Use of membrane separation in enzymatic hydrolysis of waste paper

A three-stage process containing phosphoric acid pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and membrane filtration was performed on waste paper as a lignocellulosic material. In the first two stages, the effect of phosphoric acid concentration, enzyme loading, hydrolysis time, and substrate concentration on the amount of products was investigated. At the third stage using a proper membrane, the effect of substrate concentration and transmembrane pressure (TMP) on yield of the reducing sugars was studied. The novelty of the present study was to demonstrate the application of ultrafiltration membrane on the enzymatic hydrolysis process of waste paper. The reducing sugars concentration was determined by using the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) reagent method. According to the results, a value of 0.5% was determined as the optimum concentration for phosphoric acid in the pretreatment stage. The reducing sugars yield was obtained as 67.4% in this concentration. Moreover, for the enzymatic hydrolysis of waste paper, the suitable amounts of cellulase enzyme loading and hydrolysis time were determined as 50 mg/g substrate and 48 h, respectively. In the filtration stage, increase of substrate concentration and decrease of TMP resulted in higher rejection of the reducing sugars. The experimental results revealed that the highest rejection was 19.2% at TMP of 3 bar and substrate concentration of 100 g/L.