Development of a new pretreatment method (rapid steam hydrolysis) and the comparison of rapid steaming, steam explosion, autohydrolysis, and wet oxidation as pretreatment processes for biomass conversion of southern hardwoods

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5234630

Biermann, C J

Southern hardwoods offer a plentiful source of lignocellulosic material for biomass conversion. It is advantageous to pretreat wood for biomass conversion in order to separate the wood into its components and to increase the reactivity of the individual components. In this study, southern hardwood chips (predominantly oak and gum species) were pretreated by a new process of rapid steaming with continuous extraction of volatile and soluble products. Steam was introduced at the top of a pressurized reactor containing wood chips, while steam condensate and partible products were removed at the bottom of the reactor. Fractionation of wood occurred at temperatures above 200/sup 0/C as hemicellulose and lignin began to appear in the steam condensate fraction, leaving a cellulose-rich fraction in the steaming reactor. Lignin extracted from the solid residue appeared particularly reactive as determined by nitrobenzene oxidation and pyrolysis/gas chromatography. Lignin collected in the steam condensate was also very reactive, presumably due to its rapid cooling after being removed from the reactor. Steam explosion, autohydrolysis, and wet oxidation pretreatments of southern hardwoods were also carried out and compared to rapid steaming by investigating the separation of the wood components, the change in enzymatic hydrolysis rates, and the change in morphology of the pretreated material.

• Research Organization: Mississippi State Univ., State College (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5234630
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
140504* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
BIOMASS
CARBOHYDRATES
CELLULOSE
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
HEMICELLULOSE
HYDROLYSIS
LIGNIN
LYSIS
OAKS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PLANTS
POLYSACCHARIDES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SACCHARIDES
SOLVOLYSIS
STEAM SYSTEMS
TREES
WOOD