The pretreatment of corn stover with dilute sulfuric acid has been investigated by varying the acid concentration (0.5%-1.25%(w/w)) and the temperature (130-160°C). The pretreatment is aimed at improving enzymatic hydrolysis and increasing the fermentability of the biomass. Given the overall sugar yield, the most favourable pretreatment condition was performed with 0.75% sulfuric acid at 150°C for 30min and then with an enzyme loading of cellulase 15 FPU per gram of cellulose, and it resulted in a total of 49.74g glucose and xylose from 100g dry corn stover. The fiber physical feature, structure and property of pretreated residues were studied with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The SEM pictures indicated that the biomass structure was deformed and its fibers were exposed by the pretreatment. FTIR study showed that lignin and hemicellulose were partially removed during the diluted sulfuric acid pretreatment.
Comparison of Dilute Organic and Sulfuric Acid Pretreatment for Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Bamboo
