Evaluation of the effects of operational parameters in the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with diluted sulfuric acid using analysis of variance

The pretreatment of lignocellulosic residues has been extensively studied as a method to disrupt the cellulose–hemicelluloses–lignin complex in biomass to access the sugars in their respective components. In this work, we carried out a study using sulfuric acid pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse by varying the following operational parameters: solid loading (10–30% of bagasse relative to the volume of the sulfuric acid solution), sulfuric acid concentration (0.5–2.5% relative to the dry mass of bagasse), reaction time (5–25?min), and temperature (135–195°C). The obtained solids from each pretreatment condition were submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis under the same process conditions: 0.232?g of Celluclast 1.5?L and 0.052?g of Novozym 188 per g of pretreated sugarcane bagasse, 72?h of hydrolysis, and 200?rpm of agitation at 50°C. Using central composite rotational design configuration in the experiments and analysis of variance, the results indicate that the conditions that produced larger quantities of glucose by enzymatic hydrolysis (0.35?g glucose/g pulp) with minimum amounts of degradation products were as follows: 20% solids loading, 15?min of reaction time, 1.5% sulfuric acid, and a minimum temperature of reaction of 170°C.     

Enhancing saccharification of Agave tequilana bagasse by oxidative delignification and enzymatic synergism for the production of hydrogen and methane

Agave tequilana bagasse is a suitable lignocellulosic residue for energy production. However, the presence of lignin and the heterogeneous structure of hemicellulose may hinder the availability of polysaccharides. In this work, the pretreatment of A. tequilana bagasse with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) followed by enzymatic saccharification with hemicellulases and cellulases was assessed for the removal of lignin and extraction of fermentable sugars, respectively. Results of the AHP pretreatment indicated that it is possible to attain up to 97% delignification and recover 88% of cellulose and hemicellulose after only 1.5 h of treatment. Regarding the saccharification process, the total sugar yield and productivity were both increased by 2-fold using an enzymatic mixture (cellulases + hemicellulases) compared to single enzyme hydrolysis (cellulases), evidencing synergism. Further evaluation of the hydrolyzates as substrate for hydrogen and methane production, resulted in yields 1.5 and 3.6-times (215.14 ± 13 L H₂ and 393.4 ± 13 L CH₄ per kg bagasse, respectively) superior to those obtained with hydrolyzates of non-pretreated bagasse processed with a single enzyme. Overall, using AHP pretreatment and subsequent hydrolysis with enzymatic mixtures improves the saccharification of A. tequilana bagasse enhancing the production of hydrogen and methane.     

Modified Kraft Pulping of Bagasse: Infrared Spectroscopy of Lignin

Abstract

The infrared spectroscopy of precipitated lignin from waste black liquors of bagasse pulping with kraft sulfite pulping process was investigated. Also the effect of anthraquinon and methanol addition in the soda, kraft and kraft-sulfite pulping liquor on the infrared specra of the precipitated lignin was studied. The presence of methanol in the pulping liquor causes an increase in the degradation as well as increase in the carboxylic group in the precipitated lignin. Also, the phenolic hydroxyl group in case of kraft lignin is higher than soda lignin. Presence of sulfite in the kraft-sulfite pulping liquor produces lignin hydroxyl groups.     

Electrochemical bleaching of kraft bagasse pulp using a new cell design

In situ single‐stage electrochemical bleaching of kraft bagasse pulp was carried out in a cylindrical agitated vessel fitted with four graphite rod anodes and a cylindrical stainless steel screen cathode, using NaCl as an electrolyte. The effect of current density, pH, NaCl concentration, impeller rotational speed, temperature, and pulp consistency on the rate of bleaching was studied. It was found that the rate of bleaching increased with increasing current density, NaCl concentration, and temperature and decreased with increasing pH and pulp consistency. The effect of temperature was found to fit Arrhenius equation with an activation energy of 0.515 kcal/mol, which denotes a diffusion‐controlled mechanism. Energy consumption (EC) calculation showed that EC ranged from 0.225 to 3.11 kWh/kg dry pulp depending on the current density. The strength of bleached pulp was little affected by bleaching lying within an acceptable range.     

Comparison of ionic liquid,acid and alkali pretreatments for sugarcane bagasse enzymatic saccharification

BACKGROUND: Much attention has been given to applying ionic liquids (ILs) as an alternative pretreatment method for lignocellulosic biomass. This study aims to select the most suitable type of IL for pretreating sugarcane bagasse (SCB). The potential of ILs for pretreatment was evaluated and compared with conventional pretreatment media, acids and alkalis. The performance of the pretreatment media was evaluated based on the amount of reducing sugar produced from enzymatic saccharification, the energy requirement, and changes in the chemical structure and crystallinity index of the pretreated bagasse. RESULTS: 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium acetate [EMIM]oAc was selected as the most suitable IL for SCB pretreatment. The optimum yields of reducing sugar obtained from [EMIM]oAc‐, alkali‐, and acid‐pretreated SCB were 69.5%, 92.8% and 41.3%, respectively. Although a lower yield of reducing sugar was obtained, [EMIM]oAc pretreatment required the least energy to pretreat 1 kg of SCB. Moreover, the percentage of SCB loss during [EMIM]oAc pretreatment was the lowest. [EMIM]oAc‐pretreated SCB also had the lowest crystallinity index (CI) with the most amorphous structure. CONCLUSION: [EMIM]oAc appears to be another option for pretreating SCB, and other issues such as the recyclability of [EMIM]oAc is worth investigating. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Can Brazil replace 5% of the 2025 gasoline world demand with ethanol?

Increasing use of petroleum, coupled with concern for global warming, demands the development and institution of CO₂ reducing, non-fossil fuel-based alternative energy-generating strategies. Ethanol is a potential alternative, particularly when produced in a sustainable way as is envisioned for sugarcane in Brazil. We consider the expansion of sugarcane-derived ethanol to displace 5% of projected gasoline use worldwide in 2025. With existing technology, 21 million hectares of land will be required to produce the necessary ethanol. This is less than 7% of current Brazilian agricultural land and equivalent to current soybean land use. New production lands come from pasture made available through improving pasture management in the cattle industry. With the continued introduction of new cane varieties (annual yield increases of about 1.6%) and new ethanol production technologies, namely the hydrolysis of bagasse to sugars for ethanol production and sugarcane trash collection providing renewable process energy production, this could reduce these modest land requirements by 29–38%.     

云南昌宁蔗区不同耕层土壤养分的垂直分布

研究了蔗园土壤养分的垂直分布特征。结果表明:(1)不管是在旱地蔗园还是在水田蔗园,0～30cm土层的有机质、水解氮、速效磷、速效钾等主要养分含量明显高于30～60cm的土层,但全氮、全磷、全钾在0～30cm土层与30～60cm土层之间没有明显的变化。(2)旱地蔗园的有效铁、有效锰和有效铜0～30cm土层比30～60cm土层高,有效锌含量在0～30cm的土层与30～60cm的土层之间变化不大。     

Impact of dilute acid pretreatment on the structure of bagasse for bioethanol production

Dilute acid pretreatment is a commonly used pretreatment method in the course of producing bioethanol from lignocellulosics and the structure variation of the lignocellulosics is highly related to the pretreatment process. To understand the impact of dilute acid pretreatment on the structure of bagasse, four different pretreatment conditions by varying heating time are considered where the bagasse and the pretreated materials are examined using a variety of analysis methods. The obtained results indicate that the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is able to provide a useful insight into the recognition of lignocellulosic structure. Specifically, the peak of the TGA of the pretreated materials moves toward the low temperature region, revealing that the lignocellulosic structure is loosened. However, the characteristic of crystal structure of cellulose remains in the pretreated materials. Increasing heating time enhances the pretreatment procedure; as a result, the average particle size of the investigated materials increases with heating time. This swelling behavior may be attributed to the enlarged holes inside the particles in that the surface area decreases with increasing heating time. In addition, when the heating time is increased to a certain extent (e.g. 15 min), some fragments are found at the surface and they tend to peel off from the surface. It follows that the dilute acid pretreatments have a significant effect on the bagasse structure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production of active lipase by Rhizopus oryzae from sugarcane bagasse: solid state fermentation in a tray bioreactor

This study deals with production of lipase in solid state fermentation by Rhizopus oryzae from sugarcane bagasse. A tray bioreactor was designed for the extracellular enzyme production. Daily, lipase production was evaluated at several incubation temperatures. Furthermore, the influence of temperature and humidity of the cabinet, depth of solid bed, particle size, initial moisture content and supplementary substrate (olive oil) as carbon source was investigated. The obtained results showed that bioreactor temperature of 45 °C, humidity of 80%, solid bed depth of 0.5 cm, particle size in the range of 0.335–1 mm, substrate initial moisture content of 80% for the top tray and 70% for the middle tray and supplementary substrate of 8% (v/w) olive oil led to maximum lipase production. Under optimum fermentation conditions after 72‐h incubation, maximum lipase activities for the top, middle and bottom trays were 215.16, 199.36 and 52.64 U gds^?1, respectively.