Monday, May 5, 2008 - 10:30 AM
3-05
Impact of Surfactants on Pretreatment of Corn Stover
Qing Qing, Michael Studer, Bin Yang, and Charles Wyman. University of California, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507
Lignin in pretreated cellulosic biomass can non-productively adsorb cellulase, resulting in a loss of a significant portion of this expensive protein. In addition, lignin interferes with the path for cellulase action, slowing down hydrolysis. Thus, the effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass can be significantly enhanced if lignin is removed or modified before adding enzymes. In this project, the enzymatic digestibility of solids resulting from pretreatment of corn stover with various surfactants at 160 to 220°Cwas evaluated with and without addition of sulfuric acid. Tween-80 gave the best performance as measured by the increase in the hydrolysis yield and enhanced total sugar recovery. In addition, analytical techniques including DSC, XRD and IR were used to investigate the chemical and hydrogen bonding changes resulting from surfactant pretreatment. A mechanism will be presented to explain the observed impact of surfactants on performance.