Enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation of high dry matter wet-exploded wheat straw at low enzyme loading.

Wheat straw was pretreated by wet explosion using three different oxidizing agents (H(2)O(2), O(2), and air). The effect of the pretreatment was evaluated based on glucose and xylose liberated during enzymatic hydrolysis. The results showed that pretreatment with the use of O(2) as oxidizing agent was the most efficient in enhancing overall convertibility of the raw material to sugars and minimizing generation of furfural as a by-product. For scale-up of the process, high dry matter (DM) concentrations of 15-20% will be necessary. However, high DM hydrolysis and fermentation are limited by high viscosity of the material, higher inhibition of the enzymes, and fermenting microorganism. The wet-explosion pretreatment method enabled relatively high yields from both enzymatic hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) to be obtained when performed on unwashed slurry with 14% DM and a low enzyme loading of 10 FPU/g cellulose in an industrial acceptable time frame of 96 h. Cellulose and hemicellulose conversion from enzymatic hydrolysis were 70 and 68%, respectively, and an overall ethanol yield from SSF was 68%.

Hydrolysis of Miscanthus for bioethanol production using dilute acid presoaking combined with wet explosion pre-treatment and enzymatic treatment.

Miscanthus is a high yielding bioenergy crop. In this study we used acid presoaking, wet explosion, and enzymatic hydrolysis to evaluate the combination of the different pre-treatment methods for bioethanol production with Miscanthus. Acid presoaking is primarily carried out in order to remove xylose prior to wet explosion. The acid presoaking extracted 63.2% xylose and 5.2% glucose. Direct enzymatic hydrolysis of the presoaked biomass was found to give only low sugar yields of 24-26% glucose. Wet explosion is a pre-treatment method that combines wet-oxidation and steam explosion. The effect of wet explosion on non-presoaked and presoaked Miscanthus was investigated using both atmospheric air and hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizing agent. All wet explosion pre-treatments showed to have a disrupting effect on the lignocellulosic biomass, making the sugars accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. The combination of presoaking, wet explosion, and enzymatic hydrolysis was found to give the highest sugar yields. The use of atmospheric air gave the highest xylose yield (94.9% xylose, 61.3% glucose), while hydrogen peroxide gave the highest glucose yield (82.4% xylose, 63.7% glucose).