Title: Wheat straw hydrolytic pretreatment using maleic acid to enhance ethanol production from sugars

Authors: Dimitrios Sidiras; Dorothea Politi; Georgios Katsamas

Addresses: Laboratory of Simulation of Industrial Processes, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, School of Maritime and Industrial Studies, University of Piraeus, Karaoli and Dimitriou 80, Piraeus 18534, Greece ' Laboratory of Simulation of Industrial Processes, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, School of Maritime and Industrial Studies, University of Piraeus, Karaoli and Dimitriou 80, Piraeus 18534, Greece ' Laboratory of Simulation of Industrial Processes, Department of Industrial Management and Technology, School of Maritime and Industrial Studies, University of Piraeus, Karaoli and Dimitriou 80, Piraeus 18534, Greece

Abstract: The acid hydrolysis of wheat straw was studied using a batch reactor. The hydrolysis was catalyzed by 0.01-0.09 M maleic acid for 0-50 min at 140°C-180°C. The hydrolysis kinetics of cellulose and hemicelluloses were simulated by a new model incorporating the acidity of the liquid phase. Moreover, the pH and the temperature profile during the process were included using a new modified severity factor R0*. The model parameters were calculated using nonlinear regression analysis. Process parameters investigated herein include variation in temperature, acid concentration and pH. The optimum reaction conditions resulting to maximum sugars yield were estimated according to the proposed model. For log R0* = 1.971 (0.05 M maleic acid, 180°C, 25 min) up to 18.2% w/w total glucose on cellulose basis, 91.0% w/w total xylose on xylan basis and 44.4% w/w total sugars on polysaccharides basis were obtained. The monosaccharides and oligosaccharides produced can be fermented to bioethanol. [Received: January 14, 2016; Accepted: September 26, 2016]

Keywords: biobased products; bioethanol; biorefineries; crystallinity index; acid hydrolysis; maleic acid; pretreatment; saccharification; severity factor; wheat straw; hydrolytic pretreatment; ethanol production; sugar yield; batch reactors; hydrolysis kinetics; cellulose; hemicelluloses; simulation; modelling; temperature; acid concentration; pH; monosaccharides; oligosaccharides.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.081106

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.14 No.1/2, pp.130 - 146

Received: 14 Jan 2016
Accepted: 26 Sep 2016

Published online: 21 Dec 2016 *

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