Detoxification of high solid-liquid hydrothermal pretreated sugar cane bagasse by chromatographic adsorption for cellulosic ethanol production

Authors: XIAN, XIAOLING - Guangdong University; ZHENG, XIAOJIE - Guangdong University; HUANG, JIALE - Guangdong University; Qureshi, Nasib; LI, BIYING - Guangdong University; LIU, JINGKE - Guangdong University; ZENG, YUEREN - Guangdong University; Nichols, Nancy; LIN, XIAOQING - Guangdong University

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/13/2023
Publication Date: 6/23/2023
Citation: Xian, X., Zheng, X., Huang, J., Qureshi, N., Li, B., Liu, J., Zeng, Y., Nichols, N.N., Lin, X. 2023. Detoxification of high solid-liquid hydrothermal pretreated sugar cane bagasse by chromatographic adsorption for cellulosic ethanol production. Industrial Crops and Products. (202): Article 117048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.117048.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2023.117048

Interpretive Summary: In 2022, 15.4 billion gallons of ethanol were produced from corn in the United States for use as fuel. Further increase in ethanol production could be achieved by using agricultural residues such as corn stover and sugarcane bagasse. Because the cost of these residues is much lower than corn grain, the cost of producing ethanol from them could be expected to be lower than starch-based ethanol, provided the processing costs associated with cellulose-containing biomass can be managed. Use of biomass requires pretreatment and hydrolysis of biomass using environmentally friendly technologies. In these studies, agricultural residue (sugar cane bagasse) was used that is usually burnt after harvest, causing environmental pollution. For the current application, we employed hot water pretreatment which is anticipated to be economical and environmentally favorable. Resins were used to remove inhibitory compounds, and ethanol was produced at high yield. This research is expected to benefit US farmers, the biofuel industry, and the US public.

Technical Abstract: At high solid liquid ratio (SLR), sugar cane bagasse (SCB) pretreated by liquid hot water is difficult to transform into cellulosic ethanol by microorganism due to high concentration of inhibitors. Thus, this study focuses on the detoxification of high SLR hydrolysate (1:6, w/v) by using SY-01 resin to achieve the goal of producing cellulosic ethanol. The detoxification effects of SY-01 resin dosage and adsorption modes were systematically investigated. After detoxification by SY-01 resin, the detoxified medium was fermented successfully and the highest ethanol concentration was 30.94 ± 0.13 g/L. Further, the ethanol yield was 102.51 ± 0.94% and the ethanol production from SCB was 210 ± 1 mg/g SCB. It is confirmed that SY-01 resin has good detoxification performance of lignocellulose enzymatic hydrolysate, and provides an economical and feasible way for realizing the high-value utilization of biomass resources.