Abstract
Pelleting overcomes the utilization limitation of lignocellulosic biomass due to its low density and related processing costs. Efficiently combining biomass pelleting and enzymatic saccharification is a challenge for applying biomass with low density in a biorefinery. In this study, we propose a novel biomass processing approach involving the addition of surfactant during pelleting and using the pellets for pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification. We investigated the effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 assisted pelleting on pelleting specific energy consumption and friction, and on subsequent pretreatment as well as on enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated pellets. The results showed that PEG 6000 assisted pelleting decreased the total pelleting specific energy consumption by about 14% for wheat straw and 18% for pine, and reduced the maximum friction during ejection of pellets by about 34% for wheat straw and 29% for pine. PEG 6000 assisted pelleting enhanced subsequent enzymatic sugar yield effectively for both acid and alkaline pretreated wheat straw and pine, especially for acid-treated pine pellets, where a 256% increase in glucose yield was obtained. The results suggest that PEG 6000 decreases the cleavage of β-O-4′ linkages during pretreatment and thus hinders the formation of phenolic hydroxyl groups, contributing to the enhanced sugar yield in enzymatic saccharification. As surfactants were found to have beneficial effects on both biomass pelleting and the sugar yield obtained from the enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated pellets, it would be advantageous to add surfactants during pelletizing when the pellets are intended for application in a biorefinery.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1050-1061 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Green Chemistry |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 21 2021 |
Funding
The work was financially supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and EUDP project ‘Demonstration of 2G ethanol production in full scale, MEC’ (Jr. no. 64015-0642) funded by the Danish Energy Agency. We wish to acknowledge the funding provided by them. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Y.P. and A.R. acknowledge the support from the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), a U.S. DOE Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/ downloads/doe-public-access-plan). The work was financially supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) and EUDP project ?Demonstration of 2G ethanol production in full scale, MEC? (Jr. no. 64015-0642) funded by the Danish Energy Agency. We wish to acknowledge the funding provided by them. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Y.P. and A.R. acknowledge the support from the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), a U.S. DOE Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| EUDP | 64015-0642 |
| United States Government | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| Biological and Environmental Research | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Center for Bioenergy Innovation | |
| UT-Battelle | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| China Scholarship Council | |
| Energistyrelsen |
