Iotech process

Several definitive reviews on pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials for improving cellulose hydrolysis (1,2,3) appeared a few years ago. More recently, two pretreatment methods (the Purdue process and the Iotech process) have been announced that claim superior perform-... 

Iotech A process for preparing wood for enzymatic digestion. The wood is heated with aqueous alkali under pressure and then rapidly decompressed. 

Alternatives to grinding include explosive depressurization, which is involved in the Iotech (5) and Masonite (16) processes, ultrasonics (17), osmotic cell rupture, and conventional chemical pulping techniques. Explosive depressurization appears especially promising because of its effectiveness and relatively low energy consumption. 

Since the most recent in-depth reviews, the Iotech and Purdue processes have been proclaimed by their advocates as breakthroughs. Waymans discovery of means to prevent lignin self-condensation during autohydrolysis also is a most significant finding. 

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