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

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

doi:10.3390/ijms13044141

Abstract

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.

Highlights

The new bio-refinery industries benefit the nation’s energy security, economic progress, and environmental protection in many different ways [1,2]
The results showed that the raw sample contained 36.7 ± 1.13% cellulose, 35.5 ± 1.51% hemicellulose, 5.3 ± 0.47% lignin, 1.9 ± 0.11% ash, and 4.1 ± 0.13% moisture
LAM showed that the saccharification efficiency was significantly higher than ultrasonic pretreatment (UP) and LAM was combined with ultrasonic pretreatment (LAUP) pretreatments, and reached 27.75% after 48 h hydrolysis

Summary

Introduction

The new bio-refinery industries benefit the nation’s energy security, economic progress, and environmental protection in many different ways [1,2]. Lignocellulosic biomass may be utilized to produce bioethanol, which is a promising alternative energy source for non-renewable crude oil [3]. Corn stover is one of the greatest potential annual crop-based bioethanol feedstocks, because it is made up of three components, lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Exploring renewable resources for bioethanol production has been underway for many years [5] This necessitates a pretreatment process to break up the highly ordered structure of the lignocellulosic biomass and to remove the lignin materials so as to expose the hemicellulose and cellulose parts to the related enzymatic action [6]. Bioethanol from non-grain biomass has been a dream encumbered by technological and economic factors [7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion