Comparative study of producing fermentable sugar using batch and continuous hydrothermal pretreatment reactors

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) has been conducting a national R&D project funded by Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) since 2014. The main objective of the project is to develop an economical total process for pilot-scale fermentable sugar production applicable to microbial fermentation using a lignocellulosic biomass. This process is called “KrictBiosugar process” and features only use of water through the process.   

In developing the KrictBiosugar process, SüPR•2G systems, a bench scale reactor with a capacity of 250 kg/day designed by AdvanceBio Systems LLC, has been introduced and being operated using a wide range of lignocellulosic biomass such as empty fruit bunches, miscanthus, acacia/birch wood chip, corn stover, reed, etc. for producing fermentable sugar. According to the results from both laboratory-scale application using a bomb-type mini-reactor with a total volume of 100 mL and continuous SüPR•2G systems, it was found that there were some differences between them in terms of pretreatment efficiency and enzymatic digestibility, although they were conducted under the same condition. In this study, therefore, a comparative evaluation was conducted between two different reactors depending on pretreatment conditions such as temperature and residence time, and major factors causing the difference in their performance were investigated. The more detailed results will be presented and discussed.