Organosolv Pretreatment of Slurry Composting and Biofiltration of Liquid Fertilizer-Treated Yellow Poplar for Sugar Production

The present study examines the influence of slurry composting and biofiltration liquid fertilizer (SCBLF) treatment on the biomass characteristics of yellow poplar, and the optimization of organosolv pretreatment for sugar production. After SCBLF treatment, total exchangeable cation contents of yellow poplar was increased from $3.1g\;kg^{-1}$ to $4.4g\;kg^{-1}$, and as a result, biomass production of yellow poplar was also enhanced by 82.3%. Organosolv pretreatment was conducted with three independent variables: 1) reaction temperature: $133.2^{\circ}C$ to $166.8^{\circ}C$; 2) acid concentration: 0.2% to 1.8%; and 3) reaction time: 1.6 min to 18.4 min. Reaction temperature was the most significant variable in water insoluble solid (WIS) recovery rate. High overall sugar yield was attained from pretreatment conditions approximately 50% of WIS recovery rate, and the highest overall glucose yield (44.0%) was achieved from pretreatment at $140^{\circ}C$ with 1.5% acid concentration for 5 min. Consequently, 21.1% of glucose and 5.8% of xylose were produced from the organosolv pretreatment of SCBLF-treated 8-year-old yellow poplar.