Reduce recalcitrance of cornstalk using post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater pretreatment

Meng Li; Buchun Si; Yuanhui Zhang; Jamison Watson; Aersi Aierzhati

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.095

Reduce recalcitrance of cornstalk using post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater pretreatment

Bioresour Technol. 2019 May:279:57-66. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.095. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Authors

Meng Li¹, Buchun Si², Yuanhui Zhang³, Jamison Watson⁴, Aersi Aierzhati⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; National Energy R&D Center for Non-Food Biomass, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
² College of Water Resource and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
³ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Electronic address: yzhang1@illinois.edu.
⁴ Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

PMID: 30711753
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.095

Abstract

Hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) using an acidic catalyst is known to be effective for reducing lignocellulosic biomass recalcitrance. Post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater (PHW) from hydrothermal liquefaction of swine manure contains a large fraction of organic acids and thus was introduced to improve the HTP of cornstalk in this study. The response surface methodology was performed to optimize operating parameters of HTP for preserving structural polysaccharides while removing the barrier substances. A remarkable co-extraction of cell wall polymers was observed during PHW-catalyzed HTP at 172 °C for 88 min. The analysis of particle size, crystalline cellulose, the degree of polymerization (DP), mole number (MN) and SEM suggested that the co-extraction effect could distinctively alter lignocellulosic structures associated with recalcitrance and thus accelerate biomass saccharification. Additionally, the biodegradability of PHW was improved after HTP as a result of balanced nutrients and increased acids and sugars suitable for biogas production via anaerobic fermentation.

Keywords: Biodegradability; Biomass recalcitrance; Cornstalk; Hydrothermal pretreatment; Post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biofuels
Biomass*
Cellulose / chemistry
Fermentation
Polysaccharides / chemistry
Polysaccharides / metabolism
Swine
Wastewater / chemistry*
Zea mays / chemistry*

Substances

Biofuels
Polysaccharides
Waste Water
Cellulose