Sequential Acid and Alkaline Pretreatment of Rice Straw for Bioethanol Fermentation

Pretreatment is a prerequisite step for increasing the enzymatic digestibility of agricultural residues for conversion to fuels and chemicals in biorefineries. In this study, a sequential acid and alkaline process was developed for pretreatment of rice straw for ethanol fermentation. Effects of key parameters in acid pretreatment were studied using a full factorial design model, which showed the higher influence of time compared to acid concentration and temperature on reducing sugar yields. The combined sequential process involved an initial hemicellulose solubilization by dilute acid using 1% (w/v) H2SO4 at 125 °C for 10 min, followed by alkaline delignification using 1.25% NaOH at 90 °C for 10 min. Under these conditions, a glucose recovery yield of 70.9% from saccharification of the cellulose enriched fraction was obtained with 2- to 4-fold savings in chemical usage as compared with single-step processes. Scanning electron microscopy revealed modification of biomass micro-structure and increases in reactive surface area. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of the solid residues by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using 25 FPU/g Accellerase® 1500, led to a final ethanol concentration of 21.0 g/L with the productivity of 0.27 g/L/h, equivalent to 84.6% theoretical yield. The results indicate the potential of the sequential process for increasing pretreatment efficiency and allowing stepwise separation of lignocellulose components for multi-product biorefineries

Optimization of Liquid Hot Water Pretreatment and Fermentation for Ethanol Production from Sugarcane Bagasse Using <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>

Sugarcane bagasse can be considered a potential raw material in terms of quantity and quality for the production of alternative biofuels. In this research, liquid hot water (LHW) was studied as a pretreatment process to enhance the digestibility of pretreated material for further conversion into bioethanol. Different variables (temperature, residual time, and acid concentration) were determined to predict the optimized condition. LHW pretreatment showed an impact on the hemicellulose structure. The optimized condition at 160 °C for 60 min with 0.050 M acid concentration reached the highest glucose yield of 96.86%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed conspicuous modification of the sugarcane bagasse structure. The effect of LHW pretreatment was also demonstrated by the changes in crystallinity and surface area analysis. FTIR techniques revealed the chemical structure changes of pretreated sugarcane bagasse. The prepared material was further converted into ethanol production with the maximized ethanol concentration of 19.9 g/L