Optimization of ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Miscanthus x giganteus to fermentable sugars.
Miscanthus x giganteus is a tall perennial grass whose suitability as an energy crop is presently being appraised. There is very little information on the effect of pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of Miscanthus to produce fermentable sugars. This paper reports sugar yields during enzymatic hydrolysis from ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreated Miscanthus. Pretreatment conditions including temperature, moisture, ammonia loading, residence time, and enzyme loadings are varied to maximize hydrolysis yields. In addition, further treatments such as soaking the biomass prior to AFEX as well as washing the pretreated material were also attempted to improve sugar yields. The optimal AFEX conditions determined were 160 degrees C, 2:1 (w/w) ammonia to biomass loading, 233% moisture (dry weight basis), and 5 min reaction time for water-soaked Miscanthus. Approximately 96% glucan and 81% xylan conversions were achieved after 168 h enzymatic hydrolysis at 1% glucan loading using 15 FPU/(g of glucan) of cellulase and 64 p-NPGU/(g of glucan) of beta-glucosidase along with xylanase and tween-80 supplementation. A mass balance for the AFEX pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process is presented.
Murnen
Hannah K
HK
Biomass Conversion Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, 2527 Engineering Building, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
Balan
Venkatesh
V
Chundawat
Shishir P S
SP
Bals
Bryan
B
Sousa
Leonardo da Costa
Lda C
Dale
Bruce E
BE
D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D000641:Ammonia / Q000737:chemistry*; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002480:Cellulase / Q000737:chemistry; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases / Q000737:chemistry; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D005285:Fermentation; D006868:Hydrolysis; D006109:Poaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D011096:Polygalacturonase / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
D002241:Carbohydrates; D000641:Ammonia; D011096:Polygalacturonase; D002480:Cellulase; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases