Monday, April 30, 2012
Napoleon Ballroom C-D, 3rd fl (Sheraton New Orleans)
Lignocellulosic biomass is composed of carbohydrate polymers (cellulose and hemicellulose) and lignin which are not readily available in their native form. Previous research has shown that the use of non-ionic surfactants during pretreatment improved cellulose and hemicellulose digestibility and ethanol yields. In this study, biomass pretreatment was carried out by mixing sugarcane bagasse, ammonium hydroxide (28% v/v solution), and water at a ratio of 1:0.5:20 and 1:0.2:20, respectively, supplemented with 3% or 5% (w/w) Tween 80 (based on the weight of dry biomass) and the mixture heated to 160°C for 1 h. Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin compositions were determined before and after pretreatment. Fibers were hydrolyzed using Spezyme CP and Novozyme 188 at 30 FPU/g glucan and 30 CBU/g glucan, respectively. The most lignin removal (24%), cellulose digestibility (86%) and hemicellulose digestibility (43%) was observed at 1:0.5:20 supplemented with 3% (w/w) Tween 80. Fermentable sugars, organic acids, hydroxy-methyl-furfural and furfurals were analyzed by HPLC.