Abstract
BackgroundLarge-scale processing of lignocellulosics for glucose production generally relies on high temperature and acidic or alkaline conditions. However, extreme conditions produce chemical contaminants that complicate downstream processing. A method that mainly rely on mechanical and enzymatic reaction completely averts such problem and generates unmodified lignin. Products from this process could find novel applications in the chemicals, feed and food industry. But a large-scale system suitable for this purpose is yet to be developed. In this study we applied simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and communition (SESC) for the pre-treatment of a representative lignocellulosic biomass, cedar softwood, under both laboratory and large-scale conditions.ResultsLaboratory-scale comminution achieved a maximum saccharification efficiency of 80% at the optimum pH of 6. It was possible to recycle the supernatant to concentrate the glucose without affecting the efficiency. During the direct alcohol fermentation of SESC slurry, a high yield of ethanol was attained. The mild reaction conditions prevented the generation of undesired chemical inhibitors. Large-scale SESC treatment using a commercial beads mill system achieved a saccharification efficiency of 60% at an energy consumption of 50 MJ/kg biomass.ConclusionSESC is very promising for the mild and clean processing of lignocellulose to generate glucose and unmodified lignin in a large scale. Economic feasibility is highly dependent on its potential to generate high value natural products for energy, specialty chemicals, feed and food application.
Highlights
Large-scale processing of lignocellulosics for glucose production generally relies on high temperature and acidic or alkaline conditions
Saccharification efficiency and enzyme loading as a function of pH Using untreated cedar as a representative softwood, we previously reported the ability of simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and communition (SESC) to deliver a saccharification efficiency that is comparable to common thermo-chemical methods [12]
A fairly recent report has suggested the possibly low affinity of enzymes to lignin in its natural form, [31] which is considered to be the state of the lignin from SESC
Summary
Large-scale processing of lignocellulosics for glucose production generally relies on high temperature and acidic or alkaline conditions. A method that mainly rely on mechanical and enzymatic reaction completely averts such problem and generates unmodified lignin. Products from this process could find novel applications in the chemicals, feed and food industry. In this study we applied simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and communition (SESC) for the pre-treatment of a representative lignocellulosic biomass, cedar softwood, under both laboratory and large-scale conditions. Methods that rely on high temperature and acidic or alkaline conditions are the most reliable for large-scale operations [4, 9, 17].
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