulosic substrates is studied. Raw materials have been pretreated in a pilot plant designed to work in batch and equipped with a reactor vessel of 2 1 working volume where biomass was heated at the desired temperature and then exploded and recovered in a cyclone. Temperatures from 190 to 230 degree celsius and reaction times from 2 to 8 min. have been assayed. The efficiency of the steam explosion treatment has been evaluated on the composition of the lignocellulosic materials as well as on their enzymatic hydrolysis yield using a cellulolytic complex from T. reesel. Results show a high solubilization rate of hemicelluloses and variable losses of cellulose and lignin depending on the conditions tested. Enzymatic hydrolysis yields of both substrates experimented remarkable increments, corresponding the highest values obtained to 210 degree celsius; 2 min. and 21O degree celsius; 4 min. for sorghum bagasse and eucalyptus wood respectively. (Author) 13 refs

Effect of the steam explosion pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of eucalyptus wood and sweet sorghum bagasse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negro, M.J.; Martinez, J.M.; Manero, J.; Saez, F.; Martin, C.

1990-01-01

The effect of steam explosion treatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis yield of two different lignocellulosic substrates is studied. Raw materials have been pretreated in a pilot plant designed to work in batch and equiped with a reactor vessel of 2 1 working volume where biomass was heated at the desired temperature and then exploded and recovered in a cyclone. Temperatures from 190 to 230 o C and reaction times from 2 to 8 min. have been assayed. The efficiency of the steam explosion treatment has been evaluated on the composition of the lignocellulosic materials as well as on their enzymatic hydrolysis yield using a cellulolytic complex from T. reesei. Results show a high solubilization rate of hemicelluloses ands variable losses of cellulose and lignin depending on the conditions tested. Enzymatic hydrolysis yields of both substrates experimented remarkable increments, correspondig the highest values obtained to 210 o C; 2 min. and 210 o C; 4 min. for sorghum bagasse and eucaliptus wood respectivelly. (Author). 13 refs

High-titer lactic acid production from NaOH-pretreated corn stover by Bacillus coagulans LA204 using fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation under non-sterile condition.

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Hu, Jinlong; Zhang, Zhenting; Lin, Yanxu; Zhao, Shumiao; Mei, Yuxia; Liang, Yunxiang; Peng, Nan

2015-04-01

Lactic acid (LA) is an important chemical with various industrial applications. Non-food feedstock is commercially attractive for use in LA production; however, efficient LA fermentation from lignocellulosic biomass resulting in both high yield and titer faces technical obstacles. In this study, the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus coagulans LA204 demonstrated considerable ability to ferment glucose, xylose, and cellobiose to LA. Importantly, LA204 produces LA from several NaOH-pretreated agro stovers, with remarkably high yields through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). A fed-batch SSF process conducted at 50°C and pH 6.0, using a cellulase concentration of 30 FPU (filter paper unit)/g stover and 10 g/L yeast extract in a 5-L bioreactor, was developed to produce LA from 14.4% (w/w) NaOH-pretreated non-sterile corn stover. LA titer, yield, and average productivity reached 97.59 g/L, 0.68 g/g stover, and 1.63 g/L/h, respectively. This study presents a feasible process for lignocellulosic LA production from abundant agro stovers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative study of sulfite pretreatments for robust enzymatic saccharification of corn cob residue

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Bu Lingxi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Corn cob residue (CCR is a kind of waste lignocellulosic material with enormous potential for bioethanol production. The moderated sulphite processes were used to enhance the hydrophily of the material by sulfonation and hydrolysis. The composition, FT-IR spectra, and conductometric titrations of the pretreated materials were measured to characterize variations of the CCR in different sulfite pretreated environments. And the objective of this study is to compare the saccharification rate and yield of the samples caused by these variations. Results It was found that the lignin in the CCR (43.2% had reduced to 37.8%, 38.0%, 35.9%, and 35.5% after the sulfite pretreatment in neutral, acidic, alkaline, and ethanol environments, respectively. The sulfite pretreatments enhanced the glucose yield of the CCR. Moreover, the ethanol sulfite sample had the highest glucose yield (81.2%, based on the cellulose in the treated sample among the saccharification samples, which was over 10% higher than that of the raw material (70.6%. More sulfonic groups and weak acid groups were produced during the sulfite pretreatments. Meanwhile, the ethanol sulfite treated sample had the highest sulfonic group (0.103 mmol/g and weak acid groups (1.85 mmol/g in all sulfite treated samples. In FT-IR spectra, the variation of bands at 1168 and 1190 cm-1 confirmed lignin sulfonation during sulfite pretreatment. The disappearance of the band at 1458 cm-1 implied the methoxyl on lignin had been removed during the sulfite pretreatments. Conclusions It can be concluded that the lignin in the CCR can be degraded and sulfonated during the sulfite pretreatments. The pretreatments improve the hydrophility of the samples because of the increase in sulfonic group and weak acid groups, which enhances the glucose yield of the material. The ethanol sulfite pretreatment is the best method for lignin removal and with the highest glucose yield.

Biobutanol as a Potential Sustainable Biofuel - Assessment of Lignocellulosic and Waste-based Feedstocks

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Johanna Niemisto

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces the production process of an alternative transportation biofuel, biobutanol. European legislation concerning biofuels and their sustainability criteria are also briefly described. The need to develop methods to ensure more sustainable and efficient biofuel production processes is recommended. In addition, the assessment method to evaluate the sustainability of biofuels is considered and sustainability assessment of selected feedstocks for biobutanol production is performed. The benefits and potential of using lignocellulosic and waste materials as feedstocks in the biobutanol production process are also discussed. Sustainability assessment in this paper includes cultivation, harvest/collection and upstream processing (pretreatment of feedstocks, comparing four main biomass sources: food crops, non-food crops, food industry by-product and wood-based biomass. It can be concluded that the highest sustainable potential in Finland is when biobutanol production is integrated into pulp & paper mills.