Hydrodynamic Cavitation Reactor for Efficient Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 55; no. 7; pp. 1866 - 1871
• Main Authors: Nakashima, Kazunori, Ebi, Yuuki, Shibasaki-Kitakawa, Naomi, Soyama, Hitoshi, Yonemoto, Toshikuni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 24.02.2016
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.5b04375

In the present study, hydrodynamic (HD) cavitation was combined with sodium percarbonate (SP) for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. For HD cavitation, a circular flow system equipped with a venturi tube was employed. The combined system of HD and SP (HD-SP) was compared to a pretreatment system using ultrasonication and SP (US-SP). The efficacy of each pretreatment method was evaluated by measuring lignin removal, and glucose and xylose formation. Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated that both systems resulted in a similar degree of lignin removal; however, the HD-SP system was more efficient than the US-SP system for glucose and xylose production. Neither system generated the inhibitor furfural, while it was detected in dilute acid (DA)-pretreated biomass. Furthermore, changing the venturi tube throat diameter improved the efficacy of the HD-SP system. The HD-SP system is promising for the industrial pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.