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A Dynamic Model for Cellulosic Biomass Hydrolysis: a Comprehensive Analysis and Validation of Hydrolysis and Product Inhibition Mechanisms

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to perform a comprehensive enzyme kinetics analysis in view of validating and consolidating a semimechanistic kinetic model consisting of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass proposed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Kadam et al., Biotechnol Prog 20(3):698–705, 2004) and its variations proposed in this work. A number of dedicated experiments were carried out under a range of initial conditions (Avicel® versus pretreated barley straw as substrate, different enzyme loadings and different product inhibitors such as glucose, cellobiose and xylose) to test the hydrolysis and product inhibition mechanisms of the model. A nonlinear least squares method was used to identify the model and estimate kinetic parameters based on the experimental data. The suitable mathematical model for industrial application was selected among the proposed models based on statistical information (weighted sum of square errors). The analysis showed that transglycosylation plays a key role at high glucose levels. It also showed that the values of parameters depend on the selected experimental data used for parameter estimation. Therefore, the parameter values are not universal and should be used with caution. The model proposed by Kadam et al. (Biotechnol Prog 20(3):698–705, 2004) failed to predict the hydrolysis phenomena at high glucose levels, but when combined with transglycosylation reaction(s), the prediction of cellulose hydrolysis behaviour over a broad range of substrate concentrations (50–150 g/L) and enzyme loadings (15.8–31.6 and 1–5.9 mg protein/g cellulose for Celluclast and Novozyme 188, respectively) was possible. This is the first study introducing transglycosylation into the semimechanistic model. As long as these type of models are used within the boundary of their validity (substrate type, enzyme source and substrate concentration), they can support process design and technology improvement efforts at pilot and full-scale studies.

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Abbreviations

BG:

β-Glucosidase

CBH:

Exo-1,4-β-d-glucanases

Cel:

Celluclast 1.5 L

DP:

Degree of polymerization

EG:

Endo-1,4-β-D-glucanase

E iT :

Total enzyme concentration (gram protein per liter) (i = 1 for Cel; i = 2 for N188)

E iB :

Bound enzyme concentration (i = 1 for Cel; i = 2 for N188)

E iF :

Concentration of free enzyme in solution (i = 1 for Cel; i = 2 for N188)

E imax :

Maximum mass of enzyme that adsorbs onto a unit mass of substrate (gram protein per gram substrate)

G i :

Glucose (i = 1) cellobiose (i = 2), trisaccharide (i = 3) and tetrasaccharide (i = 4) concentration (grams per liter)

G cr,tri :

Critical glucose concentration of transglycosylation for trisaccharide production (grams per liter)

G cr,tetra :

Critical glucose concentration of transglycosylation for tetrasaccharide production (grams per liter)

K iad :

Dissociation constant for enzyme adsorption/desorption reaction (liters per gram protein) (i = 1 for Cel; i = 2 for N188)

K 3M :

Substrate (cellobiose) saturation constants (grams per liter)

K iIG2 :

Inhibition constant cellobiose (grams per liter) (i = 1 for r 1; i = 2 for r 2)

K iIG :

Inhibition constant glucose (grams per liter) (i = 1 for r 1; i = 2 for r 2; i = 3 for r 3)

K iIX :

Inhibition constant xylose (grams per liter) (i = 1 for r 1; i = 2 for r 2; i = 3 for r 3)

k ir :

Reaction rate constant (i = 1 and 2 liters per gram per hour; i = 3 per hour)

k G3 :

Reaction rate constant of transglycosylation for trisaccharide production

k G4 :

Reaction rate constant of transglycosylation for tetrasaccharide production

N188:

Novozym 188

r i :

Reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) (i = 1 for cellulose to cellobiose; i = 2 for cellulose to glucose; i = 3 for cellobiose to glucose)

r tri :

Overall reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of 3G ↔ G 3 + 2H2O

r tri+ :

Reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of 3G → G 3 + 2H2O

r tri− :

Reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of 3G ← G 3 + 2H2O

r tetra :

Overall reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of G + G 3 ↔ G 4 + H2O

r tetra+ :

Reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of G + G 3 → G 4 + H2O

r tetra− :

Reaction rate (grams per liter per hour) of G + G 3 ← G 4 + H2O

R S :

Substrate reactivity

S :

Substrate concentration (grams per liter) (suffix with “0” means initial substrate concentration)

X :

Xylose concentration (grams per liter)

Xbg:

A BG other than N188

α :

Dimensionless constant for substrate reactivity

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Acknowledgments

R. Morales-Rodriguez acknowledges the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT, project #145066) for the financial support for the development of part of this project. We acknowledge the Novozymes BioProcess Academy at The Technical University of Denmark for financial support and G. Balduck for contributing to some of the experimental work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800, Lyngby, Denmark

    Chien-Tai Tsai & Anne S. Meyer

  2. Computer-Aided Process-Product Engineering Center, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800, Lyngby, Denmark

    Ricardo Morales-Rodriguez & Gürkan Sin

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería de Procesos e Hidráulica, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, C.P. 09340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Ricardo Morales-Rodriguez

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  1. Chien-Tai Tsai
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Correspondence to Anne S. Meyer.

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Tsai, CT., Morales-Rodriguez, R., Sin, G. et al. A Dynamic Model for Cellulosic Biomass Hydrolysis: a Comprehensive Analysis and Validation of Hydrolysis and Product Inhibition Mechanisms. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 2815–2837 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0717-x

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