The alkaline pretreatment has the advantages of low energy input and atmospheric pressure to highly enhance the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol. However, the black liquor from the process would pollute the environment, which hinders its industrial application. This study selected
the potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the alkaline reagent for lignocellulosic pretreatment and investigated the feasibility of recycling the black liquor (BL) as molecular bio-activator for plant growth. After optimization of KOH pretreatment, the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of rice
straw achieved to 86.6% under the optimum condition of 2% KOH, 15:1 of liquid–solid ratio, 70 °C for 1 h. The ethanol production and conversion ratio was 32.24 g/L and 53.0% respectively at 20% solid loading. The tobacco cultured in the nutrient solution with BL was more luxuriant
than that without BL, of which the dry weight of plant increased 367% and the leaf area increment of tobacco was about 2∼4 times than the control after 30 days. Thus this study provided a promising way to accelerate the industrialization of alkaline pretreatment for cellulosic ethanol
production.
Characterization of lignocellulose of Erianthus arundinaceus in relation to enzymatic saccharification efficiency
