13-19: Steam explosion – alkali solvent based fractionation enabled efficient cellulose from barley husk

The largest technical and economical obstacle to second generation biorefineries is cost-effective release of cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass. To evaluate the potential of lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock for biofuels, five lignocellulosic biomass (feedstock, including Miscanthus sinensis, Sorghum bicolor, Soybean hull, barley husk, Populus euramericana) varieties were analyzed for their chemical composition and subjected to pretreatment at steam explosion – alkali solvent for fractionation. Based on steam explosion condition and solid recovery, the barley husk selected for optimization of pretreatment conditions. The effects of alkali pretreatment (potassium hydroxide) variables, such as reaction time, reaction temperature and potassium hydroxide concentration, were studied using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on a factorial Central Composite Design (CCD). The optimum conditions for maximum cellulose content were determined to be 201 min reaction time, 124 ° reaction temperature and 0.9 % potassium hydroxide concentration. This data shows that the actual value obtained was similar to the predicted value calculated from the model. These results suggested that steam explosion – alkali solvent fractionation could be regarded as the herbaceous feedstock-independent pretreatment suitable for processing diverse feedstock.