Effect of dilute alkaline pretreatment on the conversion of different parts of corn stalk to fermentable sugars and its application in acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.03.076
• Publication Date: 2016-03-15T14:31:04Z
• Authors: Di Cai; Ping Li; Zhangfeng Luo; Peiyong Qin; Changjing Chen; Yong Wang; Zheng Wang; Tianwei Tan
• Keywords: Ethanol; Butanols; Hydrolysis; Carbohydrates; 0211 other engineering and technologies; 02 engineering and technology; Lignin; Zea mays; Acetone; Plant Leaves; Biofuels; Fermentation; Solvents; Sodium Hydroxide

To investigate the effect of dilute alkaline pretreatment on different parts of biomass, corn stalk was separated into flower, leaf, cob, husk and stem, which were treated by NaOH in range of temperature and chemical loading. The NaOH-pretreated solid was then enzymatic hydrolysis and used as the substrate for batch acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. The results demonstrated the five parts of corn stalk could be used as potential feedstock separately, with vivid performances in solvents production. Under the optimized conditions towards high product titer, 7.5g/L, 7.6g/L, 9.4g/L, 7g/L and 7.6g/L of butanol was obtained in the fermentation broth of flower, leaf, cob, husk and stem hydrolysate, respectively. Under the optimized conditions towards high product yield, 143.7g/kg, 126.3g/kg, 169.1g/kg, 107.7g/kg and 116.4g/kg of ABE solvent were generated, respectively.