Sunday, May 4, 2008
3-38

Evaluation of Acid and Enzymatic Hydrolysis from Hemicellulose Hydrolyzates on Mixed Pulping Wood

Byung-Hwan Um and Peter Van Walsum. Chemical Engineering, University of Maine, 5737 Jenness Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5737

Forest biomass is a promising resource for future biofuels and bioproducts. Biorefining wood into paper and chemicals is not as easy as making a single traditional paper product. Paper is made from the solid cellulose fraction of wood, removing lignin and hemicellulose components through a liquid pre-extraction enhance the quality of the pulp. Pre-extraction of hemicellulose by alkaline (Green Liquor) pretreatment produces a neutral-pH extract containing hemicellulose. One near term option is to carefully pre-extract the hemicellulose before the main pulping step and then ferment it to bioethanol. A significant difference with other lignocellulosic biomass conversion processes is that the solid fraction has high value to make pulp and paper products and is thus not converted to liquids or boiler fuel. A secondary hydrolysis step is required after primary pre-extraction to hydrolyze oligomeric sugars into monomeric sugars before fermentation. In this study, we investigate the extent of hemicellulose recovery by pre-extraction using green liquor pretreatment and characterize the hydrolysis of the extract with respect to variable concentration via evaporation and comparing acid and enzymatic hydrolysis.

See more of Poster Session One
See more of General Submissions

See more of The 30th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals (May 4 -- 7, 2008)