Efficient pretreatment of bagasse at high loading in an ionic liquid

• Published in: Industrial crops and products Vol. 119; pp. 243 - 248
• Main Authors: Aung, Ei Mon, Endo, Takatsugu, Fujii, Shunsuke, Kuroda, Kosuke, Ninomiya, Kazuaki, Takahashi, Kenji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2018
• Subjects: Bagasse; Crystallinity; Hydrolysis; Ionic liquids; Pretreatment; Hydrolysis; Ionic liquids; Crystallinity; Pretreatment; Bagasse
• ISSN: 0926-6690; 1872-633X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2018.04.006

[Display omitted] •The effect of the biomass loading amount on crystallinity and hydrolytic reactivity was investigated.•The optimum pretreatment condition for high biomass loading was found to be 130° C for 3 h.•The cellulose reactivity in the 17 and 33 wt% loadings was 1.4 times more efficient than that in the 5 wt% loading.•The higher k1 values were justified by the lower CrI values. A high biomass loading in ionic liquid (IL) pretreatments that reduces the total cost of the process is potentially a key technique in biorefining. Previously, we demonstrated that, with microcrystalline cellulose, a higher cellulose loading could lead to improved accessibility and consequently higher hydrolytic reactivity, when catalyzed by an acid. In this study, we expand this concept to the lignocellulosic biomass such as bagasse. The pretreatment of bagasse was performed with a representative IL,1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, over a biomass loading range of 5–50 wt% and was subsequently subjected to crystallinity measurements and acid hydrolysis. The results indicated a criterion of the pretreatment condition, which showed a higher pretreatment efficiency at a higher biomass loading. At the optimum pretreatment condition, the hydrolytic reactivity for 33 wt% biomass loading was 1.4 times higher than that at the conventional loading of 5 wt%. This concurred with the results that demonstrated a high biomass loading condition produces a lower crystallinity.