Bioresource Technology, Vol.243, 474-480, 2017
Effects of dilute-acid pretreatment conditions on filtration performance of corn stover hydrolyzate
The reaction conditions used during dilute-acid pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass control the carbohydrate digestion yield and also hydrolyzate properties. Depending on the conversion route of interest, solid-liquid separation (SLS) may be required to split the hemicellulose-rich liquor from the cellulose-rich insoluble solids, and slurry properties are important for SLS. Corn stover was pretreated at different reaction conditions and the slurries were assessed for conversion yield and filtration performance. Increasing pretreatment temperature reduced the solids mean particle size and resulted in slower slurry filtration rates when vacuum filtered or pressure filtered. Corn stover pretreated at 165 degrees C for 10 min and with 1% H2SO4 exhibited the highest xylose yield and best filtration performance with a no-wash filtration rate of 80 kg/h m(2) and cake permeability of 15 x 10 (15). (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.