Abstract
The Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation, with members from Auburn University, Dartmouth College, Michigan State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of California at Riverside, has developed comparative data on the conversion of corn stover to sugars by several leading pretreatment technologies. These technologies include ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment, ammonia recycle percolation pretreatment, dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment, flowthrough pretreatment (hot water or dilute acid), lime pretreatment, controlled pH hot water pretreatment, and sulfur dioxide steam explosion pretreatment. Over the course of two separate USDA- and DOE-funded projects, these pretreatment technologies were applied to two different corn stover batches, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of the remaining solids from each pretreatment technology using identical enzyme preparations, enzyme loadings, and enzymatic hydrolysis assays. Identical analytical methods and a consistent material balance methodology were employed to develop comparative sugar yield data for each pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Although there were differences in the profiles of sugar release, with the more acidic pretreatments releasing more xylose directly in the pretreatment step than the alkaline pretreatments, the overall glucose and xylose yields (monomers + oligomers) from combined pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process steps were very similar for all of these leading pretreatment technologies. Some of the water-only and alkaline pretreatment technologies resulted in significant amounts of residual xylose oligomers still remaining after enzymatic hydrolysis that may require specialized enzyme preparations to fully convert xylose oligomers to monomers.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the Unites States Department of Agriculture Initiative for Future Agricultural and Food Systems Program (contract number 00-52104-9663) and the United States Department of Energy Office of the Biomass Program (contract number DE-FG36-04GO14017) for funding the collaborative research projects of the CAFI team. In addition, support by Natural Resources Canada allowed participation by the University of British Columbia in the second CAFI project. The authors also recognize Tim Eggeman of Neoterics International, who (via contract with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) has provided the process engineering and economic analysis expertise in support of all CAFI projects to date. We also wish to recognize the true collaborative spirit of the CAFI team that makes such projects possible and pleasurable and thank the many undergraduate and graduate students, post doctoral candidates, technicians, and others on the CAFI Team for their vital role in developing this information.
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Elander, R.T., Dale, B.E., Holtzapple, M. et al. Summary of findings from the Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation (CAFI): corn stover pretreatment. Cellulose 16, 649–659 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9308-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9308-y