(770d) Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide Pretreatment of Softwood

Pretreatment of softwood is most challenging largely due to the high lignin content and difficulty in break down lignin compared to hardwood and grass. Acid or SO₂ pre-impregnated steam explosion and organosolv pretreatments have been employed. Both are facing high capital cost and low recovery of hemicellulose. Hydrogen peroxide (HP) is an effective delignification agent and has been widely employed in lignin remove/degradation in paper industry. We also recently found that hemicellulose can be recovered as valuable chemicals from HP pretreatment. This study demonstrated an integrated HP treatment of Douglas fir softwood with the opportunity to simultaneously produce valuable chemicals along with biomass pretreatment in order to maximize the value of both hemicellulose and cellulose.