Hydrolysis hemicellulose

Initial Evaluation of Simple Mass Transfer Models to Describe Hemicellulose Hydrolysis in Corn Stover... 

Index Entries Pretreatment flowthrough batch mass transfer hemicellulose hydrolysis. 

In the present study, two mass transfer models were adapted from other applications, and preliminary comparisons were made to conventional reaction-only models to assess their abilities to describe hemicellulose hydrolysis inbatch and flowthrough reactors. Particular attention was paid to including production and diffusion of oligomers in these models with the intent of exploring whether this approach holds promise for explaining the performance of batch and flowthrough systems in a more consistent manner. 

This model was applied to the same data for batch and flowthrough systems with and without acid addition as for the previous two models, and some of the xylan conversion predictions calculated from the data and concentration predictions via Eq. 8 are summarized in Figs. 5 and 6 for batch and flowthrough systems, respectively. Tables 4 and 2 present the parameters and the SSE values for the branched pore model, respectively. Overall, although some data are better matched than others, hemicellulose hydrolysis models based on mass transfer alone can predict performance in batch and flow systems as well as, if not better than, reaction-only models. In addition, the changes in mass transfer coefficient with flow are consistent with expectations for a mass transfer model but not for strictly a chemical reaction. 

A branched pore leaching model as applied to release of water-soluble carbon from soil incorporates reaction to soluble compounds coupled with pore diffusion within the solids and leaching into the bulk solution. Application of such a model appears to describe hemicellulose hydrolysis reasonably well but not significantly better than chemical reaction only or simple leaching models. 

These results could suggest that what has been traditionally been described as "biphasic" behavior may reflect a combination of chemical reaction and mass transfer effects, with each limiting xylan reaction and removal at different stages or modes of operation. This effect might be better described by a model that incorporates reaction of solids to form soluble species as a function of temperature and acid concentration coupled with a second mass transfer step that is affected by flow. On this basis, we plan to investigate whether the pore leaching model could be simplified and adapted in this way to better describe hemicellulose hydrolysis. 

Index Entries Pretreatment hot water hemicellulose hydrolysis fluid velocity com stover. 

Xylan remaining in solid residues was also analyzed. As seen in Fig.5, increasing velocity significantly increased xylan removal, especially in the first 8 min. For example, xylan removal for operation at 2.8,5.2, and 10.7 cm/ min was 60, 70, and 82% for hot water only pretreatment of corn stover at 200°C after 8 min. However, after 16 min, the differences in xylan removal were less for all velocities run, suggesting that fluid velocity has less impact on the overall degree of hemicellulose hydrolysis. 

Index Entries Pretreatment dilute acid hemicellulose hydrolysis bisulfate neutralization. 

Predicting Catalytic Effect of Acid on Hemicellulose Hydrolysis... 

It is often assumed that hemicellulose hydrolysis is a first-order homogeneous reaction in hemicellulose, that is... 

Both Eqs. 3 and 4 show that hydrogen ion concentration should affect the rate of hemicellulose hydrolysis, but the neutralization capacity of biomass is not always taken into consideration in models reported in the literature. Neutralization is caused by basic minerals containing potassium, sodium, calcium, iron, and other cations present in biomass reacting with sulfuric acid and reducing available hydrogen ions stoichiometrically (17) ... 

The next phase in the development of advanced fermentation ethanol processes concerns the conversion to ethanol of all the pentose and hexose sugars released on hydrolysis of lignocellulosics. Traditional bakers yeast strains promote fermentation of hexoses at high yields, but over long periods of time, and they do not ferment the pentoses. Although some yeasts use both hexose and pentose sugars as sources of carbon and energy and ferment hexoses and xylose, they do not ferment arabinose and the other pentoses. The overall stoichiometry of hemicellulose hydrolysis and pentose fermentation is... 

Kinetic pattern of hemicellulose hydrolysis Hj refers to the fraction of hemicellulose easy to hydrolyze, and H2 refers to the fraction difficult to hydrolyze. 

The effectiveness of dilute acid hydrolysis as a pretreatment has been verified experimentally. Researchers at NREL have characterized the susceptibility of a variety of short rotation woody and herbaceous crops and agricultural residues upon dilute acid pretreatment [17,38-41]. What is more interesting is that the maximum digestibility usually coincides with complete hemicellulose removal. The dilute acid treatment of biomass aimed at hemicellulose hydrolysis has since become a widely accepted pretreatment method for enzymatic hydrolysis [16,42-44]. 

Because the hemicellulose fraction of biomass materials can be separated from lignin and cellulose by dilute acid treatment, cellulose becomes more reactive towards cellulase. Hemicellulose hydrolysis rates vary with acid concentration, temperature, and solid-to-liquid ratio. With most lignocellulosic materials, complete hemicellulose hydrolysis can be achieved in 5-10 min at 160°C or 30-60 min at 140 °C. Dilute acid hydrolysis forms the basis of many pretreatment processes for example, autohydrolysis and steam explosion are based on high-temperature dilute acid catalyzed hydrolysis of biomass. 

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