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Title: Continuous enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass in a membrane-reactor system: Continuous enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass in a membrane-reactor system

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology (1986)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5559· OSTI ID:1426636

Abstract BACKGROUND Converting abundant lignocellulosic biomass to sugars as fungible precursors to fuels and chemicals has the potential to diversify the supply chain for those products, but further process improvements are needed to achieve economic viability. In the current work, process intensification of the key enzymatic hydrolysis unit operation is demonstrated by means of a membrane reactor system that was operated continuously. RESULTS Lignocellulosic biomass (pretreated corn stover) and buffered enzyme solution were fed to a continuously stirred‐tank reactor, and clarified sugar solution was withdrawn via a commercial tubular ultrafiltration membrane. The membrane permeance decline and membrane cleaning efficacy were studied and did not vary significantly when increasing fraction insoluble solids (FIS) from 2.5% to 5%. Continuous enzymatic hydrolysis was successfully operated for more than 80 h. A model for the reactor system was able to predict dynamic behavior that was in reasonable agreement with experimental results. CONCLUSION The modeled technical performance of anticipated commercial batch and continuous enzymatic hydrolysis processes were compared and showed that continuous operation would provide at least twice the volumetric productivity for the conditions studied. Further improvements are anticipated by better membrane selection and by increasing FIS. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; DE‐AC36‐08‐GO28308
OSTI ID:
1426636
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1422626
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5100-70067
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology (1986), Vol. 93, Issue 5; ISSN 0268-2575
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

A two-phase substrate model for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose: application to batch and continuous reactors journal December 2019