Abstract
Corn fiber, a by-product of the corn wet-milling industry, represents a renewable resource that is readily available in significant quantities and could potentially serve as a low-cost feedstock for the production of fuel-grade alcohol. In this study, we used a batch reactor to steam explode corn fiber at various degrees of severity to evaluate the potential of using this feedstock in the bioconversion process. The results indicated that maximum sugar yields (soluble and following enzymatic hydrolysis) were recovered from corn fiber that was pretreated at 190°C for 5 min with 6% SO2. Sequential SO2-catalyzed steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in very high conversion (81%) of all polysaccharides in the corn fiber to monomeric sugars. Subsequently, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was able to convert the resultant corn fiber hydrolysates to ethanol very efficiently, yielding 90–96% of theoretical conversion during the fermentation process.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Grohmann, K., Torget, R., and Himmel, M. (1985), Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 15, 59–80.
Grohmann, K. and Bothast, R. J. (1996), Process Biochem. 32, 405–415.
Excoffier, G., Toussaint, B., and Vignon, M. R. (1991), Biotechnol. Bioeng. 38, 1308–1317.
Gregg, D. J., Boussaid, A., and Saddler, J. N. (1998), Bioresour. Technol. 63, 7–12.
O’Connor, D. (2000), Liquid Fuels from Biomass: North American Impact on Non-technical Barriers on Implementation, Report IEA Bioenergy Task 27, Delta, Canada, pp. 34–46.
Anderson, R. A. and Watson, S. A. (1982), in Handbook of Processing and Utilization in Agriculture, vol. 2, Wolff, I. A. ed., CRC, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 31–61.
Osborn, D. and Chen, L. F. (1984), Starch/Stärke. 36, 393–395.
Beall, D. S., Ingram, L. O., Ben-Bassat, A., Doran, J. B., Fowler, D. E., Hall, R. G., and Wood, B. E. (1992), Biotechnol. Lett. 14, 857–862.
Moniruzzaman, M., Dale, B. E., Hespell, R. B., and Bothast, R. J. (1997), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 67, 113–126.
Clark, T. A. and Mackie, K. L. (1987), J. Wood Chem. Technol. 7, 373–403.
Schwald, W., Smaridge, T., Chan, M., Breuil, C., and Saddler, J. N. (1987), in Enzyme Systems for Lignocellulose Degradation, Coughlan, M. P. ed., Elsevier, NY, pp. 231–242.
Clark, T. A., Mackie, K. L., Dare, P. H., and McDonald, A. G. (1989), J. Wood Chem. Technol. 9, 135–166.
Carrasco, J. E., Ma, C., Saiz, A., Navarro, P., Soriano, P., Saez, F., and Martinez, J. M. (1994), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 45,46, 23–34.
Boussaid, A., Esteghlalian, A. R., Gregg, D. J., Lee, K. H., and Saddler, J. N. (2000), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 84–86, 693–705.
Brownell, H. H., Yu, E. K. C., and Saddler, J. N. (1986), Biotechnol. Bioeng. 27, 792–801.
Mackie, K. L., Brownell, H. H., West, K. L., and Saddler, J. N. (1985), J. Wood Chem. Technol. 5, 405–425.
Chum, H. L., Johnson, D. K., Black, S., Baker, J., Grohmann, K., Sarkanen, K. V., Wallace, K., and Schroeder, H. A. (1988), Biotechnol. Bioeng. 31, 643–649.
Boussaid, A. and Saddler, J. N. (1999), Enzyme Microb. Technol. 24, 138–143.
Boussaid, A., Robinson, J., Cai, Y. J., Gregg, D. J., and Saddler, J. N. (1999), Biotechnol. Bioeng. 64, 284–289.
Shevchenko, S. M., Beatson, R. P., and Saddler, J. N. (1999), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 77–79, 867–876.
Michalowicz, G., Toussaint, B., and Vignon, M. R. (1991), Holzforschung 45, 175–179.
Overend, R. P. and Chornet, E. (1987), Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 321, 523–536.
Brownell, H. H., Schwald, W., Smaridge, T., and Saddler, J. N. (1988), in Proceedings of the IEA Workshop on Bioconversion of Lignocellulosics, Saddler, J. N., Stevens, D., and Hages, D., eds., Forintek Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, pp. A-1.
TAPPI, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (1998), TAPPI Standard Methods, T-222 om-98, TAPPI Press, Atlanta, GA.
Ghose, T. K. (1987), Pure Appl. Chem. 59, 257–268.
Olsson, L., Hahn-Hägerdal, B., and Zacchi, G. (1995), Biotechnol. Bioeng. 45, 356–365.
Whistler, R. L. (1993), in Industrial Gums: Polysaccharides and Their Derivatives, 3rd ed., Whistler, R. L. and BeMiller, J. N., eds., Academic, San Diego, CA, pp. 294–308.
BeMiller, J. N. (1967), Adv. Carbohydr. Chem., 22, 25–107.
Sjolander, N. O., Langlykke, A. F., and Peterson, W. F. (1938), Ind. Eng. Chem. 30, 1251–1255.
Dien, B. S., Iten, L. B., and Bothast, R. J. (1999), J. Ind. Microb. Biotechnol. 22, 575–581.
Parajó, J. C., Dominguez, H., and Domínquez, J. M. (1997), Enzyme Microb. Technol. 21, 18–24.
Larsson, S., Reimann, A., Nilvebrant, N. O. and Jönsson, L. J. (1999), Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 77–79, 91–103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bura, R., Mansfield, S.D., Saddler, J.N. et al. SO2-catalyzed steam explosion of corn fiber for ethanol production. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 98, 59–72 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:98-100:1-9:59
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/ABAB:98-100:1-9:59