Full components conversion of lignocellulose via a closed-circuit biorefinery process on a pilot scale

Abstract

This study developed a closed-circuit biorefinery process for full conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol, biogas and organic fertilizer with zero waste on a pilot scale. In the process, subcritical water pretreatment could effectively break the structure of wheat straw (WS), and ethanol was obtained from pretreated wheat straw (PWS) using two batches of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The pretreatment and ethanol fermentation wastes were reused for biogas and organic fertilizer production by anaerobic digestion (AD), whereas the pretreatment and ethanol conversion efficiency were reduced when supernatant after AD was recovered for next batch pretreatment. The yields of ethanol (0.08–0.09 g/g), biogas (0.05–0.10 L/g) and organic fertilizer (0.55–0.79 g/g) were demonstrated through mass balance. Furthermore, the hidden problems were exposed on pilot-scale conversion process, and several strategies were provided for optimizing the biorefinery process in the future.