Organosolv delignification of sugarcane bagasse combined with physical-mechanical processes

• Grant number: 10/08691-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Teresa Borges Pimenta Barbosa
• Grantee: Maria Teresa Borges Pimenta Barbosa
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Antonio Aprigio da Silva Curvelo ; Carlos Eduardo Driemeier ; Carlos Eduardo Vaz Rossell ; George Jackson de Moraes Rocha ; Jayr de Amorim Filho ; Sindelia Freitas Azzoni

Abstract

The production of biofuels from vegetal raw materials can be performed by different technological routes. Currently, bioethanol stands out from the alternatives for the production of liquid biofuels and requires the use of agricultural residues that contain significant amounts of polysaccharides (e.g., sugarcane bagasse). For this, it is necessary that the lignocellulose associative structure present in these materials is submitted to pretreatment steps in order to effectively separate (in a selective and efficient form) the major components (cellulose, lignin and hemicelluloses). In order to obtain bioethanol from the cellulosic fraction, bottlenecks such as the amount of residual lignin and hemicelluloses and cellulose crystallinity can limit the effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation steps. In this context, kinetic studies in the pretreatment step are of extreme importance to quantify the acceptable amounts of residual hemicelluloses and lignin in the pulps obtained. Aiming at applying the advantages presented by the organosolv process, this project proposes two comparative routes: the kinetic study to remove the hemicellulose fraction (hydrothermal process) followed by the kinetic study of organosolv delignification, and the kinetic study of organosolv delignification without the hydrothermal step. Both routes will be performed using a microwave digestion system for the pretreatment of the sugarcane bagasse fibers. This can enhance the efficiency of hemicellulose and lignin removal in inferior time if compared to conventional extraction processes. After the pretreatment step, cellulosic pulps will be submitted to physical-mechanical treatments (refining, milling, and atmospheric plasmas) in order to reduce the crystallinity of cellulose and to improve the access to enzymatic hydrolysis. The success of the treatments will be assessed using enzymatic and acid hydrolysis standard protocols. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SANTUCCI, BEATRIZ STANGHERLIN; BRAS, JULIEN; BELGACEM, MOHAMED NACEUR; DA SILVA CURVELO, ANTONIO APRIGIO; BORGES PIMENTA, MARIA TERESA. Evaluation of the effects of chemical composition and refining treatments on the properties of nanofibrillated cellulose films from sugarcane bagasse. INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS, v. 91, p. 238-248, NOV 30 2016. (10/08691-4)

DRIEMEIER, CARLOS; MENDES, FERNANDA M.; SANTUCCI, BEATRIZ S.; PIMENTA, MARIA T. B.. Cellulose co-crystallization and related phenomena occurring in hydrothermal treatment of sugarcane bagasse. Cellulose, v. 22, n. 4, p. 2183-2195, AUG 2015. (10/08691-4, 10/05523-3)

SANTUCCI, BEATRIZ S.; MAZIERO, PRISCILA; RABELO, SARITA C.; CURVELO, ANTONIO A. S.; PIMENTA, MARIA TERESA B.. Autohydrolysis of Hemicelluloses from Sugarcane Bagasse During Hydrothermal Pretreatment: a Kinetic Assessment. BioEnergy Research, v. 8, n. 4, p. 1778-1787, DEC 2015. (10/08691-4)

DRIEMEIER, CARLOS; PIMENTA, MARIA T. B.; ROCHA, GEORGE J. M.; OLIVEIRA, MARCELO M.; MELLO, DANILO B.; MAZIERO, PRISCILA; GONCALVES, ADILSON R.. Evolution of cellulose crystals during prehydrolysis and soda delignification of sugarcane lignocellulose. Cellulose, v. 18, n. 6, p. 1509-1519, DEC 2011. (10/08691-4, 10/05523-3)