A review on the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass through conventional and enzymatic route—a comparison

The scarcity of fossil fuels has urged the economically developed countries to find the resources for an alternative energy sources. In apprehension to this, biofuels, like bioethanol and biobutanol, produced from lignocellulosic biomass were considered as potential alternative. There are several methods for the pretreatment of biomass before it is being used as a feedstock for the production of fermentable sugars. However, one of the crucial concerns here is to enumerate an economic pretreatment scheme that can be implemented in large scale for the production of mostly exposed cellulosic part from biomass. This will ensure an effective hydrolysis of cellulose for the production of fermentable sugars and the production of biobutanol from these derived sugars. Moreover, the keynote understanding of an effective fermentation is the production of less inhibitory compounds like furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural during the hydrolysis of cellulose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was reported as the most efficient method is this aspect. Trichoderma sp. was found the mostly used resources for the enzyme called cellulase and Aspergillus sp. for hemicellulase enzymes. The most crucial part here is the isolation of proper enzyme that will increase the rate of hydrolysis. Moreover, selection of proper pretreatment process will be a key benefit to the production of fermentable sugars through enzymatic hydrolysis. Based on the biomass nature, the evaluated hot water pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis with a provision of enzyme reusability (like encapsulated or enzyme separation with membrane) seems to be promising for enhanced biofuel-production.     

Recent progress in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic materials: A review

Natural energy sources like petrol and diesel are going to be diminished in the coming future which will lead to increase in the prices and demands of fossil fuels. Therefore, it is important to find a sustainable alternate of fossil fuels. Bioethanol is one of the alternatives, which is produced from different feedstocks including sugar-based, starch-based and lignocellulose-based materials through fermentation. Since sugar-based (sugar cane and sugar beet) and starch-based (corn) materials are sources of staple food, therefore, research on lignocellulosic materials for bioethanol production is a subject of recent studies. Ethanol production from lignocellulosic materials involves different steps, such as pretreatment, hydrolysis, followed by fermentation process and finally ethanol purification. In this review, we have summarized the recent progresses in bioethanol production and processing from lignocellulosic materials.     

The influence of dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment on biogas production from wheat plant

Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment was used to improve the biomethane production from wheat plant (WP) via mesophilic anaerobic digestion. The pretreatments were performed at 121°C for different time durations of 10, 30, 60, and 120 min. The maximum methane yield of 302.4 mL/g volatile solids (VS) was obtained after the pretreatment for 120 min, which was 15.5% higher than that of the untreated WP. The highest amounts of lignin removal (15.2%) and xylan degradation (91.5%) were also achieved after this pretreatment. The pretreatment for 60 min enhanced the methane yield by 8.9%, while the pretreatments for 10 and 30 min had no positive effects on the methane yield. All of the pretreatments significantly removed the hemicelluloses. Moreover, the qualitative analysis of the untreated and pretreated WP structure showed significant reduction in the crystallinity index accompanied by the destruction of surface layers of WP structure after pretreatment.     

Ethanol production from alkali-pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation with mucor indicus

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is a potential raw material for production of lignocellulosic bioethanol. The OPEFB was pretreated with 8% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution at 100°C for 10 to 90 min. Enzymatic digestion was carried out using cellulase and β-glucosidase at 45°C for 24 h. It was then inoculated with Mucor indicus spores suspension and fermented under anaerobic conditions at 37°C for 96 h. Sodium hydroxide pretreatment effectively removed 51–57% of lignin in the OPEFB and also its hemicellulose (40–84%). The highest glucan digestibility (0.75 g/g theoretical glucose) was achieved in 40-min NaOH pretreatment. Fermentation by M. indicus resulted in 68.4% of the theoretical ethanol yield, while glycerol (16.2–83.2 mg/g), succinic acid (0–0.4 mg/g), and acetic acid (0–0.9 mg/g) were its by-products. According to these results, 11.75 million tons of dry OPEFB in Indonesia can be converted into 1.5 billion liters of ethanol per year.     

零价铁/炭纤维预处理制药废水

以炭纤维为载体,采用电沉积法制备零价铁/炭纤维,考察了零价铁/炭纤维对制药废水COD的去除效果。SEM表征结果显示,炭纤维表面光滑,炭纤维上负载的零价铁呈现大小不一的球状。实验结果表明:在初始废水p H为5、铁碳质量比为2∶1、固液比(固体质量以铁计)为90 g/L、曝气量为80 L/h的条件下,采用零价铁/炭纤维体系处理COD=10 082.63 mg/L、色度为135倍、p H=7.3、SS=250 mg/L、Na Cl质量分数为3.5%的制药废水,COD去除率可达72.79%,出水COD为2 743.48 mg/L,减轻了后续生化处理工艺的进水负荷;零价铁/炭纤维降解制药废水中COD的过程符合三级反应动力学方程。     

物化强化预处理对化工园区废水中典型污染物转化的影响

以江苏省某化工园区污水处理厂的原水为研究对象,分别采用臭氧氧化、铁碳微电解、Fenton氧化3种物化法对其进行强化预处理,并运用GC-MS技术对典型污染物进行了分析。实验结果表明:臭氧氧化、Fenton氧化、铁碳微电解3种物化法在最佳条件下对COD的去除率分别为8.0%,51.3%,45.6%;在提高可生化性方面,臭氧氧化法效果最好,使废水的BOD_5/COD从0.112提高到0.184,Fenton氧化法和铁碳微电解法的BOD_5/COD分别为0.150和0.123;经物化预处理后,废水中的环状物质会出现开环,同时直链物质增多,但苯环、脂类及杂环等难生物降解物质依然存在;若要单纯提高废水的可生化性,建议选用臭氧氧化法;若对去除COD及提高可生化性皆有要求,建议选用铁碳微电解法。     

A novel pretreatment approach for fast determination of organochlorine pesticides in biotic samples

Recent studies have focused on enantiomeric behaviors of chiral organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in biotic matrix because they provide insights into the biotransformation processes of chiral OCPs. In the present paper, a double in-line column chromatographic method was developed to effectively remove the lipid impurity in different biotic samples for clean-up of OCPs. After an initial Soxhlet extraction of OCPs from the biotic samples by a mixture of acetone and dichloromethane (DCM), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was directly added to the extract, and low boiling point solvents (acetone and DCM) were then evaporated. OCPs remained in DMSO were eluted via column 1 filled with silicon gel, and subsequently passed through column 2 packed with 15% deactivated florisil. This novel method was characterized by significant time and solvent savings. The recovery rates of α -HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane), β -HCH, γ -HCH and δ -HCH were 78.5 ± 3.1%, 72.4 ± 7.7%, 72 ± 4.0% and 70.0 ± 8.7%, respectively, and 92.5 ± 3.8%, 79.7 ± 6.7% and 83.4 ± 6.5% for 1,1-dichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4- chlorophenyl) ethylene (o,p′-DDE), 1,1-dichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4-chloro phenyl)ethane (o,p′-DDD) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(4-chlorophenyl) ethane (o,p′-DDT), separately. In addition, the separation efficiencies of the target compounds by both achiral and chiral gas chromatographic columns were satisfactory using the established method. Therefore, the double in-line column chromatography was a useful alternative method for pretreatment of OCPs in different biotic samples.     

Low-heat alkaline pretreatment of biomass for dairy anaerobic codigestion

In this research, low-heat alkaline pretreatment was evaluated to determine the extent to which urban landscape waste (yard waste), corn stover, and switchgrass could be codigested under conditions typical of US farm-based anaerobic digestion (AD). Waste heat from combined heat and power (CHP) units associated with AD could make such pretreatment economical. Short-term batch digestion studies and 8-week continuous-feed studies were used to screen and evaluate various pretreatment conditions. Results indicate that maple and oak leaves did not digest well, even with pretreatment. Pretreatment did improve digestion of corn leaves and stalks as well as switchgrass. However, these materials also digested reasonably well even without pretreatment. No digester operational problems were observed during continuous-feed studies of intermittently stirred bench top digesters, but optimal levels of alkali, temperature, and pretreatment time may be specific to the feedstock, particle size, and digester loading rate. Results suggest that some common lignocellulosic biomass materials, such as corn stover and switchgrass, could be successfully codigested in many existing farm-based digesters. Interestingly, without pretreatment, switchgrass digestion improved over 20-fold when digested with seed culture from a dairy digester compared to seed culture from a municipal digester, suggesting that culture acclimation could be as important as pretreatment in improving digestion of specific lignocellulosic feedstocks.     

水中异味物质分析方法研究进展

介绍了水体异味现象及异味物质组分,综述了闭环捕集、吹扫捕集、液液萃取、固相萃取、固相微萃取、搅拌棒吸附萃取等样品前处理技术。指出气相色谱/质谱联用具有很强的分离和定性定量能力,与上述前处理技术联用是目前水体异味物质分析应用最广泛的方法。     

固硫灰路面基层材料的性能

以固硫灰作为路面基层材料,研究了固硫灰原灰和经预处理固硫灰路面基层材料的最佳含水量、最大干密度、体积安定性、膨胀率和强度等性能。同时,通过重金属浸出实验评估了固硫灰对土壤环境的影响。结果表明,经预处理固硫灰路面基层材料体积安定性好,膨胀率低,性能良好;此外,固硫灰重金属浸出率低,符合环保要求。