Abstract
Biological lignin valorization has emerged as a major solution for sustainable and cost-effective biorefineries. However, current biorefineries yield lignin with inadequate fractionation for bioconversion, yet substantial changes of these biorefinery designs to focus on lignin could jeopardize carbohydrate efficiency and increase capital costs. We resolve the dilemma by designing ‘plug-in processes of lignin’ with the integration of leading pretreatment technologies. Substantial improvement of lignin bioconversion and synergistic enhancement of carbohydrate processing are achieved by solubilizing lignin via lowering molecular weight and increasing hydrophilic groups, addressing the dilemma of lignin- or carbohydrate-first scenarios. The plug-in processes of lignin could enable minimum polyhydroxyalkanoate selling price at as low as $6.18/kg. The results highlight the potential to achieve commercial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates as a co-product of cellulosic ethanol. Here, we show that the plug-in processes of lignin could transform biorefinery design toward sustainability by promoting carbon efficiency and optimizing the total capital cost.
Highlights
Biological lignin valorization has emerged as a major solution for sustainable and costeffective biorefineries
It is necessary to evaluate how the lignin valorization can be processed in current biorefinery and what extent the incorporation of lignin valorization could contribute to the overall output and the capital cost of biorefinery
We address these challenges with the design of ‘plug-in processes of lignin (PIPOL)’ for biological lignin valorization that can be directly incorporated into current biorefinery
Summary
Biological lignin valorization has emerged as a major solution for sustainable and costeffective biorefineries. This is a very challenging task, as the current pretreatment and biorefinery were not designed to render processible lignin, but a waste stream for low-cost combustion These leading pretreatment technologies cannot overcome the intrinsic nature of lignin and yield a lignin stream suitable for bioconversion. Ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX) is to be capable of cleaving ester and lignincarbohydrate bonds, such as p-coumarate esters and ferulatepolysaccharide esters, but it preserves the overall chemical structure of the lignin polymer and retains most of the lignin in biomass[43,44] For these reasons, the yield and processibility of lignin are still inadequate to enable the bioconversion at a high titer due to its low solubility and reactivity. It is necessary to evaluate how the lignin valorization can be processed in current biorefinery and what extent the incorporation of lignin valorization could contribute to the overall output and the capital cost of biorefinery
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