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New strategy for liquefying corn stover pellets

  • Antonio C.Freitas dos Santos
  • , Jonathan C. Overton
  • , Ryan Szeto
  • , Maulik H. Patel
  • , Diana M.R. Gutierrez
  • , Clark Eby
  • , Ana M. Martínez Moreno
  • , Kendra A. Erk
  • , John E. Aston
  • , David N. Thompson
  • , James H. Dooley
  • , Pankaj Sharma
  • , Nathan S. Mosier
  • , Eduardo Ximenes
  • , Michael R. Ladisch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The movement of solid material into and between unit operations within a biorefinery is a bottleneck in reaching design capacity, with formation of biomass slurries needed to introduce feedstock. Corn stover slurries have been achieved from dilute acid, pretreated materials resulting in slurry concentrations of up to about 150 g/L, above which flowability is compromised. We report a new strategy to liquefy corn stover at higher solids concentration (300 g/L) by initially cooking it with the enzyme mimetic maleic acid at 40 mM and 150 °C. This is followed by 6 h of enzymatic modification at 1 FPU (2.2 mg protein)/g solids, resulting in a yield stress of 171 Pa after 6 h and 58 Pa in 48 h compared to 6806 Pa for untreated stover. Mimetic treatment of corn stover pellets minimizes the inhibitory effect of xylo-oligomers on hydrolytic enzymes. This strategy allows for the delivery of solid lignocellulosic slurry into a pretreatment reactor by pumping, improving operability of a biorefinery.

Original languageEnglish
Article number125773
Pages (from-to)125773
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume341
Early online dateAug 15 2021
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • Biorefinery
  • Corn Stover
  • Liquefaction
  • Rheometry
  • Slurry Handling

INL Publication Number

  • INL/JOU-22-69947
  • 143346

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