Biomimetic catalysis for hemicellulose hydrolysis in corn stover

Efficient and economical hydrolysis of plant cell wall polysaccharides into monomeric sugars is a significant technical hurdle in biomass processing for renewable fuels and chemicals. One possible approach to overcoming this hurdle is a biomimetic approach with dicarboxylic acid catalyst mimicking the catalytic core microenvironment in natural enzymes. This paper reports developments in the use of a dicarboxylic acid catalyst, maleic acid, for hemicellulose hydrolysis in corn stover. Hemicellulose hydrolysis and xylose degradation kinetics in the presence of maleic acid was compared to sulfuric acid. At optimized reaction conditions for each acid, maleic acid hydrolysis results in minimal xylose degradation, whereas sulfuric acid causes 3-10 times more xylose degradation. These results formed the basis for optimizing the hydrolysis of hemicellulose from corn stover using maleic acid. At 40 g/L dry corn stover solid-loading, both acid catalysts can achieve near-quantitative monomeric xylose yield. At higher solids loadings (150-200 g dry stover per liter), sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis results in more than 30% degradation of the xylose, even under the previously reported optimal condition. However, as a result of minimized xylose degradation, optimized biomimetic hydrolysis of hemicellulose by maleic acid can reach approximately 95% monomeric xylose yields with trace amounts of furfural. Fermentation of the resulting unconditioned hydrolysate by recombinant S. cerevisiae results in 87% of theoretical ethanol yield. Enzyme digestibility experiments on the residual corn stover solids show that >90% yields of glucose can be produced in 160 h from the remaining cellulose with cellulases (15 FPU/g-glucan).     

The mechanism of the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of polysaccharides

The kinetics of homogeneous and heterogeneous acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of polysaccharides has been studied. The hydrolysis of O-methylcellulose in solutions of hydrochloric, sulfuric, and perchloric acids, and the acetolysis of cellulose triacetate were found to follow the mechanism established earlier for glycosides. Degradation of O-ethylcellulose films in hydrochloric acid vapour occurred in the kinetic region.     

Characterization of acid catalytic domains for cellulose hydrolysis and glucose degradation

Cellulolytic enzymes consist of a catalytic domain, a linking peptide, and a binding domain. The paper describes research on carboxylic acids that have potential as catalytic domains for constructing organic macromolecules for use in cellulose hydrolysis that mimic the action of enzymes. The tested domains consist of the series of mono-, di-, and tricarboxylic acids with a range of pK(a)'s. This paper systematically characterizes the acids with respect to hydrolysis of cellobiose, cellulose in biomass, and degradation of glucose and compares these kinetics data to dilute sulfuric acid. Results show that acid catalyzed hydrolysis is proportional to H+ concentration. The tested carboxylic acids did not catalyze the degradation of glucose while sulfuric acid catalyzed the degradation of glucose above that of water alone. Consequently, overall yields of glucose obtained from cellobiose and cellulose are higher for the best carboxylic acid tested, maleic acid, when compared to sulfuric acid at equivalent solution pH.     

Comparison of sulfuric and hydrochloric acids as catalysts in hydrolysis of Kappaphycus alvarezii (cottonii)

In this study, hydrolysis of marine algal biomass Kappaphhycus alvarezii using two different acid catalysts was examined with the goal of identifying optimal reaction conditions for the formation of sugars and by-products. K. alvarezii were hydrolyzed by autoclave using sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid as catalyst with different acid concentrations (0.1-1.0 M), substrate concentrations (1.0-13.5%), hydrolysis time (10-90 min) and hydrolysis temperatures (100-130 (°)C). A difference in galactose, glucose, reducing sugar and total sugar content was observed under the different hydrolysis conditions. Different by-product compounds such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid were also observed under the different reaction conditions. The optimal conditions for hydrolysis were achieved at a sulfuric acid concentration, temperature and reaction time of 0.2 M, 130 °C and 15 min, respectively. These results may provide useful information for the development of more efficient systems for biofuel production from marine biomass.     

Liquefaction of lignin by polyethyleneglycol and glycerol

Enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL), isolated from the enzymatic hydrolysis residues of the biomass, was liquefied using the mixed solvents of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) and glycerol at the temperature of 130-170°C with sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The influences of liquefaction parameters, such as the molecular weight of PEG, mass ratio of sulfuric acid to EHL, liquefaction temperature and time, and mass ratio of liquid (liquefying cosolvent) to solid (EHL) on the residue content and hydroxyl number were discussed. The FT-IR spectrum result showed that the liquefaction product of EHL was polyether polyol. The hydroxyl number of the liquefaction product was 80-120 mgKOH/g higher than that of PEG.     

Efficiencies of acid catalysts in the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass over a range of combined severity factors

Dicarboxylic organic acids have properties that differ from those of sulfuric acid during hydrolysis of lignocellulose. To investigate the effects of different acid catalysts on the hydrolysis and degradation of biomass compounds over a range of thermochemical pretreatments, maleic, oxalic and sulfuric acids were each used at the same combined severity factor (CSF) values during hydrolysis. Xylose and glucose concentrations in hydrolysates were highest with maleic acid. Oxalic acid gave the next highest followed by sulfuric acid. This ranking was particularly true at low CSF values. The concentrations of glucose and xylose increased with oxalic and sulfuric acid pretreatments as the CSF increased, but they never attained the levels observed with maleic acid. Among sulfuric, oxalic and maleic acid treatments, the amount of xylose released as xylooligosaccharide was highest with sulfuric acid. The fraction of xylooligosaccharide was lowest with the maleic acid and the oligosaccharide fraction with oxalic acid fell in between. Furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural levels were also highest with maleic acid. In subsequent fermentations with pretreated biomass, the ethanol concentration was maximal at 19.2 g/l at CSF 1.9 when maleic acid was used as the pretreatment catalyst. This corresponded to an ethanol volumetric production rate of 0.27 g ethanol/l per h. This was the same condition showing the highest xylose production in following pretreatment with various acid catalysts. These findings suggest that maleic and oxalic dicarboxylic acids degrade hemicelluloses more efficiently than does sulfuric acid.     

Modeling sucrose hydrolysis in dilute sulfuric acid solutions at pretreatment conditions for lignocellulosic biomass

Agricultural and herbaceous feedstocks may contain appreciable levels of sucrose. The goal of this study was to evaluate the survivability of sucrose and its hydrolysis products, fructose and glucose, during dilute sulfuric acid processing at conditions typically used to pretreat lignocellulose biomass. Solutions containing 25g/l sucrose with 0.1-2.0% (w/w) sulfuric acid concentrations were treated at temperatures of 160-200 degrees C for 3-12min. Sucrose was observed to completely hydrolyze at all treatment conditions. However, appreciable concentrations of fructose and glucose were detected and glucose was found to be significantly more stable than fructose. Different mathematical approaches were used to fit the kinetic parameters for acid-catalyzed thermal degradation of these sugars. Since both sugars may survive dilute acid pretreatment, they could provide an additional carbon source for production of ethanol and other bio-based products.     

Kinetic studies of corn stover saccharification using sulphuric acid

The kinetics of crystalline cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis in corn stover were studied with a nonisothermal technique. Reactions were arrested at temperatures between 160 and 240 degrees C and product sugars were analyzed using a Bio-Rad HPX-85 liquid chromatographic column. A simple first-order series reaction model was used for both cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis reactions. Kinetic parameters were obtained for three different sulphuric acid concentrations (0.49, 0.92, and 1.47 wt %). Activation energies remained constant over this acid concentration range but the preexponential factors showed an increase with acid concentration. Relationships were obtained between the preexponential factors and acid concentrations. Cellulose hydrolysis and glucose degradation reactions were observed to be of higher order with respect to acid concentration in comparison with the previous studies with other raw materials.     

Kinetic modeling analysis of maleic acid-catalyzed hemicellulose hydrolysis in corn stover

Maleic acid-catalyzed hemicellulose hydrolysis reaction in corn stover was analyzed by kinetic modeling. Kinetic constants for Saeman and biphasic hydrolysis models were analyzed by an Arrhenius-type expansion which include activation energy and catalyst concentration factors. The activation energy for hemicellulose hydrolysis by maleic acid was determined to be 83.3 +/- 10.3 kJ/mol, which is significantly lower than the reported E(a) values for sulfuric acid catalyzed hemicellulose hydrolysis reaction. Model analysis suggest that increasing maleic acid concentrations from 0.05 to 0.2 M facilitate improvement in xylose yields from 40% to 85%, while the extent of improvement flattens to near-quantitative by increasing catalyst loading from 0.2 to 1 M. The model was confirmed for the hydrolysis of corn stover at 1 M maleic acid concentrations at 150 degrees C, resulting in a xylose yield of 96% of theoretical. The refined Saeman model was used to evaluate the optimal condition for monomeric xylose yield in the maleic acid-catalyzed reaction: low temperature reaction conditions were suggested, however, experimental results indicated that bi-phasic behavior dominated at low temperatures, which may be due to the insufficient removal of acetyl groups. A combination of experimental data and model analysis suggests that around 80-90% xylose yields can be achieved at reaction temperatures between 100 and 150 degrees C with 0.2 M maleic acid.     

Modeling of countercurrent shrinking-bed reactor in dilute-acid total-hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

A mathematical model was developed for a countercurrent shrinking-bed reactor to investigate its performance in dilute-acid pretreatment/hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. The results indicate that bed shrinking provides a positive effect on both hemicellulose and cellulose hydrolysis resulting high yield and product concentration. The effect of bed shrinking is more profound on cellulose hydrolysis than on hemicellulose hydrolysis. With dilute sulfuric acid (0.08 wt%) and with optimal adjustment of other operating parameters, the model predicts that near quantitative recovery of hemicellulose sugars is feasible. It further predicts that 80–90% yield with 2–4 wt% product concentration is attainable from hydrolysis of hardwood cellulose. The model also indicates that acid concentration and temperatures acutely affect the reactor performance in cellulose hydrolysis. In contrast, hemicellulose hydrolysis is less sensitive to acid concentration and temperature allowing broader latitude in operating conditions.     

A simple method for the synthesis of benzyl 4-O-benzylhexopyranosides

The kinetics of hydrolysis in dilute sulfuric acid of xylo-oligosaccharides ranging between the di- and penta-oligosaccharides has been studied. One of the two terminal bonds and each internal bond of all xylo-oligosaccharides tested were hydrolysed at the same rate. The hydrolytic rate of the other terminal bond was the same as that of xylobiose, which was 1.8 times greater than that of an internal bond. The rates of hydrolysis of xylo-oligosaccharides have been described as functions of the reaction temperature and concentration of sulfuric acid. It has been shown that the yield of xylose in hydrolysis of xylo-oligosaccharides by sulfuric acid may be calculated from the ratio ( 1.8) of the rate for xylobiose to that of an internal bond and the empirical equation that describes the rate-constant for xylobiose.     

Dilute acid hydrolysis of wheat straw hemicellulose at moderate temperature: a simplified kinetic model

Wheat straw has been hydrolized with sulfuric acid at 34 and 90 degrees C. The treatment at 90 degrees C yields complete solubilization of hemicellulose to xylose and arabinose without significant amounts of furfural. The influence of acid concentration was studied and the kinetics of the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis has been modeled suggesting a two-consecutive reactions mechanism. This model is useful to explain the different behavior of the concentration of the two main sugars produced. The enhanced cellulose accessibility to enzymatic attack is also reported.     

Soluble and insoluble solids contributions to high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose

The rates and extents of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis of dilute acid pretreated corn stover (PCS) decline with increasing slurry concentration. However, mass transfer limitations are not apparent until insoluble solids concentrations approach 20% w/w, indicating that inhibition of enzyme hydrolysis at lower solids concentrations is primarily due to soluble components. Consequently, the inhibitory effects of pH-adjusted pretreatment liquor on the enzymatic hydrolysis of PCS were investigated. A response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to empirically model how hydrolysis performance varied as a function of enzyme loading (12-40mg protein/g cellulose) and insoluble solids concentration (5-13%) in full-slurry hydrolyzates. Factorial design and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were also used to assess the contribution of the major classes of soluble components (acetic acid, phenolics, furans, sugars) to total inhibition. High sugar concentrations (130g/L total initial background sugars) were shown to be the primary cause of performance inhibition, with acetic acid (15g/L) only slightly inhibiting enzymatic hydrolysis and phenolic compounds (9g/L total including vanillin, syringaldehyde, and 4-hydroxycinnamic acid) and furans (8g/L total of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural, HMF) with only a minor effect on reaction kinetics. It was also demonstrated that this enzyme inhibition in high-solids PCS slurries can be approximated using a synthetic hydrolyzate composed of pure sugars supplemented with a mixture of acetic acid, furans, and phenolic compounds, which indicates that generally all of the reaction rate-determining soluble compounds for this system can be approximated synthetically.     

Pentosan hydrolysis in a concentrated slurry system

Pentosan hydrolysis at low aqueous liquid-to-biomass ratios (2.5-15 mL/g) with sulfuric acid as the catalyst is studied in the temperature range of 125-155 degrees C. To facilitate heat transfer and mixing a second insoluble oil is added to the reaction mixture. It is found that even at high slurry concentrations, the reaction is the rate-controlling step. In addition, such systems give higher pentosan yields compared with dilute slurry systems. This is explained using the concept of acid loading which is defined as the acid present per unit mass of biomass.     

Kinetic characterization for dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis of timber varieties and switchgrass

Hydrolysis of four timber species (aspen, balsam fir, basswood, and red maple) and switchgrass was studied using dilute sulfuric acid at 50 g dry biomass/L under similar conditions previously described as acid pretreatment. The primary goal was to obtain detailed kinetic data of xylose formation and degradation from a match between a first order reaction model and the experimental data at various final reactor temperatures (160-190 degrees C), sulfuric acid concentrations (0.25-1.0% w/v), and particle sizes (28-10/20 mesh) in a glass-lined 1L well-mixed batch reactor. Reaction rates for the generation of xylose from hemicellulose and the generation of furfural from xylose were strongly dependent on both temperature and acid concentration. However, no effect was observed for the particle sizes studied. Oligomer sugars, representing incomplete products of hydrolysis, were observed early in the reaction period for all sugars (xylose, glucose, arabinose, mannose, and galactose), but were reduced to low concentrations at later times (higher hemicellulose conversions). Maximum yields for xylose ranged from 70% (balsam) to 94% (switchgrass), for glucose from 10.6% to 13.6%, and for other minor sugars from 8.6% to 58.9%. Xylose formation activation energies and the pre-exponential factors for the timber species and switchgrass were in a range of 49-180 kJ/mol and from 7.5 x 10(4) to 2.6 x 10(20)min(-1), respectively. In addition, for xylose degradation, the activation energies and the pre-exponential factors ranged from 130 to 170 kJ/mol and from 6.8 x 10(13) to 3.7 x 10(17)min(-1), respectively. There was a near linear dependence on acid concentration observed for xylose degradation. Our results suggest that mixtures of biomass species may be processed together and still achieve high yields for all species.     

Thermal synthesis and hydrolysis of polyglyceric acid

Polyglyceric acid was synthesized by thermal condensation of glyceric acid at 80° in the presence and absence of two mole percent of sulfuric acid catalyst. The acid catalyst accelerated the polymerization over 100-fold and made possible the synthesis of insoluble polymers of both L- and DL-glyceric acid by heating for less than 1 day. Racemization of L-glyceric acid yielded less than 1% D-glyceric acid in condensations carried out at 80°C with catalyst for 1 day and without catalyst for 12 days. The condensation of L-glyceric acid yielded an insoluble polymer much more readily than condensation of DL-glyceric acid. Studies of the hydrolysis of poly-DL-glyceric acid revealed that it was considerably more stable under mild acidic conditions compared to neutral pH. The relationship of this study to the origin of life is discussed.     

Modeling intrinsic kinetics of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis

A multistep approach was taken to investigate the intrinsic kinetics of the cellulase enzyme complex as observed with hydrolysis of noncrystalline cellulose (NCC). In the first stage, published initial rate mechanistic models were built and critically evaluated for their performance in predicting time-course kinetics, using the data obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis experiments performed on two substrates: NCC and alpha-cellulose. In the second stage, assessment of the effect of reaction intermediates and products on intrinsic kinetics of enzymatic hydrolysis was performed using NCC hydrolysis experiments, isolating external factors such as mass transfer effects, physical properties of substrate, etc. In the final stage, a comprehensive intrinsic kinetics mechanism was proposed. From batch experiments using NCC, the time-course data on cellulose, cello-oligosaccharides (COS), cellobiose, and glucose were taken and used to estimate the parameters in the kinetic model. The model predictions of NCC, COS, cellobiose, and glucose profiles show a good agreement with experimental data generated from hydrolysis of different initial compositions of substrate (NCC supplemented with COS, cellobiose, and glucose). Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed on each model parameter; this analysis provides some insights into the yield of glucose in the enzymatic hydrolysis. The proposed intrinsic kinetic model parametrized for dilute cellulose systems forms a basis for modeling the complex enzymatic kinetics of cellulose hydrolysis in the presence of limiting factors offered by substrate and enzyme characteristics.     

Hydrolysis of plant polysaccharides and GLC analysis of their constituent neutral sugars

The release and degradation of sugars from onion cell walls and potato cell wall polysaccharides were followed during hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid so that the optimum hydrolysis conditions could be determined. After 6 hr hydrolysis in 2 M acid at 100°, calculated recovery factors of different monosaccharides from potato pectic fractions ranged from 61 to 96%. Lower yields of monosaccharides were obtained from intact onion cell walls, while the yield from cellulose was less than 0.2%. A new GLC column for the separation of alditol acetates derived from cell wall sugars is described.     

Effects of pressing lignocellulosic biomass on sugar yield in two-stage dilute-acid hydrolysis process

Dilute sulfuric acid catalyzed hydrolysis of biomass such as wood chips often involves pressing the wood particles in a dewatering step (e.g., after acid impregnation) or in compression screw feeders commonly used in continuous hydrolysis reactors. This study addresses the effects of pressing biomass feedstocks using a hydraulic press on soluble sugar yield obtained from two-stage dilute-acid hydrolysis of softwood. The pressed acid-impregnated feedstock gave significantly lower soluble sugar yields than the never-pressed (i.e., partially air-dried or filtered) feedstock. Pressing acid-impregnated feedstocks before pretreatment resulted in a soluble hemicellulosic sugar yield of 76.9% from first-stage hydrolysis and a soluble glucose yield of 33.7% from second-stage hydrolysis. The dilute-acid hydrolysis of partially air-dried feedstocks having total solids and acid concentrations similar to those of pressed feedstocks gave yields of 87.0% hemicellulosic sugar and 46.9% glucose in the first and second stages, respectively. Microscopic examination of wood structures showed that pressing acid-impregnated wood chips from 34 to 54% total solids (TS) did not cause the wood structure to collapse. However, pressing first-stage pretreated wood chips (i.e., feedstock for second-stage hydrolysis) from approximately 30 to 43% TS caused the porous wood matrix to almost completely collapse. It is hypothesized that pressing alters the wood structure and distribution of acid within the cell cavities, leading to uneven heat and mass transfer during pretreatment using direct steam injection. Consequently, lower hydrolysis yield of soluble sugars results. Dewatering of corn stover by pressing did not impact negatively on the sugar yield from single-stage dilute-acid pretreatment.     

Degradation and Mineralization of Phenol Compounds with Goethite Catalyst and Mineralization Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence

The efficiency of phenol degradation via Fenton reaction using mixture of heterogeneous goethite catalyst with homogeneous ferrous ion was analyzed as a function of three independent variables, initial concentration of phenol (60 to 100 mg /L), weight ratio of initial concentration of phenol to that of H₂O₂ (1: 6 to 1: 14) and, weight ratio of initial concentration of goethite catalyst to that of H₂O₂ (1: 0.3 to 1: 0.7). More than 90 % of phenol removal and more than 40% of TOC removal were achieved within 60 minutes of reaction. Two separate models were developed using artificial neural networks to predict degradation percentage by a combination of Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ catalyst. Five operational parameters were employed as inputs while phenol degradation and TOC removal were considered as outputs of the developed models. Satisfactory agreement was observed between testing data and the predicted values (R² _Phenol = 0.9214 and R²TOC= 0.9082).