Nitric Acid Pretreatment of Jerusalem Artichoke Stalks for Enzymatic Saccharification and Bioethanol Production

Urszula Dziekońska-Kubczak, Joanna Berłowska, Piotr Dziugan, Piotr Patelski, Katarzyna Pielech-Przybylska and Maria Balcerek
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Urszula Dziekońska-Kubczak: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Joanna Berłowska: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Piotr Dziugan: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Piotr Patelski: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Katarzyna Pielech-Przybylska: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Maria Balcerek: Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska 171/173, 90-924 Lodz, Poland

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: This paper evaluated the effectiveness of nitric acid pretreatment on the hydrolysis and subsequent fermentation of Jerusalem artichoke stalks (JAS). Jerusalem artichoke is considered a potential candidate for producing bioethanol due to its low soil and climate requirements, and high biomass yield. However, its stalks have a complexed lignocellulosic structure, so appropriate pretreatment is necessary prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, to enhance the amount of sugar that can be obtained. Nitric acid is a promising catalyst for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass due to the high efficiency with which it removes hemicelluloses. Nitric acid was found to be the most effective catalyst of JAS biomass. A higher concentration of glucose and ethanol was achieved after hydrolysis and fermentation of 5% ( w / v ) HNO 3 -pretreated JAS, leading to 38.5 g/L of glucose after saccharification, which corresponds to 89% of theoretical enzymatic hydrolysis yield, and 9.5 g/L of ethanol. However, after fermentation there was still a significant amount of glucose in the medium. In comparison to more commonly used acids (H 2 SO 4 and HCl) and alkalis (NaOH and KOH), glucose yield (% of theoretical yield) was approximately 47–74% higher with HNO 3 . The fermentation of 5% nitric-acid pretreated hydrolysates with the absence of solid residues, led to an increase in ethanol yield by almost 30%, reaching 77–82% of theoretical yield.

Keywords: Jerusalem artichoke; lignocellulose; acid pretreatment; nitric acid; alkali pretreatment; enzymatic hydrolysis; ethanol fermentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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