| 1. |
- Bansal, Namita, et al.
(author)
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Cell wall-associated transition metals improve alkaline-oxidative pretreatment in diverse hardwoods
- 2016
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In: Green Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9262 .- 1463-9270. ; 18:5, s. 1405-1415
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The responses of four diverse hardwoods (hybrid poplar, silver birch, hybrid aspen, and sugar maple) to alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) pretreated at ambient temperature and pressure were analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the cell wall properties that contribute to differences in enzymatic hydrolysis efficacy following alkaline-oxidative pretreatment. The enzymatic hydrolysis yields of these diverse hardwoods increased significantly with increasing the cell wall-associated, redox-active transition metal content. These increases in hydrolysis yields were directly correlated with improved delignification. Furthermore, we demonstrated that these improvements in hydrolysis yields could be achieved either through elevated levels of naturally-occurring metals, namely Cu, Fe, and Mn, or by the addition of a homogeneous transition metal catalyst (e.g. Cu 2,2′-bipyridine complexes) capable of penetrating into the cell wall matrix. Removal of naturally-occurring cell wall-associated transition metals by chelation resulted in substantial decreases in the hydrolysis yields following AHP pretreatment, while re-addition of metals in the form of Cu 2,2′-bipyridine complexes and to a limited extent Fe 2,2′-bipyridine complexes prior to pretreatment restored the improved hydrolysis yields. Glycome profiles showed improved extractability of xylan, xyloglucan, and pectin epitopes with increasing hydrolysis yields for the diverse hardwoods subjected to the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment, demonstrating that the strength of association between cell wall matrix polymers decreased as a consequence of improved delignification
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| 2. |
- Bhalla, Aditya, et al.
(author)
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Effective alkaline metal-catalyzed oxidative delignification of hybrid poplar
- 2016
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1754-6834. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundStrategies to improve copper-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (Cu-AHP) pretreatment of hybrid poplar were investigated. These improvements included a combination of increasing hydrolysis yields, while simultaneously decreasing process inputs through (i) more efficient utilization of H2O2 and (ii) the addition of an alkaline extraction step prior to the metal-catalyzed AHP pretreatment. We hypothesized that utilizing this improved process could substantially lower the chemical inputs needed during pretreatment.ResultsHybrid poplar was pretreated utilizing a modified process in which an alkaline extraction step was incorporated prior to the Cu-AHP treatment step and H2O2 was added batch-wise over the course of 10 h. Our results revealed that the alkaline pre-extraction step improved both lignin and xylan solubilization, which ultimately led to improved glucose (86 %) and xylose (95 %) yields following enzymatic hydrolysis. An increase in the lignin solubilization was also observed with fed-batch H2O2 addition relative to batch-only addition, which again resulted in increased glucose and xylose yields (77 and 93 % versus 63 and 74 %, respectively). Importantly, combining these strategies led to significantly improved sugar yields (96 % glucose and 94 % xylose) following enzymatic hydrolysis. In addition, we found that we could substantially lower the chemical inputs (enzyme, H2O2, and catalyst), while still maintaining high product yields utilizing the improved Cu-AHP process. This pretreatment also provided a relatively pure lignin stream consisting of ≥90 % Klason lignin and only 3 % xylan and 2 % ash following precipitation. Two-dimensional heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (2D HSQC) NMR and size-exclusion chromatography demonstrated that the solubilized lignin was high molecular weight (Mw ≈ 22,000 Da) and only slightly oxidized relative to lignin from untreated poplar.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that the fed-batch, two-stage Cu-AHP pretreatment process was effective in pretreating hybrid poplar for its conversion into fermentable sugars. Results showed sugar yields near the theoretical maximum were achieved from enzymatically hydrolyzed hybrid poplar by incorporating an alkaline extraction step prior to pretreatment and by efficiently utilizing H2O2 during the Cu-AHP process. Significantly, this study reports high sugar yields from woody biomass treated with an AHP pretreatment under mild reaction conditions.
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| 3. |
- Bhalla, Aditya, et al.
(author)
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Engineered Lignin in Poplar Biomass Facilitates Cu-Catalyzed Alkaline-Oxidative
- 2018
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In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2168-0485. ; 6:3, s. 2932-2941
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Both untransformed poplar and genetically modified “zip-lignin” poplar, in which additional ester bonds were introduced into the lignin backbone, were subjected to mild alkaline and copper-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (Cu-AHP) pretreatment. Our hypothesis was that the lignin in zip-lignin poplar would be removed more easily than lignin in untransformed poplar during this alkaline pretreatment, resulting in higher sugar yields following enzymatic hydrolysis. We observed improved glucose and xylose hydrolysis yields for zip-lignin poplar compared to untransformed poplar following both alkaline-only pretreatment (56% glucose yield for untransformed poplar compared to 67% for zip-lignin poplar) and Cu-AHP pretreatment (77% glucose yield for untransformed poplar compared to 85% for zip-lignin poplar). Compositional analysis, glycome profiling, and microscopy all supported the notion that the ester linkages increase delignification and improve sugar yields. Essentially no differences were noted in the molecular weight distributions of solubilized lignins between the zip-lignin poplar and the control line. Significantly, when zip-lignin poplar was utilized as the feedstock, hydrogen peroxide, catalyst, and enzyme loadings could all be substantially reduced while maintaining high sugar yields.
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| 4. |
- Bhalla, Aditya, et al.
(author)
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Integrated experimental and technoeconomic evaluation of two-stage Cu-catalyzed alkaline–oxidative pretreatment of hybrid poplar
- 2018
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels. - : Springer. - 1754-6834. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When applied to recalcitrant lignocellulosic feedstocks, multi-stage pretreatments can provide more processing flexibility to optimize or balance process outcomes such as increasing delignification, preserving hemicellulose, and maximizing enzymatic hydrolysis yields. We previously reported that adding an alkaline pre-extraction step to a copper-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (Cu-AHP) pretreatment process resulted in improved sugar yields, but the process still utilized relatively high chemical inputs (catalyst and H2O2) and enzyme loadings. We hypothesized that by increasing the temperature of the alkaline pre-extraction step in water or ethanol, we could reduce the inputs required during Cu-AHP pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis without significant loss in sugar yield. We also performed technoeconomic analysis to determine if ethanol or water was the more cost-effective solvent during alkaline pre-extraction and if the expense associated with increasing the temperature was economically justified.
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| 5. |
- Bhalla, Aditya, et al.
(author)
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Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties
- 2019
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1754-6834. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundIn this work, three pretreatments under investigation at the DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs) were subjected to a side-by-side comparison to assess their performance on model bioenergy hardwoods (a eucalyptus and a hybrid poplar). These include co-solvent-enhanced lignocellulosic fractionation (CELF), pretreatment with an ionic liquid using potentially biomass-derived components (cholinium lysinate or [Ch][Lys]), and two-stage Cu-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (Cu-AHP). For each of the feedstocks, the pretreatments were assessed for their impact on lignin and xylan solubilization and enzymatic hydrolysis yields as a function of enzyme loading. Lignins recovered from the pretreatments were characterized for polysaccharide content, molar mass distributions, β-aryl ether content, and response to depolymerization by thioacidolysis.ResultsAll three pretreatments resulted in significant solubilization of lignin and xylan, with the CELF pretreatment solubilizing the majority of both biopolymer categories. Enzymatic hydrolysis yields were shown to exhibit a strong, positive correlation with the lignin solubilized for the low enzyme loadings. The pretreatment-derived solubles in the [Ch][Lys]-pretreated biomass were presumed to contribute to inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis in the eucalyptus as a substantial fraction of the pretreatment liquor was carried forward into hydrolysis for this pretreatment. The pretreatment-solubilized lignins exhibited significant differences in polysaccharide content, molar mass distributions, aromatic monomer yield by thioacidolysis, and β-aryl ether content. Key trends include a substantially higher polysaccharide content in the lignins recovered from the [Ch][Lys] pretreatment and high β-aryl ether contents and aromatic monomer yields from the Cu-AHP pretreatment. For all lignins, the 13C NMR-determined β-aryl ether content was shown to be correlated with the monomer yield with a second-order functionality.ConclusionsOverall, it was demonstrated that the three pretreatments highlighted in this study demonstrated uniquely different functionalities in reducing biomass recalcitrance and achieving higher enzymatic hydrolysis yields for the hybrid poplar while yielding a lignin-rich stream that may be suitable for valorization. Furthermore, modification of lignin during pretreatment, particularly cleavage of β-aryl ether bonds, is shown to be detrimental to subsequent depolymerization.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Hildenbeutel, Markus, et al.
(author)
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Assembly factors monitor sequential hemylation of cytochrome b to regulate mitochondria! translation
- 2014
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In: Journal of Cell Biology. - : Rockefeller University Press. - 0021-9525 .- 1540-8140. ; 205:4, s. 511-524
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes convert chemical energy into a membrane potential by connecting electron transport with charge separation. Electron transport relies on redox cofactors that occupy strategic positions in the complexes. How these redox cofactors are assembled into the complexes is not known. Cytochrome b, a central catalytic subunit of complex III, contains two henne bs. Here, we unravel the sequence of events in the mitochondrial inner membrane by which cytochrome b is hemylated. Heme incorporation occurs in a strict sequential process that involves interactions of the newly synthesized cytochrome b with assembly factors and structural complex III subunits. These interactions are functionally connected to cofactor acquisition that triggers the progression of cytochrome b through successive assembly intermediates. Failure to hemylate cytochrome b sequesters the Cbp3-Cbp6 complex in early assembly intermediates, thereby causing a reduction in cytochrome b synthesis via a feedback loop that senses hemylation of cytochrome b.
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| 8. |
- Hildenbeutel, Markus, et al.
(author)
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The timing of heme incorporation into yeast cytochrome b
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- During oxidative phosphorylation electrons are transferred from NADH and succinate to the final electron acceptor oxygen by the complexes of the respiratory chain. These complexes carry redox active prosthetic groups that allow the transfer of electrons. Cytochrome b of the bc1 complex is encoded in the mitochondrial genome and acquires two heme b cofactors during its biogenesis. In this work we aimed to understand the mechanism and timing of cytochrome b hemylation. We provide evidence that cytochrome b present in the first bc1 complex assembly intermediate that contains the assembly factors Cbp3-Cbp6 and Cbp4 carries heme. This demonstrates that heme acquisition occurs very early during cytochrome b biogenesis. Moreover, by analyzing cytochrome b mutants lacking either of the two heme moieties, we reveal an obligate order of heme insertion into cytochrome b and suggest an incorporation mode from the intermembrane space. We propose a model in which Cbp3-Cbp6 keeps cytochrome b in a conformation allowing heme acquisition. Upon heme insertion, cytochrome b most likely undergoes a conformational change that enables binding of Cbp4, a pre-requisite for further assembly. Cbp4 thus might exhibit a proofreading function in hemylation.
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| 9. |
- Li, Zhenglun, et al.
(author)
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Catalysis with Cuii(bpy) improves alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment
- 2013
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In: Biotechnology and Bioengineering. - : Wiley. - 0006-3592 .- 1097-0290. ; 110:4, s. 1078-1086
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Copper(II) 2,2′-bipyridine (CuII(bpy))-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) pretreatment was performed on three biomass feedstocks including alkali pre-extracted switchgrass, silver birch, and a hybrid poplar cultivar. This catalytic approach was found to improve the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of plant cell wall polysaccharides to monosaccharides for all biomass types at alkaline pH relative to uncatalyzed pretreatment. The hybrid poplar exhibited the most significant improvement in enzymatic hydrolysis with monomeric sugar release and conversions more than doubling from 30% to 61% glucan conversion, while lignin solubilization was increased from 36.6% to 50.2% and hemicellulose solubilization was increased from 14.9% to 32.7%. It was found that CuII(bpy)-catalyzed AHP pretreatment of cellulose resulted in significantly more depolymerization than uncatalyzed AHP pretreatment (78.4% vs. 49.4% decrease in estimated degree of polymerization) and that carboxyl content the cellulose was significantly increased as well (fivefold increase vs. twofold increase). Together, these results indicate that CuII(bpy)-catalyzed AHP pretreatment represents a promising route to biomass deconstruction for bioenergy applications
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| 10. |
- Li, Zhenglun, et al.
(author)
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Chemical and structural changes associated with Cu-catalyzed alkaline-oxidative delignification of hybrid poplar
- 2015
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1754-6834. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment catalyzed by Cu(II) 2,2′-bipyridine complexes has previously been determined to substantially improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of woody plants including hybrid poplar as a consequence of moderate delignification. In the present work, cell wall morphological and lignin structural changes were characterized for this pretreatment approach to gain insights into pretreatment outcomes and, specifically, to identify the extent and nature of lignin modification. Results: Through TEM imaging, this catalytic oxidation process was shown to disrupt cell wall layers in hybrid poplar. Cu-containing nanoparticles, primarily in the Cu(I) oxidation state, co-localized with the disrupted regions, providing indirect evidence of catalytic activity whereby soluble Cu(II) complexes are reduced and precipitated during pretreatment. The concentration of alkali-soluble polymeric and oligomeric lignin was substantially higher for the Cu-catalyzed oxidative pretreatment. This alkali-soluble lignin content increased with time during the catalytic oxidation process, although the molecular weight distributions were unaltered. Yields of aromatic monomers (including phenolic acids and aldehydes) were found to be less than 0.2 % (wt/wt) on lignin. Oxidation of the benzylic alcohol in the lignin side-chain was evident in NMR spectra of the solubilized lignin, whereas minimal changes were observed for the pretreatment-insoluble lignin. Conclusions: These results provide indirect evidence for catalytic activity within the cell wall. The low yields of lignin-derived aromatic monomers, together with the detailed characterization of the pretreatment-soluble and pretreatment-insoluble lignins, indicate that the majority of both lignin pools remained relatively unmodified. As such, the lignins resulting from this process retain features closely resembling native lignins and may, therefore, be amenable to subsequent valorization.
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| 11. |
- Li, Zhenglun, et al.
(author)
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Rapid and effective oxidative pretreatment of woody biomass at mild reaction conditions and low oxidant loadings
- 2013
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1754-6834. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: One route for producing cellulosic biofuels is by the fermentation of lignocellulose-derived sugars generated from a pretreatment that can be effectively coupled with an enzymatic hydrolysis of the plant cell wall. While woody biomass exhibits a number of positive agronomic and logistical attributes, these feedstocks are significantly more recalcitrant to chemical pretreatments than herbaceous feedstocks, requiring higher chemical and energy inputs to achieve high sugar yields from enzymatic hydrolysis. We previously discovered that alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) pretreatment catalyzed by copper(II) 2,2-bipyridine complexes significantly improves subsequent enzymatic glucose and xylose release from hybrid poplar heartwood and sapwood relative to uncatalyzed AHP pretreatment at modest reaction conditions (room temperature and atmospheric pressure). In the present work, the reaction conditions for this catalyzed AHP pretreatment were investigated in more detail with the aim of better characterizing the relationship between pretreatment conditions and subsequent enzymatic sugar release.Results: We found that for a wide range of pretreatment conditions, the catalyzed pretreatment resulted in significantly higher glucose and xylose enzymatic hydrolysis yields (as high as 80% for both glucose and xylose) relative to uncatalyzed pretreatment (up to 40% for glucose and 50% for xylose). We identified that the extent of improvement in glucan and xylan yield using this catalyzed pretreatment approach was a function of pretreatment conditions that included H2O2 loading on biomass, catalyst concentration, solids concentration, and pretreatment duration. Based on these results, several important improvements in pretreatment and hydrolysis conditions were identified that may have a positive economic impact for a process employing a catalyzed oxidative pretreatment. These improvements include identifying that: (1) substantially lower H 2O2 loadings can be used that may result in up to a 50-65% decrease in H2O2 application (from 100 mg H 2O2/g biomass to 35-50 mg/g) with only minor losses in glucose and xylose yield, (2) a 60% decrease in the catalyst concentration from 5.0 mM to 2.0 mM (corresponding to a catalyst loading of 25 μmol/g biomass to 10 μmol/g biomass) can be achieved without a subsequent loss in glucose yield, (3) an order of magnitude improvement in the time required for pretreatment (minutes versus hours or days) can be realized using the catalyzed pretreatment approach, and (4) enzyme dosage can be reduced to less than 30 mg protein/g glucan and potentially further with only minor losses in glucose and xylose yields. In addition, we established that the reaction rate is improved in both catalyzed and uncatalyzed AHP pretreatment by increased solids concentrations.Conclusions: This work explored the relationship between reaction conditions impacting a catalyzed oxidative pretreatment of woody biomass and identified that significant decreases in the H2O 2, catalyst, and enzyme loading on the biomass as well as decreases in the pretreatment time could be realized with only minor losses in the subsequent sugar released enzymatically. Together these changes would have positive implications for the economics of a process based on this pretreatment approach.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Singh, Sandip K., et al.
(author)
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Integrated Two-Stage Alkaline-Oxidative Pretreatment of Hybrid Poplar. Part 1 : Impact of Alkaline Pre-Extraction Conditions on Process Performance and Lignin Properties
- 2019
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In: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0888-5885 .- 1520-5045. ; 58:35, s. 15989-15999
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We previously demonstrated that a two-stage pretreatment comprising of an alkaline pre-extraction followed by a Cu-catalyzed alkaline–oxidative treatment is effective at pretreating hardwoods under relatively mild reaction conditions. In this work, we focus on characterizing how biomass source and reaction conditions used during the alkaline pre-extraction impact the subsequent processing stages as well as lignin yields and properties. Specifically, three hybrid poplars were subjected to the first stage alkaline pre-extraction under various conditions including differences in time (15–300 min), temperature (95–155 °C), and alkali loadings (50–200 mg NaOH/g biomass), and the impact on total mass solubilization, lignin recovery, and lignin purity was determined. Empirical correlations were developed between reaction conditions and mass solubilization and lignin recovery during the pre-extraction stage. For select conditions, lignin properties were assessed and include β-O-4 content determined by 13C NMR, molecular mass distributions as determined by gel permeation chromatography, and susceptibility to depolymerization to aromatic monomers using thioacidolysis and formic acid catalyzed depolymerization. We found alkaline pre-extraction performed at higher temperatures generated lignins exhibiting lower contamination by polysaccharides, lower aromatic monomer yields from depolymerization, lower molar masses, and lower β-O-4 contents relative to the lower temperature pre-extractions. Finally, the pre-extracted biomass from select conditions was assessed for its response to the subsequent Cu-catalyzed alkaline–oxidative treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. It was demonstrated that minor differences in delignification during pre-extraction have quantifiable impacts on the subsequent efficacy of the second stage of pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis with improved lignin removal during the first pre-extraction stage resulting in improved hydrolysis yields.
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| 15. |
- Yuan, Zhaoyang, et al.
(author)
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Effective Biomass Fractionation through Oxygen-Enhanced Alkaline–Oxidative Pretreatment
- 2021
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In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2168-0485. ; 9:3, s. 1118-1127
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The high recalcitrance of plant cell walls is an obstacle for effective chemical or biological conversion into renewable chemicals and transportation fuels. Here, we investigated the utilization of both oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as co-oxidants during alkaline–oxidative pretreatment to improve biomass fractionation and increase enzymatic digestibility. The oxidative pretreatment of hybrid poplar was studied over a variety of conditions. Employing O2 in addition to H2O2 as a co-oxidant during the two-stage alkaline pre-extraction/copper-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (Cu-AHP) pretreatment process resulted in a substantial improvement in delignification relative to using H2O2 alone during the second-stage Cu-AHP pretreatment, leading to high overall sugar yields even at H2O2 loadings as low as 2% (w/w of the original biomass). The presence of H2O2, however, was both critical and synergistic. Performing analogous reactions in the absence of H2O2 resulted in approximately 25% less delignification and 30% decrease in sugar yields. The lignin isolated from this dual oxidant second stage had high aliphatic hydroxyl group content and reactivity to isocyanate, indicating that it is a promising substrate for the production of polyurethanes. To test the suitability of the isolated lignin as a source of aromatic monomers, the lignin was subjected to a sequential Bobbitt’s salt oxidation followed by a formic acid-catalyzed depolymerization process. Monomer yields of approximately 17% (w/w) were obtained, and the difference in yields was not significant between lignin isolated from our Cu-AHP process with and without O2 as a co-oxidant. Thus, the addition of O2 did not lead to significant lignin crosslinking, a result consistent with the two-dimensional heteronuclear single-quantum coherence NMR spectra of the isolated lignin.
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| 16. |
- Yuan, Zhaoyang, et al.
(author)
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Integrated Two-Stage Alkaline–Oxidative Pretreatment of Hybrid Poplar. Part 2 : Impact of Cu-Catalyzed Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide Pretreatment Conditions on Process Performance and Economics
- 2019
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In: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0888-5885 .- 1520-5045. ; 58:35, s. 16000-16008
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two-stage alkaline/copper 2,2′-bipyridine-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide (Cu-AHP) pretreatment is an effective strategy for improving the enzymatic digestibility of hybrid poplar. To reduce the chemical inputs and processing costs associated with this process, we investigated the effect of increasing the temperature for both the alkaline pre-extraction and the Cu-AHP pretreatment stages. The results indicate that increasing the alkaline pre-extraction and the Cu-AHP pretreatment temperatures from 30 to 120 and 80 °C, respectively, allowed us to reduce both the pretreatment time of the Cu-AHP stage and the chemical loadings. Incubating alkaline pre-extracted hybrid poplar for 12 h with 10% NaOH (w/w biomass), 8% hydrogen peroxide (w/w biomass), and a Cu2+ and 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) concentration of 1 mM yielded monomeric sugar yields of approximately 77% glucose and 66% xylose (based on the initial sugar composition) following enzymatic hydrolysis. Technoeconomic analysis (TEA) indicates that these changes to the two-stage alkaline/Cu-AHP pretreatment process could potentially reduce the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) by more than $1.00 per gallon of biofuel compared to the reference case where both stages were conducted at 30 °C with higher chemical inputs.
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| 17. |
- Yuan, Zhaoyang, et al.
(author)
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Technoeconomic evaluation of recent process improvements in production of sugar and high-value lignin co-products via two-stage Cu-catalyzed alkaline-oxidative pretreatment
- 2022
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In: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. - : Springer Nature. - 2731-3654. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: A lignocellulose-to-biofuel biorefinery process that enables multiple product streams is recognized as a promising strategy to improve the economics of this biorefinery and to accelerate technology commercialization. We recently identified an innovative pretreatment technology that enables of the production of sugars at high yields while simultaneously generating a high-quality lignin stream that has been demonstrated as both a promising renewable polyol replacement for polyurethane applications and is highly susceptible to depolymerization into monomers. This technology comprises a two-stage pretreatment approach that includes an alkaline pre-extraction followed by a metal-catalyzed alkaline-oxidative pretreatment. Our recent work demonstrated that H2O2 and O2 act synergistically as co-oxidants during the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment and could significantly reduce the pretreatment chemical input while maintaining high sugar yields (~ 95% glucose and ~ 100% xylose of initial sugar composition), high lignin yields (~ 75% of initial lignin), and improvements in lignin usage.Results: This study considers the economic impact of these advances and provides strategies that could lead to additional economic improvements for future commercialization. The results of the technoeconomic analysis (TEA) demonstrated that adding O2 as a co-oxidant at 50 psig for the alkaline-oxidative pretreatment and reducing the raw material input reduced the minimum fuel selling price from $1.08/L to $0.85/L, assuming recoverable lignin is used as a polyol replacement. If additional lignin can be recovered and sold as more valuable monomers, the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) can be further reduced to $0.73/L.Conclusions: The present work demonstrated that high sugar and lignin yields combined with low raw material inputs and increasing the value of lignin could greatly increase the economic viability of a poplar-based biorefinery. Continued research on integrating sugar production with lignin valorization is thus warranted to confirm this economic potential as the technology matures.
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