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Comparison of Feedstock Pretreatment Performance and Its Effect on Soluble Sugar Availability

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Abstract

Cellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy differ in composition and processing requirements for efficient conversion to chemicals and fuels. This study discusses and compares the processing requirements for three lignocellulosic feedstocks—soybean hulls, wheat straw, and de-starched wheat bran. They were ground with a hammer mill to investigate how differences in composition and particle size affect the hydrolysis process. Enzyme hydrolysis was conducted using cellulase from Trichoderma reesei at 50°C and pH 5. Ground fractions were also subjected to dilute sulfuric acid treatment at 125°C, 15 psi for 30 min prior to cellulase treatment. Reducing particle size of biomass resulted in segregated components of feedstock. Grinding wheat straw to particle size <132 μm resulted in measured lignin content from 20% to ≈5% and reduced hemicellulose content. Reducing lignin content increased the effectiveness of enzyme hydrolysis of wheat straw. Particles sized <132 μm exhibited the highest soluble sugar release upon hydrolysis for all three feedstocks studied. Hemicellulose digestion improved with dilute sulfuric acid treatment with residual hemicellulose content <5% in all three feedstocks after acid treatment. This enhanced the cellulase action and resulted in approximately 1.6-fold increase in sugar availability in de-starched wheat bran and ≈1.5-fold for wheat straw and soybean hulls. Higher sugar availability in wheat bran after acid-mediated enzyme treatment correlated to higher ethanol yields during yeast fermentation compared with soybean hulls and wheat straw.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Joint KSU/Specialty Enzymes Project at Grain Science and Industry Department. We thank Specialty Enzymes and Biochemicals, Inc., Chino, CA, for its generous contribution of the enzymes used in the study. We thank Dr. Donghai Wang and his laboratory at KSU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department for ethanol fermentation runs on our treated samples. We also appreciate Khushal Brijwani, graduate student at KSU Grain Science and Industry for his initial help in manuscript preparation. This manuscript is Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station manuscript No. 08-356-J. The Iowa State University Agricultural Experiment Station supported senior author's salary during manuscript revision and editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Buddhi P. Lamsal

  2. Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added Program, Grain Science and Industry Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

    Ron Madl

  3. Grain Science and Industry Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

    Konstantinos Tsakpunidis

Authors
  1. Buddhi P. Lamsal
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  2. Ron Madl
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  3. Konstantinos Tsakpunidis
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Correspondence to Buddhi P. Lamsal.

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Lamsal, B.P., Madl, R. & Tsakpunidis, K. Comparison of Feedstock Pretreatment Performance and Its Effect on Soluble Sugar Availability. Bioenerg. Res. 4, 193–200 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-010-9112-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-010-9112-4

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