常压甘油自催化预处理麦草浓醪发酵纤维素乙醇

目前纤维素乙醇成本偏高的根本原因在于没有达到淀粉质乙醇发酵水平的"三高"(高浓度、高转化率和高效率)指标,提高水解糖液浓度和避免发酵抑制物来实现浓醪发酵,是解决问题的关键。文中以常压甘油自催化预处理麦草为底物,尝试采用不同发酵策略,探讨其浓醪发酵产纤维素乙醇的可行性。在优化培养条件(15%底物浓度,加酶量30 FPU/g干底物,温度37℃,接种量10%)下同步糖化发酵72 h,纤维素乙醇产量为31.2 g/L,转化率为73%,发酵效率0.43 g/(L·h);采用半同步(预酶解24 h)糖化发酵72 h,纤维素乙醇浓度达到33.7 g/L,转化率为79%,发酵效率为0.47 g/(L·h),其中(半)同步糖化发酵中90%以上纤维素已被糖化水解用于发酵;采用分批补料式半同步糖化发酵,补料到基质浓度相当于30%,发酵72 h时纤维素乙醇产量达到51.2 g/L,转化率为62%,发酵效率为0.71 g/(L·h)。在所有浓醪发酵中乙酸不足3 g/L,无糠醛和羟甲基糠醛等发酵抑制物。以上结果表明,常压甘油自催化预处理木质纤维素基质适用于纤维素乙醇发酵;分批补料式半同步糖化发酵策略可用来进行浓醪纤维素乙醇发酵;未来工作中提高基质纯度和强化酶解产糖是浓醪纤维素乙醇达到"三高"指标的关键。     

沙柳原料高浓度底物酶解发酵乙醇工艺

为了提高沙柳生物转化过程的经济可行性,考察了沙柳原料经过蒸爆、超微粉碎+稀酸、超微粉碎+稀碱预处理后高浓度底物补料酶解的效果,并对其高浓度水解糖液进行了乙醇发酵。结果表明:蒸爆处理法水解效果最好,通过补料酶解,底物质量分数可以达到30%,酶解液中总糖质量浓度达到132 g/L,葡萄糖质量浓度105 g/L;超微粉碎+稀酸预处理原料底物质量分数可以达到22%,酶解液中总糖质量浓度达到123 g/L,葡萄糖质量浓度73 g/L;超微粉碎+稀碱预处理原料底物质量分数可以达到22%,酶解液中总糖质量浓度133 g/L,葡萄糖质量浓度77 g/L。3种预处理使沙柳原料的酶解糖液都可以较好地被酿酒酵母利用发酵产乙醇,蒸爆处理原料的酶解糖液乙醇发酵效果最好,乙醇质量浓度达到47 g/L。     

玉米秸秆分批补料获得高还原糖浓度酶解液的条件优化

木质纤维素高浓度还原糖水解液的获得是纤维乙醇产业化发展的方向。在发酵工业领域,分批补料法是实现这一目标的重要研究途径。本研究采用分批补料法对获得高浓度玉米秸秆酶解还原糖的条件进行了优化。以稀硫酸预处理的玉米秸秆为原料,考察了液固比、补加量与补加时间对分批补料糖化的影响。结果表明,秸秆高浓度酶解液条件的初始物料为20％ (重量/体积),木聚糖酶220 U/g (底物),纤维素酶6 FPU/g (底物),果胶酶50 U/g (底物),在24 h、48 h后分批补加8％预处理后的物料,同时添加与补料量相应的木聚糖酶20 U/g (底物),纤维素酶2 FPU/g (底物),72 h后,最终糖化结果与非补料法相比,还原糖浓度从48.5 g/L提高到138.5 g/L,原料的酶解率最终达到理论值的62.5％。试验结果表明补料法可以显著提高秸秆水解液还原糖浓度。     

预处理沙柳酶解液脱毒及其丁醇发酵

为了提高沙柳原料的丁醇发酵效果,考察沙柳原料经过蒸爆、超微粉碎+稀酸和超微粉碎+稀碱预处理后补料酶解的效果,优化了沙柳酶解液活性炭脱毒工艺参数,并对经过脱毒处理的酶解液进行了丁醇发酵研究,结果表明:预处理沙柳原料酶解底物质量浓度为200 g/m L时,3种预处理方法中蒸爆处理法水解效果最好,每克底物的滤纸酶酶加量15 U,酶解96 h后,酶解液总糖质量浓度达到57 g/L。活性炭脱毒处理的最优条件:p H 4.8,碳加量4%(质量分数)、温度70℃、1 h,该条件下的沙柳水解液脱色率达到97.4%、糖损失率3.1%。3种预处理沙柳原料的酶解液经活性炭脱毒后都可以被丁醇梭菌正常利用发酵产丁醇,发酵液总溶剂(ABE)质量浓度约为14 g/L。     

乙酸分级预处理甘蔗渣对纤维素酶解性能的影响

为提高甘蔗渣的纤维素酶解性能,采用乙酸脱木素结合碱脱乙酰基的预处理工艺 (Acetoline工艺) 对甘蔗渣进行预处理,考察了乙酸脱木素过程中若干因素对预处理结果的影响,并对预处理后甘蔗渣的纤维素酶解性能进行了研究。结果表明,经过Acetoline预处理后甘蔗渣在7.5％固体含量、15 FPU+10 CBU/g固体的纤维素酶和β-葡萄糖苷酶用量下酶解48 h,酶解聚糖转化率接近80％。与稀酸预处理相比,Acetoline预处理可以得到更高的酶解聚糖转化率。实验结果表明Acetoline工艺是一种可有效提高甘蔗渣纤维素酶解性能的预处理方法。     

预处理苎麻秆和红麻秆糖化发酵生产燃料乙醇

苎麻和红麻是我国传统纤维作物,皮部纤维在造纸、纺织等工业具有广泛用途,但剥皮后剩余的茎秆部分并没有被有效利用。由于其中含有较多纤维素,可望被生物转化生产燃料乙醇。比较了几种不同化学预处理方法对苎麻秆和红麻秆纤维素酶解性能的改善效果,进而选择碱法预处理后原料,进行半同步糖化发酵产乙醇实验。结果表明,苎麻秆和红麻秆经4%NaOH和0.02%蒽醌-2-磺酸钠盐(AQSS),在170℃下处理1 h,继而在固形物底物浓度18%时发酵168 h,发酵液中乙醇浓度达到51 g/L。采用少量多次补料至20%的底物浓度,乙醇浓度都能达到63 g/L,纤维素转化率分别为77%和79%。红麻秆经5.2%NaHSO3和0.2%H2SO4,在170℃下处理1 h,补料至20%的底物浓度时,乙醇浓度可达到65 g/L,纤维素转化率为72%。     

乙醇预处理麦秆的酶解性能研究简

采用H2 SO4催化和自催化乙醇法对麦秆进行预处理,比较预处理后麦秆的主要化学组成、纤维素酶解性能和半同步糖化发酵生产乙醇特性,并进行物料衡算。结果表明：H2 SO4催化和自催化乙醇预处理过程中纤维素固体回收率大于90％。添加非离子表面活性剂吐温20和吐温80没有显著提高H2 SO4催化乙醇预处理后纤维素的酶解葡萄糖得率及半同步糖化发酵过程中乙醇的产量,而对自催化乙醇处理后麦秆的酶解和半同步糖化发酵过程有一定程度的促进作用,相应的酶解葡聚糖转化率由72.7％提高到85.0％,而半同步糖化发酵过程中乙醇质量浓度提高了11.4％。物料衡算结果表明：酸催化和自催化乙醇预处理后葡聚糖回收率分别为91.0％和95.4％;半同步糖化发酵生产乙醇的得率分别为10.4和11.6 g（按100 g原料计）。     

玉米秸秆酶水解过程中的酶复配条件优化

降低酶解成本是纤维素乙醇生产的关键。利用酶复配技术优化蒸汽爆破处理后玉米秸秆的酶水解工艺条件,以提高纤维素的转化率。通过单因素实验和正交实验,研究了纤维素酶、木聚糖酶和β-葡萄糖苷酶对酶解效率的影响规律。结果表明,汽爆玉米秸秆,纤维素含量达42.21%,半纤维素仅为3.65%。纤维素酶对酶解过程起决定性作用,添加40 FPU/g时,酶解率为75.45%;木聚糖酶可促使更多的纤维素暴露出来,添加1 500 IU/g时,酶解率最高为78.03%;β-葡萄糖苷酶有助于消除纤维二糖积累造成的反馈抑制,用量40 IU/g时,纤维二糖浓度为0.330 4 g/100 m L,酶解率达76.45%。正交实验确定最佳工艺为:纤维素酶用量30 FPU/g,木聚糖酶用量800 IU/g,β-葡萄糖苷酶用量40 IU/g;该条件下,进行底物质量浓度25%的验证实验,葡萄糖达9.3g/100 m L,若用单一天冠纤维素酶,葡萄糖仅5.9 g/100 m L,提高了57.63%。三种酶的影响顺序为:纤维素酶木聚糖酶β-葡萄糖苷酶。     

通气量和菊粉浓度对克鲁维酵母乙醇发酵的影响

马克斯克鲁维酵母能够利用集成生物加工技术发酵菊芋生产乙醇,具有非粮燃料乙醇生产潜力.文中研究了该技术中的两个关键因素(通气量和底物浓度)对于K.marxinaus YX01乙醇发酵过程和菊粉酶活性的影响.研究结果表明,底物浓度对乙醇得率影响不大,底物浓度为250 g/L时,发酵终点乙醇浓度为84.74 g/L,但乙醇得率由低浓度50 g/L的86.4％(理论值),降为84.7％.通气能够加速K.marxinaus YX01的乙醇发酵过程,但降低了乙醇得率,当底物浓度为250 g/L时,乙醇得率由不通气的84.7％降为1.0 vvm时的73.3％.随底物浓度的升高及通气量的降低,K.marxinaus YX01分泌的菊粉酶活力表现出降低的趋势.在不通气及底物浓度为250 g/L时,菊粉酶的活性为6.59 U/mL,而底物浓度50 g/L,通气量1.0 vvm时的酶活力为21.54 U/mL.乙醇发酵过程中的副产物甘油随通气量的降低及底物浓度的升高而增大,而乙酸的浓度随通气量的增大及底物浓度的升高而升高.     

纤维素酶水解稻草生产单细胞蛋白（SCP）：1.纤维素酶水解稻草的研究

对不同预处理方法与底物得糖率,纤维素转化率的关系进行了研究,以1％NaOH在100℃煮沸1h效果最好。研究了稻草酶解的适宜条件,在pH5、50℃、底物浓度7％、酶解48h的条件下,底物得糖率达53.8％,含糖量5.0％,全纤维素转化率80.2％。     

Aqueous ammonia pretreatment of oil palm empty fruit bunches for ethanol production

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) were pretreated by aqueous ammonia soaking for ethanol production. Pretreated EFB, which were pretreated at the optimal conditions of 60 °C, 12 h, and 21% (w/w) aqueous ammonia, showed 19.5% and 41.4% glucose yields during an enzymatic digestibility test for 96 h when using 15 and 60 FPU of cellulase, respectively. Using the pretreated EFB, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation for 168 h with 5% (w/v) glucan loading and 60 FPU of cellulase and 30 CBU of β-glucosidase per gram glucan resulted in ethanol production of 18.6 g/L titer, 65.6% of theoretical maximum yield, and 0.11 g/L/h of productivity.     

Short‐term lime pretreatment of poplar wood

Short‐term lime pretreatment uses lime and high‐pressure oxygen to significantly increase the digestibility of poplar wood. When the treated poplar wood was enzymatically hydrolyzed, glucan and xylan were converted to glucose and xylose, respectively. To calculate product yields from raw biomass, these sugars were expressed as equivalent glucan and xylan. To recommend pretreatment conditions, the single criterion was the maximum overall glucan and xylan yields using a cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g glucan in raw biomass. On this basis, the recommended conditions for short‐term lime pretreatment of poplar wood follow: (1) 2 h, 140°C, 21.7 bar absolute and (2) 2 h, 160°C, and 14.8 bar absolute. In these two cases, the reactivity was nearly identical, thus the selected condition depends on the economic trade off between pressure and temperature. Considering glucose and xylose and their oligomers produced during 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis, the overall yields attained under these recommended conditions follow: (1) 95.5 g glucan/100 g of glucan in raw biomass and 73.1 g xylan/100 g xylan in raw biomass and (2) 94.2 g glucan/100 g glucan in raw biomass and 73.2 g xylan/100 g xylan in raw biomass. The yields improved by increasing the enzyme loading. An optimal enzyme cocktail was identified as 67% cellulase, 12% β‐glucosidase, and 24% xylanase (mass of protein basis) with cellulase activity of 15 FPU/g glucan in raw biomass and total enzyme loading of 51 mg protein/g glucan in raw biomass. Ball milling the lime‐treated poplar wood allowed for 100% conversion of glucan in 120 h with a cellulase loading of only 10 FPU/g glucan in raw biomass. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009     

High titer ethanol production from simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of aspen at high solids: a comparison between SPORL and dilute acid pretreatments

Native aspen (Populus tremuloides) was pretreated using sulfuric acid and sodium bisulfite (SPORL) and dilute sulfuric acid alone (DA). Simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was conducted at 18% solids using commercial enzymes with cellulase loadings ranging from 6 to 15 FPU/g glucan and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y5. Compared with DA pretreatment, the SPORL pretreatment reduced the energy required for wood chip size-reduction, and reduced mixing energy of the resultant substrate for solid liquefaction. Approximately 60% more ethanol was produced from the solid SPORL substrate (211 L/ton wood at 59 g/L with SSF efficiency of 76%) than from the solid DA substrate (133 L/ton wood at 35 g/L with SSF efficiency 47%) at a cellulase loading of 10 FPU/g glucan after 120 h. When the cellulase loading was increased to 15 FPU/g glucan on the DA substrate, the ethanol yield still remained lower than the SPORL substrate at 10 FPU/g glucan.     

Optimization of NaOH-catalyzed steam pretreatment of empty fruit bunch

Background

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) has many advantages, including its abundance, the fact that it does not require collection, and its year-round availability as a feedstock for bioethanol production. But before the significant costs incurred in ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass can be reduced, an efficient sugar fractionation technology has to be developed. To that end, in the present study, an NaOH-catalyzed steam pretreatment process was applied in order to produce ethanol from EFB more efficiently.

Results

The EFB pretreatment conditions were optimized by application of certain pretreatment variables such as, the NaOH concentrations in the soaking step and, in the steam step, the temperature and time. The optimal conditions were determined by response surface methodology (RSM) to be 3% NaOH for soaking and 160°C, 11 min 20 sec for steam pretreatment. Under these conditions, the overall glucan recovery and enzymatic digestibility were both high: the glucan and xylan yields were 93% and 78%, respectively, and the enzymatic digestibility was 88.8% for 72 h using 40 FPU/g glucan. After simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), the maximum ethanol yield and concentration were 0.88 and 29.4 g/l respectively.

Conclusions

Delignification (>85%) of EFB was an important factor in enzymatic hydrolysis using CTec2. NaOH-catalyzed steam pretreatment, which can remove lignin efficiently and requires only a short reaction time, was proven to be an effective pretreatment technology for EFB. The ethanol yield obtained by SSF, the key parameter determining the economics of ethanol, was 18% (w/w), equivalent to 88% of the theoretical maximum yield, which is a better result than have been reported in the relevant previous studies.

     

Aqueous ammonia pretreatment, saccharification, and fermentation evaluation of oil palm fronds for ethanol production

Oil palm fronds are the most abundant lignocellulosic biomass in Malaysia. In this study, fronds were tested as the potential renewable biomass for ethanol production. The soaking in aqueous ammonia pretreatment was applied, and the fermentability of pretreated fronds was evaluated using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The optimal pretreatment conditions were 7?% (w/w) ammonia, 80?°C, 20?h of pretreatment, and 1:12 S/L ratio, where the enzymatic digestibility was 41.4?% with cellulase of 60?FPU/g-glucan. When increasing the cellulase loading in the hydrolysis of pretreated fronds, the enzymatic digestibility increased until the enzyme loading reached 60?FPU/g-glucan. With 3?% glucan loading in the SSF of pretreated fronds, the ethanol concentration and yield based on the theoretical maximum after 12 and 48?h of the SSF were 7.5 and 9.7?g/L and 43.8 and 56.8?%, respectively. The ethanol productivities found at 12 and 24?h from pretreated fronds were 0.62 and 0.36?g/L/h, respectively.     

Bioethanol production from barley hull using SAA (soaking in aqueous ammonia) pretreatment

Barley hull, a lignocellulosic biomass, was pretreated using aqueous ammonia, to be converted into ethanol. Barley hull was soaked in 15 and 30 wt.% aqueous ammonia at 30, 60, and 75 °C for between 12 h and 11 weeks. This pretreatment method has been known as “soaking in aqueous ammonia” (SAA). Among the tested conditions, the best pretreatment conditions observed were 75 °C, 48 h, 15 wt.% aqueous ammonia and 1:12 of solid:liquid ratio resulting in saccharification yields of 83% for glucan and 63% for xylan with 15 FPU/g-glucan enzyme loading. Pretreatment using 15 wt.% ammonia for 24–72 h at 75 °C removed 50–66% of the original lignin from the solids while it retained 65–76% of the xylan without any glucan loss.

Addition of xylanase along with cellulase resulted in synergetic effect on ethanol production in SSCF (simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation) using SAA-treated barley hull and recombinant E. coli (KO11). With 3% w/v glucan loading and 4 mL of xylanase enzyme loadings, the SSCF of the SAA treated barley hull resulted 24.1 g/L ethanol concentration at 15 FPU cellulase/g-glucan loading, which corresponds to 89.4% of the maximum theoretical yield based on glucan and xylan.

SEM results indicated that SAA treatment increased surface area and the pore size. It is postulated that these physical changes enhance the enzymatic digestibility in the SAA treated barley hull.     

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of steam-exploded corn stover at high glucan loading and high temperature

Background

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) is a promising process for bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. High glucan loading for hydrolysis and fermentation is an efficient approach to reduce the capital costs for bio-based products production. The SSF of steam-exploded corn stover (SECS) for ethanol production at high glucan loading and high temperature was investigated in this study.

Results

Glucan conversion of corn stover biomass pretreated by steam explosion was maintained at approximately 71 to 79% at an enzyme loading of 30 filter paper units (FPU)/g glucan, and 74 to 82% at an enzyme loading of 60 FPU/g glucan, with glucan loading varying from 3 to 12%. Glucan conversion decreased obviously with glucan loading beyond 15%. The results indicated that the mixture was most efficient in enzymatic hydrolysis of SECS at 3 to 12% glucan loading. The optimal SSF conditions of SECS using a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae were inoculation optical density (OD)₆₀₀?=?4.0, initial pH 4.8, 50% nutrients added, 36 hours pre-hydrolysis time, 39°C, and 12% glucan loading (20% solid loading). With the addition of 2% Tween 20, glucan conversion, ethanol yield, final ethanol concentration reached 78.6%, 77.2%, and 59.8 g/L, respectively, under the optimal conditions. The results suggested that the solid and degradation products’ inhibitory effect on the hydrolysis and fermentation of SECS were also not obvious at high glucan loading. Additionally, glucan conversion and final ethanol concentration in SSF of SECS increased by 13.6% and 18.7%, respectively, compared with separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF).

Conclusions

Our research suggested that high glucan loading (6 to 12% glucan loading) and high temperature (39°C) significantly improved the SSF performance of SECS using a thermal- and ethanol-tolerant strain of S. cerevisiae due to the removal of degradation products, sugar feedback, and solid’s inhibitory effects. Furthermore, the surfactant addition obviously increased ethanol yield in SSF process of SECS.

     

Optimization of ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Miscanthus x giganteus to fermentable sugars

Miscanthus x giganteus is a tall perennial grass whose suitability as an energy crop is presently being appraised. There is very little information on the effect of pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of Miscanthus to produce fermentable sugars. This paper reports sugar yields during enzymatic hydrolysis from ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreated Miscanthus. Pretreatment conditions including temperature, moisture, ammonia loading, residence time, and enzyme loadings are varied to maximize hydrolysis yields. In addition, further treatments such as soaking the biomass prior to AFEX as well as washing the pretreated material were also attempted to improve sugar yields. The optimal AFEX conditions determined were 160 degrees C, 2:1 (w/w) ammonia to biomass loading, 233% moisture (dry weight basis), and 5 min reaction time for water-soaked Miscanthus. Approximately 96% glucan and 81% xylan conversions were achieved after 168 h enzymatic hydrolysis at 1% glucan loading using 15 FPU/(g of glucan) of cellulase and 64 p-NPGU/(g of glucan) of beta-glucosidase along with xylanase and tween-80 supplementation. A mass balance for the AFEX pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process is presented.     

A novel cost-effective technology to convert sucrose and homocelluloses in sweet sorghum stalks into ethanol

Background

Sweet sorghum is regarded as a very promising energy crop for ethanol production because it not only supplies grain and sugar, but also offers lignocellulosic resource. Cost-competitive ethanol production requires bioconversion of all carbohydrates in stalks including of both sucrose and lignocellulose hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars. However, it is still a main challenge to reduce ethanol production cost and improve feasibility of industrial application. An integration of the different operations within the whole process is a potential solution.

Results

An integrated process combined advanced solid-state fermentation technology (ASSF) and alkaline pretreatment was presented in this work. Soluble sugars in sweet sorghum stalks were firstly converted into ethanol by ASSF using crushed stalks directly. Then, the operation combining ethanol distillation and alkaline pretreatment was performed in one distillation-reactor simultaneously. The corresponding investigation indicated that the addition of alkali did not affect the ethanol recovery. The effect of three alkalis, NaOH, KOH and Ca(OH)₂ on pretreatment were investigated. The results indicated the delignification of lignocellulose by NaOH and KOH was more significant than that by Ca(OH)₂, and the highest removal of xylan was caused by NaOH. Moreover, an optimized alkali loading of 10% (w/w DM) NaOH was determined. Under this favorable pretreatment condition, enzymatic hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse following pretreatment was investigated. 92.0% of glucan and 53.3% of xylan conversion were obtained at enzyme loading of 10 FPU/g glucan. The fermentation of hydrolyzed slurry was performed using an engineered stain, Zymomonas mobilis TSH-01. A mass balance of the overall process was calculated, and 91.9 kg was achieved from one tonne of fresh sweet sorghum stalk.

Conclusions

A low energy-consumption integrated technology for ethanol production from sweet sorghum stalks was presented in this work. Energy consumption for raw materials preparation and pretreatment were reduced or avoided in our process. Based on this technology, the recalcitrance of lignocellulose was destructed via a cost-efficient process and all sugars in sweet sorghum stalks lignocellulose were hydrolysed into fermentable sugars. Bioconversion of fermentable sugars released from sweet sorghum bagasse into different products except ethanol, such as butanol, biogas, and chemicals was feasible to operate under low energy-consumption conditions.

     

Effect of enzyme supplementation at moderate cellulase loadings on initial glucose and xylose release from corn stover solids pretreated by leading technologies

Moderate loadings of cellulase enzyme supplemented with beta-glucosidase were applied to solids produced by ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), ammonia recycle (ARP), controlled pH, dilute sulfuric acid, lime, and sulfur dioxide pretreatments to better understand factors that control glucose and xylose release following 24, 48, and 72 h of hydrolysis and define promising routes to reducing enzyme demands. Glucose removal was higher from all pretreatments than from Avicel cellulose at lower enzyme loadings, but sugar release was a bit lower for solids prepared by dilute sulfuric acid in the Sunds system and by controlled pH pretreatment than from Avicel at higher protein loadings. Inhibition by cellobiose was observed to depend on the type of substrate and pretreatment and hydrolysis times, with a corresponding impact of beta-glucosidase supplementation. Furthermore, for the first time, xylobiose and higher xylooligomers were shown to inhibit enzymatic hydrolysis of pure glucan, pure xylan, and pretreated corn stover, and xylose, xylobiose, and xylotriose were shown to have progressively greater effects on hydrolysis rates. Consistent with this, addition of xylanase and beta-xylosidase improved performance significantly. For a combined mass loading of cellulase and beta-glucosidase of 16.1 mg/g original glucan (about 7.5 FPU/g), glucose release from pretreated solids ranged from 50% to75% of the theoretical maximum and was greater for all pretreatments at all protein loadings compared to pure Avicel cellulose except for solids from controlled pH pretreatment and from dilute acid pretreatment by the Sunds pilot unit. The fraction of xylose released from pretreated solids was always less than for glucose, with the upper limit being about 60% of the maximum for ARP and the Sunds dilute acid pretreatments at a very high protein mass loading of 116 mg/g glucan (about 60 FPU).