TY - JOUR
T1 - Ensiling of wheat straw decreases the required temperature in hydrothermal pretreatment
AU - Ambye-Jensen, Morten
AU - Thomsen, Sune Tjalfe
AU - Kádár, Zsófia
AU - Meyer, Anne S.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Background: Ensiling is a well-known method for preserving green biomasses through anaerobic production of organic acids by lactic acid bacteria. In this study, wheat straw is subjected to ensiling in combination with hydrothermal treatment as a combined pretreatment method, taking advantage of the produced organic acids. Results: Ensiling for 4 weeks was accomplished in a vacuum bag system after addition of an inoculum of Lactobacillus buchneri and 7% w/w xylose to wheat straw biomass at 35% final dry matter. Both glucan and xylan were preserved, and the DM loss after ensiling was less than 0.5%. When comparing hydrothermally treated wheat straw (170, 180 and 190°C) with hydrothermally treated ensiled wheat straw (same temperatures), several positive effects of ensiling were revealed. Glucan was up-concentrated in the solid fraction and the solubilisation of hemicellulose was significantly increased.Subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of the solid fractions showed that ensiling significantly improved the effect of pretreatment, especially at the lower temperatures of 170 and 180°C.The overall glucose yields after pretreatments of ensiled wheat straw were higher than for non-ensiled wheat straw hydrothermally treated at 190°C, namely 74-81% of the theoretical maximum glucose in the raw material, which was ∼1.8 times better than the corresponding yields for the non-ensiled straw pretreated at 170 or 180°C. The highest overall conversion of combined glucose and xylose was achieved for ensiled wheat straw hydrothermally treated at 180°C, with overall glucose yield of 78% and overall conversion yield of xylose of 87%. Conclusions: Ensiling of wheat straw is shown to be an effective pre-step to hydrothermal treatment, and can give rise to a welcomed decrease of process temperature in hydrothermal treatments, thereby potentially having a positive effect on large scale pretreatment costs.
AB - Background: Ensiling is a well-known method for preserving green biomasses through anaerobic production of organic acids by lactic acid bacteria. In this study, wheat straw is subjected to ensiling in combination with hydrothermal treatment as a combined pretreatment method, taking advantage of the produced organic acids. Results: Ensiling for 4 weeks was accomplished in a vacuum bag system after addition of an inoculum of Lactobacillus buchneri and 7% w/w xylose to wheat straw biomass at 35% final dry matter. Both glucan and xylan were preserved, and the DM loss after ensiling was less than 0.5%. When comparing hydrothermally treated wheat straw (170, 180 and 190°C) with hydrothermally treated ensiled wheat straw (same temperatures), several positive effects of ensiling were revealed. Glucan was up-concentrated in the solid fraction and the solubilisation of hemicellulose was significantly increased.Subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of the solid fractions showed that ensiling significantly improved the effect of pretreatment, especially at the lower temperatures of 170 and 180°C.The overall glucose yields after pretreatments of ensiled wheat straw were higher than for non-ensiled wheat straw hydrothermally treated at 190°C, namely 74-81% of the theoretical maximum glucose in the raw material, which was ∼1.8 times better than the corresponding yields for the non-ensiled straw pretreated at 170 or 180°C. The highest overall conversion of combined glucose and xylose was achieved for ensiled wheat straw hydrothermally treated at 180°C, with overall glucose yield of 78% and overall conversion yield of xylose of 87%. Conclusions: Ensiling of wheat straw is shown to be an effective pre-step to hydrothermal treatment, and can give rise to a welcomed decrease of process temperature in hydrothermal treatments, thereby potentially having a positive effect on large scale pretreatment costs.
KW - Combined pretreatment
KW - Ensiling
KW - Enzymatic hydrolysis
KW - Hydrothermal treatment
KW - Silage
KW - Wheat straw
U2 - 10.1186/1754-6834-6-116
DO - 10.1186/1754-6834-6-116
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84882518114
SN - 1754-6834
VL - 6
JO - Biotechnology for Biofuels
JF - Biotechnology for Biofuels
IS - 1
M1 - 116
ER -