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Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Corncob for Efficient Sugar Production

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Abstract

Aqueous dilute acid pretreatments of corncob were conducted using cylindrical pressure vessels in an oil bath. Pretreatments were conducted in a temperature range of 160–190 °C with acid-solution-to-solid-corncob ratio of 2. The acid concentration (v/v) in the pretreatment solution was varied from 0% to 0.7%, depending on temperature. This gives acid charge on ovendry-weight corncob of 0–2.58%. It was found that optimal pretreatment temperature is between 160 and 170 °C based on total xylose and glucose yields and thermal energy consumption in pretreatment. At 170 °C and acid charge of 2.2% on cob, total glucose yield and xylose recovery were 97% and 75%, respectively, which resulted in an overall monomeric sugar recovery of about 88%. Xylose concentration in the hydrolysate was about 12%, with xylose-to-acetic-acid ratio of 8 and to furan (furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural) of about 15.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Priority Research Centers Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Project No. 2010-0020141) to J.W. Lee and by EdeniQ under CRADA 08-RD-11111126-007 with the Forest Products Laboratory. The Tianjin Education Commission of China and the USDA Forest Service provided financial support for Wang's visiting appointment at the Forest Products Laboratory. The authors thank Frederick J. Matt of the Analytical Chemistry and Microscopy Laboratory of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) for carrying out the carbohydrate determination and Diane Dietrich (FPL) for conducting HMF and furfural analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TianJin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, TianJin University of Science and Technology, TianJin, China

    G. S. Wang

  2. Department of Forest Products and Technology (BK 21 Program) and Bio-Energy Research Institute, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Jae-Won Lee

  3. Forest Products Laboratory, US Forest Service, Madison, WI, USA

    J. Y. Zhu & Thomas W. Jeffries

Authors
  1. G. S. Wang
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  2. Jae-Won Lee
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  3. J. Y. Zhu
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  4. Thomas W. Jeffries
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to J. Y. Zhu or Thomas W. Jeffries.

Additional information

This work was conducted on official government time of Zhu and Jeffries while Wang and Lee were visiting scientists at the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. The work is in public domain in the USA.

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Wang, G.S., Lee, JW., Zhu, J.Y. et al. Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Corncob for Efficient Sugar Production. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 163, 658–668 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-010-9071-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-010-9071-4

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