Hydrodynamic cavitation-assisted alkaline pretreatment as a new approach for sugarcane bagasse biorefineries

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 214; pp. 609 - 614
• Main Authors: Terán Hilares, Ruly, dos Santos, Júlio César, Ahmed, Muhammad Ajaz, Jeon, Seok Hwan, da Silva, Silvio Silvério, Han, Jong-In
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2016
• Subjects: Alkaline pretreatment; Biomass; Biotechnology - methods; Cellulose - chemistry; Cellulose - metabolism; Enzymatic digestibility; Hot Temperature; Hydrodynamic cavitation; Hydrodynamics; Hydrolysis; Microbubbles; Pressure; Response surface methodology (RSM); Saccharum - chemistry; Saccharum - metabolism; Sodium Hydroxide - metabolism; Sugarcane bagasse; Vapor Pressure; Hydrodynamic cavitation; Alkaline pretreatment; Enzymatic digestibility; Response surface methodology (RSM); Sugarcane bagasse
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.05.004

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•Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was combined with an alkaline pretreatment.•HC-assisted pretreatment was statistically optimized and experimentally verified.•High enzymatic digestibility of 97.2% was achieved.•The HC increased enzymatic digestibility by 30%.
Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was employed in order to improve the efficiency of alkaline pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize pretreatment parameters: NaOH concentration (0.1–0.5M), solid/liquid ratio (S/L, 3–10%) and HC time (15–45min), in terms of glucan content, lignin removal and enzymatic digestibility. Under an optimal HC condition (0.48M of NaOH, 4.27% of S/L ratio and 44.48min), 52.1% of glucan content, 60.4% of lignin removal and 97.2% of enzymatic digestibility were achieved. Moreover, enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated SCB resulted in a yield 82% and 30% higher than the untreated and alkaline-treated controls, respectively. HC was found to be a potent and promising approach to pretreat lignocellulosic biomass.