Effect of severity factor on the hydrothermal pretreatment of sugarcane straw

Author(s)

Batista, Gustavo ^[1] ; Souza, Renata B. A. ^[1] ; Pratto, Bruna ^[1] ; dos Santos-Rocha, Martha S. R. ^[2] ; Cruz, Antonio J. G. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Chem Engn Grad Program, Rod Washington Luis Km 235, BR-13565905 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Alagoas, Chem Engn Grad Program, Ave Lourival Melo Mota S-N, Cidade Univ, BR-57072970 Maceio, AL - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Bioresource Technology; v. 275, p. 321-327, MAR 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 13

Abstract

The recalcitrant structures of sugarcane straw and related lignocellulosic biomasses require a pretreatment step to enable a better enzymatic attack during the hydrolysis. Factors like the energy consumption and the formation of inhibitors require the optimization of the pretreatment step. Thus, the influence of different severity factors (SF) on hydrothermal (also called liquid hot water, LHW) pretreatment was evaluated using a factorial design 22 with central point. The obtained results showed that low values of SF (< 3.39) did not promote reasonable alteration in the sugarcane straw structures, whereas high SF values (> 4.70) resulted in loss of hydrolyzed sugars, generation of inhibitors such as furfural, and formation of pseudo-lignin structures, despite high hemicellulose removal (similar to 97%). The residence time exhibited low influence on LHW. An optimum condition was found for the process (10 min and 195 degrees C) with low cellulose solubilization (9.80%) and a reasonable hemicellulose removal (85.45%). (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales
• Grantee: Roberto de Campos Giordano
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants