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Plasma-Assisted Pretreatment of Wheat Straw for Ethanol Production

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Abstract

The potential of wheat straw for ethanol production after pretreatment with O3 generated in a plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature followed by fermentation was investigated. We found that cellulose and hemicellulose remained unaltered after ozonisation and a subsequent washing step, while lignin was degraded up to 95% by O3. The loss of biomass after washing could be explained by the amount of lignin degraded. The washing water of pretreated samples (0–7 h) was analyzed for potential fermentation inhibitors. Approximately 30 lignin degradation products and a number of simple carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were found, e.g., vanillic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid. Some components had the highest concentration at the beginning of the ozonisation process (0.5, 1 h), e.g., 4-hydroxybenzladehyde, while the concentration of others increased during the entire pretreatment (0–7 h), e.g., oxalic acid and acetovanillon. Interestingly, washing had no effect on the ethanol production with pretreatment times up to 1 h. Washing improved the glucose availability with pretreatment times of more than 2 h. One hour of ozonisation was found to be optimal for the use of washed and unwashed wheat straw for ethanol production (maximum ethanol yield, 52%). O3 cost estimations were made for the production of ethanol at standard conditions.

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Acknowledgment

We want to thank Ingelis Larsen, Annette Eva Jensen, and Tomas Fernqvist for technical assistance. This project was funded by the Danish Energy Foundation in Copenhagen, Denmark (EFP07, J. no. 33033-0043).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosystems Division, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Nadja Schultz-Jensen, Zsófia Kádár & Anna Belinda Thomsen

  2. Plasma Physics and Technology Programme, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Henrik Bindslev & Frank Leipold

  3. Department of Geochemistry, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Østre Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Nadja Schultz-Jensen

Authors
  1. Nadja Schultz-Jensen
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  2. Zsófia Kádár
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  3. Anna Belinda Thomsen
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  4. Henrik Bindslev
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  5. Frank Leipold
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Correspondence to Frank Leipold.

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Schultz-Jensen, N., Kádár, Z., Thomsen, A.B. et al. Plasma-Assisted Pretreatment of Wheat Straw for Ethanol Production. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 165, 1010–1023 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9316-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9316-x

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