Influence of high solid loadings in the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with dilute acid using different particle sizes

Sugarcane bagasse is the main coproduct derived from sugar industrialization and is usually used as an energy source for power generation in plants. Furthermore, on the last years, sugarcane bagasse has been converted on a high economic value raw material to bioethanol production. In the hydrolysis of lignocellulose an initial pre-treatment is necessary to decrease their recalcitrant and increase the enzymatic digestibility. Each pretreatment have a specific effect on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin fractions, from this way, different methods and conditions can be chosen to determine the process configurations selected in the hydrolysis processes and subsequent fermentation stages.

The aim of this study was analyzed the influence of high solid loadings in different particle sizes and their subsequent bioconversion. Were performed different pre-treatments of sugarcane bagasse with dilute sulfuric acid at concentrations of 1, 1.5, 2 and 3% (w/v). The pretreatments were performed at 121 °C varying the time and particle size, and the studied time of 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes and size particle of 0.106, 0.25, 0.50 (mm) . All experiments were performed at solid load equals 15% wt. The characterization of the untreated and pretreated was performed according NREL methodology. Results show improvements in the release of sugars when using high concentration of acetic acid 3% (w/v) and particle size of 0.106 (mm). For sizes 0.25 and 0.50 (mm) did not show significant differences