Modeling Sucrose Hydrolysis in Dilute Sulfuric Acid Solutions at Pretreatment Conditions for Lignocellulosic Biomass

Shane Bower, Ranil Wickramasinghe, Nicholas J. Nagle, Daniel J. Schell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Agricultural and herbaceous feedstocks may contain appreciable levels of sucrose. The goal of this study was to evaluate the survivability of sucrose and its hydrolysis products, fructose and glucose, during dilute sulfuric acid processing at conditions typically used to pretreat lignocellulose biomass. Solutions containing 25 g/l sucrose with 0.1-2.0% (w/w) sulfuric acid concentrations were treated at temperatures of 160-200 °C for 3-12 min. Sucrose was observed to completely hydrolyze at all treatment conditions. However, appreciable concentrations of fructose and glucose were detected and glucose was found to be significantly more stable than fructose. Different mathematical approaches were used to fit the kinetic parameters for acid-catalyzed thermal degradation of these sugars. Since both sugars may survive dilute acid pretreatment, they could provide an additional carbon source for production of ethanol and other bio-based products.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)7354-7362
Number of pages9
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume99
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-510-39686

Keywords

  • Arrhenius kinetics
  • Corn stover
  • Degradation
  • Fructose
  • Glucose

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