TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasma-Assisted Pretreatment of Wheat Straw for Ethanol Production
AU - Schultz-Jensen, Nadja
AU - Kádár, Zsófia
AU - Thomsen, Anne Belinda
AU - Bindslev, Henrik
AU - Leipold, Frank
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The potential of wheat straw for ethanol production after pretreatment with O3 generated in a plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature followed by fermentation was investigated. We found that cellulose and hemicellulose remained unaltered after ozonisation and a subsequent washing step, while lignin was degraded up to 95% by O3. The loss of biomass after washing could be explained by the amount of lignin degraded. The washing water of pretreated samples (0–7 h) was analyzed for potential fermentation inhibitors. Approximately 30 lignin degradation products and a number of simple carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were found, e.g., vanillic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid. Some components had the highest concentration at the beginning of the ozonisation process (0.5, 1 h), e.g., 4-hydroxybenzladehyde, while the concentration of others increased during the entire pretreatment (0–7 h), e.g., oxalic acid and acetovanillon. Interestingly, washing had no effect on the ethanol production with pretreatment times up to 1 h. Washing improved the glucose availability with pretreatment times of more than 2 h. One hour of ozonisation was found to be optimal for the use of washed and unwashed wheat straw for ethanol production (maximum ethanol yield, 52%). O3 cost estimations were made for the production of ethanol at standard conditions.
AB - The potential of wheat straw for ethanol production after pretreatment with O3 generated in a plasma at atmospheric pressure and room temperature followed by fermentation was investigated. We found that cellulose and hemicellulose remained unaltered after ozonisation and a subsequent washing step, while lignin was degraded up to 95% by O3. The loss of biomass after washing could be explained by the amount of lignin degraded. The washing water of pretreated samples (0–7 h) was analyzed for potential fermentation inhibitors. Approximately 30 lignin degradation products and a number of simple carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were found, e.g., vanillic acid, acetic acid, and formic acid. Some components had the highest concentration at the beginning of the ozonisation process (0.5, 1 h), e.g., 4-hydroxybenzladehyde, while the concentration of others increased during the entire pretreatment (0–7 h), e.g., oxalic acid and acetovanillon. Interestingly, washing had no effect on the ethanol production with pretreatment times up to 1 h. Washing improved the glucose availability with pretreatment times of more than 2 h. One hour of ozonisation was found to be optimal for the use of washed and unwashed wheat straw for ethanol production (maximum ethanol yield, 52%). O3 cost estimations were made for the production of ethanol at standard conditions.
KW - Bio refinery
KW - Bio systems
KW - Bioraffinaderi
KW - Biosystemer
U2 - 10.1007/s12010-011-9316-x
DO - 10.1007/s12010-011-9316-x
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 21728026
SN - 0273-2289
VL - 165
SP - 1010
EP - 1023
JO - Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
JF - Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
IS - 3-4
ER -