Kinetics of xylo-oligosaccharides production from corn residuos using microwave process in a biorefinery concept

The concept of a biorefinery that integrates processes and technologies for biomass conversion demands efficient utilization of all components. Moreover, in the recent years, the xylo-oligosaccharides are interesting raw material for bioethanol production, chemical, pharmaceutical and biomaterials industry. The microwave process on the effects of xylo-oligosaccharides production from hemicellulose fraction has been studied in this work. The microwave process was evaluated in different conditions of time and temperature and based on the utilization of water as sole catalyst. Thus, water was added to a corn residuo sample (solid/liquid, 1:10 w/v) and placed in a pressurized reactor, taking into account the moisture content. The heating was performed by microwave process, which drastically reduces heating times and the degradation of the hemicellulose fraction. The hemicelluloses were precipitated with three volumes of 95 % ethanol and dried for yield determination. The operation at 180 ºC/30 min showed to be the most efficient condition for xylo-oligosaccharides extraction. This process has been developed aiming at a more efficient utilization of corn residuos using microwave process for xylo-oligosaccharides production in a biorefinery concept.