title: Bioconversion of paper mill sludge to bioethanol in the presence of accelerants or hydrogen peroxide pretreatment.
abstract: In this study we investigated the technical feasibility of convert paper mill sludge into fuel ethanol. This involved the removal of mineral fillers by using either chemical pretreatment or mechanical fractionation to determine their effects on cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation to ethanol. In addition, we studied the effect of cationic polyelectrolyte (as accelerant) addition and hydrogen peroxide pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. We present results showing that removing the fillers content (ash and calcium carbonate) from the paper mill sludge increases the enzymatic hydrolysis performance dramatically with higher cellulose conversion at faster rates. The addition of accelerant and hydrogen peroxide pretreatment further improved the hydrolysis yields by 16% and 25% (g glucose / g cellulose), respectively with the de-ashed sludge. The fermentation process of produced sugars achieved up to 95% of the maximum theoretical ethanol yield and higher ethanol productivities within 9h of fermentation.
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, 2001 Fourth Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA.
authors.forename: Raghu Nandan
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Gurram
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Shannag
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, 2001 Fourth Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas Joshua
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Lecher
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, 2001 Fourth Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA.
authors.forename: Shona M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: Department of Paper Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, USA.
authors.forename: Eric Lawrence
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Singsaas
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, 2001 Fourth Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA; Department of Paper Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, USA. Electronic address: Malek.Alkasrawi@uwsp.edu.
authors.forename: Malek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alkasrawi
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry; D002480:Cellulase / Q000737:chemistry; D000431:Ethanol / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000517:prevention & control; D010209:Paper; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015003:Yeasts / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D007220:Industrial Waste; D012722:Sewage; D000431:Ethanol; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D002480:Cellulase; D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Cationic polyelectrolytes; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Fillers; Hydrogen peroxide; Paper mill sludge