The promotional effect of water-soluble extractives on the enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis of pretreated wheat straw.

Enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis of pretreated wheat straw pulp to glucose is enhanced when the hydrolysis is performed in the presence of an aqueous extract of the wheat straw. A relative digestibility increase of about 10% has been observed for organosolv, alkaline and dilute acid pretreated wheat straw pulp (enzyme dose 2.5FPU/g pulp). At lower enzyme doses, the extract effect increases leading to an enzyme dose reduction of 40% to obtain a glucose yield of 75% within 48h using organosolv wheat straw pulp. Possibly, cellulase deactivation by irreversible binding to pulp lignin is reduced by competition with proteins in the extract. However, since the extract effect has also been demonstrated for lignin-lean substrates, other effects like improved accessibility of the pulp cellulose (amorphogenesis) cannot be excluded. Overall, this contribution demonstrates the positive effect of biomass extractives on enzymatic cellulose digestibility, thereby reducing costs for 2G biofuels and bio-based chemicals.

Biobased alkylphenols from lignins via a two-step pyrolysis - Hydrodeoxygenation approach.

Five technical lignins (three organosolv, Kraft and soda lignin) were depolymerised to produce monomeric biobased aromatics, particularly alkylphenols, by a new two-stage thermochemical approach consisting of dedicated pyrolysis followed by catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of the resulting pyrolysis oils. Pyrolysis yielded a mixture of guaiacols, catechols and, optionally, syringols in addition to alkylphenols. HDO with heterogeneous catalysts (Ru/C, CoMo/alumina, phosphided NiMO/C) effectively directed the product mixture towards alkylphenols by, among others, demethoxylation. Up to 15wt% monomeric aromatics of which 11wt% alkylphenols was obtained (on the lignin intake) with limited solid formation (<3wt% on lignin oil intake). For comparison, solid Kraft lignin was also directly hydrotreated for simultaneous depolymerisation and deoxygenation resulting in two times more alkylphenols. However, the alkylphenols concentration in the product oil is higher for the two-stage approach. Future research should compare direct hydrotreatment and the two-stage approach in more detail by techno-economic assessments.

Opportunities and challenges for seaweed in the biobased economy.

The unique chemical composition of seaweeds and their fast growth rates offer many opportunities for biorefining. In this article we argue that cascading biorefinery valorization concepts are viable alternatives to only using seaweeds as carbohydrate sources for the fermentative production of biofuels. However, many challenges remain with respect to use of seaweeds for chemical production, such as the large seasonal variation in the chemical composition of seaweeds.

The influence of thermochemical treatments on the lignocellulosic structure of wheat straw as studied by natural abundance 13C NMR.

The effects of thermochemical treatments (aquathermolysis, pyrolysis, and combinations thereof) on the lignocellulosic structure and composition of wheat straw were studied with (13)C and (1)H solid state NMR spectroscopy and proton T1ρ relaxation measurements. Results show that aquathermolysis removes hemicellulose, acetyl groups, and ash minerals. As a result, the susceptibility of lignocellulose to pyrolysis is reduced most likely due to the removal of catalytically active salts, although recondensation of lignin during aquathermolysis treatment can also play a role. In contrast to pyrolysis of wheat straw, pyrolysis of aquathermolysed wheat straw leaves traces of cellulose in the char as well as more intense lignin methoxy peaks. Finally, it was found that both pyrolysis chars contain aliphatic chains, which were attributed to the presence of cutin or cutin-like materials, a macromolecule that covers the aerial surface of plants, not soluble in water and seemingly stable under the pyrolysis conditions applied.

Fractionation of wheat straw by prehydrolysis, organosolv delignification and enzymatic hydrolysis for production of sugars and lignin.

Wheat straw was fractionated using a three-step biorefining approach: (1) aqueous pretreatment for hemicellulose prehydrolysis into sugars, (2) organosolv delignification, and (3) enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis into glucose. Prehydrolysis was applied to avoid degradation of hemicellulose sugars during organosolv delignification. Maximum xylose yield obtained was 67% or 0.17 kg/kg straw (prehydrolysis: 175 °C, 30 min, 20mM H(2)SO(4)) compared to 4% in case of organosolv without prehydrolysis (organosolv: 200 °C, 60 min, 60% w/w aqueous ethanol). Prehydrolysis was found to reduce the lignin yield by organosolv delignification due to the formation of 'pseudo-lignin' and lignin recondensation during prehydrolysis. This reduction could partly be compensated by increasing the temperature of the organosolv delignification step. Prehydrolysis substantially improved the enzymatic cellulose digestibility from 49% after organosolv without prehydrolysis to 80% (20 FPU/g substrate). Increasing the organosolv delignification temperature to 220 °C resulted in a maximum enzymatic glucose yield of 93% or 0.36 kg/kg straw.