Effect of Agitation Condition on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Pulverized Japanese Cedar Powder

Abstract

A vibration mill using cog-ring media, which replaces the ball medium in a conventional vibration mill with a cog-ring medium, was developed to achieve high-impact pulverization of lignocellulosic biomass for producing bio-ethanol. Japanese cedar powder pulverized by the vibration mill using cog-ring media showed that saccharification efficiency in enzymatic saccharification of Japanese cedar powder of greater than 70% was reached based on holocellulose at tube test. For this study, the effect of agitation speed on enzymatic saccharification was investigated using a pulverized Japanese cedar powder. Results showed that the saccharification efficiency at 10% solid concentration increased concomitantly with decreasing agitation speed until 30 rpm. The best yields of 77% at 1 L and 75% at 3 L were obtained at 30 rpm agitation. Moreover, relation between Reynolds number for mixing and saccharification efficiency was discussed to find good index for enzymatic saccharification by agitation.