Abstract
Xylan can be extracted from biomass using either alkali (KOH or NaOH) or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO); however, DMSO extraction is the only method that produces a water-soluble xylan. In this study, DMSO extraction of corn stover was studied at different temperatures with the objective of finding a faster, more efficient extraction method. The temperature and time of extraction were compared followed by a basic structural analysis to ensure that no significant structural changes occurred under different temperatures. The resulting data showed that heating to 70 °C during extraction can give a yield comparable to room temperature extraction while reducing the extraction time by ~90 %. This method of heating was shown to be the most efficient method currently available and was shown to retain the important structural characteristics of xylan extracted with DMSO at room temperature.
Highlights
Biofuels are becoming more widespread throughout the United States as more advanced conversion methods become available
It is evident that much less time is needed for extraction when the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is heated during extraction compared to a room temperature extraction
Elucidation of the structure of the isolated xylans may be found in our previous work (Naran et al 2009) and was not attempted in this study, which is primarily aimed at developing a faster, easier method for obtaining native xylans. Drawing from these results, it can be concluded that heating during an extraction can increase the efficiency of a Biotech (2013) 3:433–438 is increased upon heating is not supported by this study, further analysis can be done to confirm this prediction. These results strongly indicate that the yield obtained under heated conditions is comparable to that of an unheated extraction and requires significantly less time to extract (*9 % of the total time required to extract an unheated sample)
Summary
Biofuels are becoming more widespread throughout the United States as more advanced conversion methods become available. The most advanced process currently is the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol. J. Rowley University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA (Kim et al 2009). Despite having much larger production potential than starch-based ethanol, lignocellulosic ethanol is still in the early stages. The conversion of biomass sugars into biofuels is an important aspect of the Department of Energy’s mission to promote the integration of renewable fuels and is a key component in the worldwide move towards renewable energy. Before additional progress can be made, it is desirable to understand in detail the mechanisms that occur during the biomass to biofuel conversion process
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