Semi-Continuous Carbonated Hot Water Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: Use of Multiple Syringe Pumps to Produce Sugars and Carbochemicals
Biomass substrates such as switch grass and corn stover are now commonly used in the production of bio- fuels. Such substrates consist of approximately 40-50% cellulose and 25-35% hemicellulose which is broken down to lower oligomeric and monomeric sugars, and further fermented to produce biofuels such as ethanol and butanol [1]. In this study, we have constructed a laboratory-based semi-continuous flow apparatus using three high precision Teledyne Isco syringe pumps and a constant temperature oven, to carbonate water as a function of temperature and pressure for use in the reac- tive pretreatment of switch grass. Conditions were selected to optimize the biomass pretreatment for sugar (glucose and xylose) or carbochemical yields (furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural-HMF).
