Dilute acid pretreatment at different particle sizes of sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production
Cesário, A.L.L.1; Martins, L.H.S.1; da Costa, A.C.1
1 – School of chemical Engineering, State University of Campinas, Brazil
Lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to serve as a low cost and renewable feedstock for bioconversion into fermentable sugars, which can be further utilized for biofuel production. In Brazil, sugarcane bagasse represents an attractive material for this process, being an agro-industrial waste widely available.
On the other hand, lignocellulosic materials must be pretreated to disrupt its structure and make cellulose more available to digestion. It is also that particle size reduction is crucial factor in cellulosic conversion. The effect of particle size on dilute sulphuric acid pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse was determined aiming to improve the susceptibility of bagasse for enzymatic activity. Bagasse was ground using a knife mill, equipped with sieve, obtained particle sizes at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mm. Pretreatment time (0, 10, 20, 30 min) and temperature (140 and 180°C) were evaluated to analyze the influence at degradation of main components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Acid concentration (1% w/v) and solid-to-liquid (1:5) ratio were fixed. Mass balance after pretreatment step was performed, to each pretreatment considered, to evaluate the mass loss of solid fraction and and quantify components solubilized at liquor.