2017 Volume 96 Issue 11 Pages 503-508
Non-wood lignocellulosic biomass is a promising raw material that can be converted into glucose for cellulosic ethanol production. Since pretreatment could improve the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass, a comparison of enzymatic hydrolysability among different pretreated non-wood biomasses was presented in this study. Results showed that although the non-wood biomasses, namely kapok, EFB and kenaf core fibres were treated by same pretreatment condition, the enzymatic hydrolysability of these pretreated biomasses was different. This was highly related to the changes of chemical composition in the biomasses after pretreatments. Moreover, the total glucose yield (TGY), which was calculated by multiplying the enzymatic saccharification yield with the solid recovery yield of the pretreated biomass, played an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysability of biomass. Besides, TGY could indicate the total amount of glucose that could be attained from a basic weight of the untreated biomass. Hence, the study found that besides the enzymatic saccharification yield, the solid recovery yield was also essential for cellulosic ethanol study as it was affected by the loss of the cellulose during pretreatments.
