(519b) Hot-Water Pretreatment and Saccharification of Genetically Modified Cellulosic Feedstock for Fuel Production
AIChE Annual Meeting
2021
2021 Annual Meeting
Forest and Plant Bioproducts Division
Biomass Characterization, Pretreatment, and Fractionation
Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - 3:45pm to 4:00pm
In this work, hot-water pretreatment to deconstruct the lipid containing cellulosic biomass to concentrate the lipid in residue and enable efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharide backbone was evaluated. The biomass (bagasse) was composed of 35.32 ± 1.85% glucan, 20.62 ± 2.46% xylan and 17.01 ± 0.97% acid insoluble lignin. The biomass was pretreated at 170, 180, 190°C for different reaction times at 10% w/v solid loading. It was observed that under the optimal pretreatment condition, the cellulose content of the residue increased due to solubilization of hemicellulose and other components (Table 1). The residues and the autohydrolysate lipid content were quantified (Table 2) and analyzed for the triglyceride content (Figure 1). It can be noted that a concentration of triglycerides in the residue occurs upon pretreatment and the highest concentration was observed at 170°C. The pretreatment condition where highest lipid and cellulose content was observed in residue was selected for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreated residue was enzymatically hydrolyzed into constituent monosaccharides using a mixture of cellulases and hemicellulase. The residues and the liquor after enzymatic hydrolysis were analyzed for lipid content. The preliminary results are indicative of an increase in lipid content upon pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Moreover, high conversion of polysaccharides into constituent monosaccharides (glucose and xylose) was observed.
Thus, in this work, a cellulosic pretreatment approach was used to pretreat lipid-producing genetically engineered crop to obtain lipid and sugar. Thus, a single feedstock could potentially enable the production of two renewable fuels, biodiesel and bioethanol.