In this study, five acid or alkali catalyzed ethylene glycol (EG) organosolv pretreatments were proposed and compared for sugar production from bagasse. The results showed that compared with single EG/H2O pretreatment, the EG/H2O-HCl pretreatment was more efficient for both hemicellulose (~99.3%) and lignin (~67.1%) remove due to the synergistic effect of HCl and EG. The EG/H2O-NaOH pretreatment was also beneficial for lignin remove (~90.9%), but it was weak for hemicellulose degradation (~28.8%). Both EG/H2O-HCl and EG/H2O-NaOH pretreatments have good capacity to reserve the cellulose in pretreated solids. Following enzymatic saccharification, the largest glucose recovery yield from EG/H2O-HCl pretreatment was 94.3%, a slightly higher than this from EG/H2O-NaOH pretreatment (92.5%). However, its xylose recovery yield was only 77.3%, significantly lower than that of EG/H2O-NaOH pretreatment (93.5%). Besides, a certain amount of lignin also can be recovered from above acid or alkali catalyzed organosolv pretreatments through diluting or acidizing the pretreated liquids.
Keywords: Bagasse; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Glucose; Lignin; Pretreatment; Xylose.
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