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Title: Reaction Kinetic Model of Dilute Acid-Catalyzed Hemicellulose Hydrolysis of Corn Stover under High-Solid Conditions

Journal Article · · Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, HI (United States). Hawaii Natural Energy Inst.
  2. Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  3. Henkel Corporation, Rocky Hill, CT (United States)

High solid conditions are desirable in pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. An advanced dilute-acid pretreatment reactor has been developed at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). It is a continuous auger-driven reactor that can be operated with high-solid charge at high temperature and with short residence time resulting high productivity and high sugar concentration. Here, we investigated the kinetics of the reactions associated with dilute-acid pretreatment of corn stover, covering the reaction conditions of the NREL reactor operation: 155-185 C, 1-2 wt% sulfuric acid concentration, and 1:2 solid to liquid ratio. The experimental data were fitted to a first-order biphasic model which assumes that xylan is comprised of two different fragments: fast and slow reacting fractions. Due to the high solid loading condition, significant amount of xylose oligomers was observed during the pretreatment. We also included the oligomers as an intermediate entity in the kinetic model. The effect of acid concentration was incorporated into the pre-exponential factor of Arrhenius equation. The kinetic model with bestfit kinetic parameters has shown good agreement with experimental data. The kinetic parameter values of the proposed model were noticeably different from those previously reported. The activation energies of xylan hydrolysis are lower and the acid exponents are higher than the average of literature values. The proposed model can serve as a useful tool for design and operation of pretreatment system pertaining to corn stover.

Research Organization:
Auburn Univ., AL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1390248
Journal Information:
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 56, Issue 39; ISSN 0888-5885
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science