A comparative study for the organic byproducts from hydrothermal carbonizations of sugarcane bagasse and its bio-refined components cellulose and lignin

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 1;13(6):e0197188. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197188. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse was refined into cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin using an ethanol-based organosolv technique. The hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) reactions were applied for bagasse and its two components cellulose and lignin. Based on GC-MS analysis, 32 (13+19) organic byproducts were derived from cellulose and lignin, more than the 22 byproducts from bagasse. Particularly, more valuable catechol products were obtained from lignin with 56.8% share in the total GC-MS integral area, much higher than the 2.263% share in the GC-MS integral areas of bagasse. The organic byproducts from lignin make up more than half of the total mass of lignin, indicating that lignin is a chemical treasure storage. In general, bio-refinery and HTC are two effective techniques for the valorization of bagasse and other biomass materials from agriculture and forest industry. HTC could convert the inferior biomass to superior biofuel with higher energy quantity of combustion, at the same time many valuable organic byproducts are produced. Bio-refinery could promote the HTC reaction of biomass more effective. With the help of bio-refinery and HTC, bagasse and other biomass materials are not only the sustainable energy resource, but also the renewable and environment friendly chemical materials, the best alternatives for petroleum, coal and natural gas.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomass*
  • Cellulose / chemistry*
  • Lignin / chemistry*
  • Saccharum / chemistry*

Substances

  • Cellulose
  • Lignin
  • bagasse

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grant from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/) under the contract numbers 31360207 and 31370716, and also supported by Guangxi President Research Funding (no. 16449-02). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.