Results
Title

Effects of Enzyme Loading, Densification, and Storage on AFEX-Pretreated Biomass for Ethanol Production.

Authors

Biersbach, Gwen; Rijal, Binod; Pryor, Scott; Gibbons, William

Abstract

Corn stover, switchgrass, and prairie cordgrass were treated with an ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) process and a novel densification method (ComPAKco). Separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) were used to evaluate impacts of densification. ComPAKco densification is characterized by low-temperature and low-energy requirements, resulting in compacted biomass briquettes (CBB) 1-2 cm square, with a bulk density of 380-460 kg/m. Feedstocks were evaluated before and following AFEX pretreatment, after densification, and after storage. Two enzyme doses were tested. The low rate used 5 filter paper units (FPU) of Spezyme CP (cellulase) and 21.3 cellobiase units (CBU) of Novozyme 188 (aka NS50010 [β-glucosidase]) per gram of glucan. The high dosage rate was three times higher and resulted in 40-56 % and 33-82 % higher ethanol yields with SHF and SSF, respectively. Trials revealed no adverse effect on ethanol yield following densification or 6-month storage of densified, AFEX-pretreated feedstocks.

Subjects

SOIL densification; BIOMASS production; ETHANOL; CORN stover; HYDROLYSIS; FERMENTATION

Publication

Applied Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2015, Vol 177, Issue 7, p1530

ISSN

0273-2289

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1007/s12010-015-1833-6