Biomass pre-treatmet for lignocellulosic fractionation and improved production of ethanol and lignin derivatives (BIOALCOHOLIG).

GONZÁLEZ, A.E.; AREA, M.C.; FERRAZ, A..; PARK, S.W.,; BLACK, G.,; VILLAR, J.C

Campinas

Workshop; Workshop on Hydrolysis Route for Cellulosic Ethanol from Sugarcane: Building the next generation of biofuels; 2009

Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol

Agricultural wastes are mainly composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, which represent the biggest renewable sources of energy and raw materials. However, when cellulose is used for ethanol production there are some drawbacks to solve before obtaining the product. [1] Cellulose is submerged into a lignin - hemicelluloses matrix which makes difficult the access of chemicals to the cellulose chains. The existence of crystalline zones in cellulose also hinders these reactions. [2] Hemicelluloses are easily converted into individual sugars by chemical hydrolysis while chemical transformation of cellulose into glucose is not so efficient. Enzymatic hydrolysis is necessary and supposes adequate selection of enzymes and removal of inhibitors. [3] Glucose fermentation is well known and efficient. The transformation of other sugars, such as the xylose, is not so easy and requires efficient alcohol-tolerant yeasts and inhibition studies.