Acid-base pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass to facilitate recovery of fermentable sugar for anaerobic fermentation

Abstract

The need for alternative source of energy cannot be overemphasized. Plant cells are mainly composed by lignocellulosic material, which includes cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (lignocellulosic complex), Biogas produced from various lignocellulosic biomass, such as hardwood, agricultural, or forest residues, can be a useful replacement for the conventional energy production. Several physical, structural and compositional factors has the ability to stop the hydrolysis of cellulose present in biomass to simple sugar and other organic compounds that can later be converted to biofuels. The aim of pretreatment is to make the cellulose accessible to hydrolysis and to get rid of the recalcitrant lignin for conversion to fuels to be possible. Various pretreatment techniques change the physical and chemical structure of the lignocellulosic biomass and improve hydrolysis rates. During the past few years a large number of pretreatment methods have been developed, including alkali treatment, ammonia explosion, and others. Many methods have been shown to result in high sugar yields, above 90% of the theoretical yield for lignocellulosic biomasses such as woods, grasses, corn, and so on. This research work looks at acid-base pretreatment process methods. It also showed that this method works and can recover high percentage of simple sugar for fermentation. It adopts the technique of dilute acid low temperature.