Seawater as Alternative to Freshwater in Pretreatment of Date Palm Residues for Bioethanol Production in Coastal and/or Arid Areas.
The large water consumption (1.9-5.9 m(3) water per m(3) of biofuel) required by biomass processing plants has become an emerging concern, which is particularly critical in arid/semiarid regions. Seawater, as a widely available water source, could be an interesting option. This work was to study the technical feasibility of using seawater to replace freshwater in the pretreatment of date palm leaflets, a lignocellulosic biomass from arid regions, for bioethanol production. It was shown that leaflets pretreated with seawater exhibited lower cellulose crystallinity than those pretreated with freshwater. Pretreatment with seawater produced comparably digestible and fermentable solids to those obtained with freshwater. Moreover, no significant difference of inhibition to Saccharomyces cerevisiae was observed between liquids from pretreatment with seawater and freshwater. The results showed that seawater could be a promising alternative to freshwater for lignocellulose biorefineries in coastal and/or arid/semiarid areas.
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Chuanji
C
Fang
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Mette Hedegaard
MH
Thomsen
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Grzegorz P
GP
Brudecki
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Iwona
I
Cybulska
Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
Christian Grundahl
CG
Frankaer
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Juan-Rodrigo
JR
Bastidas-Oyanedel
Institute Center for Energy (iEnergy), Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. jschmidt@masdar.ac.ae.
Jens Ejbye
JE
Schmidt
D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D065749:Phoeniceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014881:Water Supply
D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D000431:Ethanol; D008031:Lignin
biocatalysis; biomass; ethanol; solvent effects; water chemistry