Asli Isci

Optimization of Ethanol Production From Microfluidized Wheat Straw by Response Surface Methodology

In this study, wheat straw was pretreated with a microfluidizer to improve its enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol yields. The pretreatment was performed at various pressures (500, 1000, and 1500 bar) and solid loadings (1, 2, and 3%). The microfluidized biomass was then subjected to hydrolysis and simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) experiments at different enzyme loadings (5, 10, and 15 FPU/g dry wheat straw) using a mutant yeast. The results indicated that the microfluidization method alters the structure of biomass and leads to a reduction in lignin content. The samples pretreated at 1% solid loading contained the minimum lignin concentration and provided the maximum sugar and ethanol yields. These results signified that the microfluidization method is more effective on biomass at low solid loadings. The process conditions were optimized for higher ethanol and sugar yields using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum pressure and solid and enzyme loadings were found as 1500 bar, 1%, and 15 FPU/g dry wheat straw, respectively. The yields obtained at this condition were 82%, 94%, and 65% for glucose, xylose, and ethanol, respectively. High sugar yields implied that microfluidization is an effective pretreatment method for cellulosic ethanol production. On the other hand, low ethanol yield may indicate that the microorganism was sensitive to inhibitory compounds present in the fermentation medium.

Optimization of organic acid pretreatment of wheat straw.

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of different organic acids (maleic, succinic, and oxalic acid) on enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation yields of wheat straw. It was also aimed to optimize the process conditions (temperature, acid concentration, and pretreatment time) by using response surface methodology (RSM). In line with this objective, the wheat straw samples were pretreated at three different temperatures (170, 190, and 210°C), acid concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) and pretreatment time (10, 20, and 30 min). The findings show that at extreme pretreatment conditions, xylose was solubilized in liquid phase, causing an increase in cellulose and lignin content of biomass. Enzymatic hydrolysis experiments revealed that maleic and oxalic acids were quite effective at achieving high sugar yields (>90%) from wheat straw. In contrast, the highest sugar yields were 50–60%, when the samples were pretreated with succinic acid, indicating that succinic acid was not as effective. The optimum process conditions for maleic acid were, 210°C, 1.08% acid concentration, and 19.8 min; for succinic acid 210°C, 5% acid concentration, and 30 min; for oxalic acid 210°C, 3.6% acid concentration, and 16.3 min. The ethanol yields obtained at optimum conditions were 80, 79, and 59% for maleic, oxalic and succinic acid, respectively.

Ethanol production from rice hull using Pichia stipitis and optimization of acid pretreatment and detoxification processes

The goal of this study was to produce ethanol from rice hull hydrolysates (RHHs) using Pichia stipitis strains and to optimize dilute acid hydrolysis and detoxification processes by response surface methodology (RSM). The optimized conditions were found as 127.14°C, solid:liquid ratio of 1:10.44 (w/v), acid ratio of 2.52% (w/v), and hydrolysis time of 22.01 min. At these conditions, the fermentable sugar concentration was 21.87 g/L. Additionally, the nondetoxified RHH at optimized conditions contained 865.2 mg/L phenolics, 24.06 g/L fermentable sugar, no hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), 1.62 g/L acetate, 0.36 g/L lactate, 1.89 g/L glucose, and 13.49 g/L fructose + xylose. Furthermore, RHH was detoxified with various methods and the best procedures were found to be neutralization with CaO or charcoal treatment in terms of the reduction of inhibitory compounds as compared to nondetoxified RHH. After detoxification procedures, the content of hydrolysates consisted of 557.2 and 203.1 mg/L phenolics, 19.7 and 21.60 g/L fermentable sugar, no HMF, 0.98 and 1.39 g/L acetate, 0 and 0.04 g/L lactate, 1.13 and 1.03 g/L glucose, and 8.46 and 12.09 g/L fructose + xylose, respectively. Moreover, the base‐line mediums (control), and nondetoxified and detoxified hydrolysates were used to produce ethanol by using P. stipitis strains. The highest yields except that of base‐line mediums were achieved using neutralization (35.69 and 38.33% by P. stipitis ATCC 58784 and ATCC 58785, respectively) and charcoal (37.55% by P. stipitis ATCC 58785) detoxification methods. Results showed that the rice hull can be utilized as a good feedstock for ethanol production using P. stipitis.

The effect of aqueous ammonia soaking on enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw

Enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw was performed following aqueous-ammonia soaking. The effects of various operating variables including pretreatment temperature (30, 50, and 70 °C), pretreatment time (15, 30, and 45 h), and ammonia concentration (10% and 30%) on the enzymatic digestibility were investigated. Enzymatic hydrolysis were performed at 5% (w/w) solid loading, 50 °C, and 150 rpm for 96 h, using Accellerase 1500 (30 FPU/g dry biomass). The best reaction conditions observed (50 °C, 45 h, and 30% ammonia) resulted in enzymatic hydrolysis yields of 76% for glucose and 81% for xylose. Total reducing sugars released during hydrolysis experiments were also determined. As the severity of the pretreatment was increased, higher reducing sugar release was observed. It was also found that total reducing sugars vary exponentially with the reciprocal of the pretreatment temperature. An empirical model was developed, which relates reducing sugar concentrations to pretreatment time and temperature.

Effect of Drying on Porous Characteristics of Orange Peel

Abstract The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of different temperatures (40, 50 and 60 °C) and air velocities (1 and 2 m/s) on shrinkage, porosity, pore size distribution, color and microstructure of orange peel. Empirical models were also proposed to predict shrinkage and porosity as a function of moisture. A strong negative correlation was determined between moisture and shrinkage. Air temperature had no significant impact on the final shrinkage and porosity values. During drying, porosity of the samples first increased until a critical value, at which point further decrease in moisture resulted in collapse of pores. The porosity of the orange peel was correlated with moisture by a third-order polynomial. Pore size distribution curve of raw sample showed two major peaks, a wider and a sharper peak at around 19.8 and 7.18 μm, respectively. After drying, the peaks became shorter and the curve shifted to the left, indicating that the amount of pores and their diameter decreased. The SEM analysis revealed that at extreme process conditions, the orange peel surface was cracked and the characteristic distribution of the waxy components was obstructed.