• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.1243-1252
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimum conditions of biomass pretreatment with potassium hydroxide (KOH) for efficient utilization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from Miscanthus. The optimization of variables was performed by response surface methodology (RSM). The variation ranges of the parameters for the RSM were potassium hydroxide 0.2~0.8 M, reaction temperature 110~190℃ and reaction time 10~90 min. The optimum conditions of alkali pretreatment from Miscanthus were determined as follows: concentration of KOH 0.47 M, reaction temperature 134℃ and reaction time 65 min. At the optimum conditions, the yield of cellulose from the solid fraction after pretreatment was predicted to be 95% by model prediction. Finally, 66.1 ± 1.1% of cellulose were obtained by verification experiment under the optimum conditions. The order contents of solid extraction were hemicellulose 26.4 ± 0.4%, lignin 3.7 ± 0.1% and ash 0.5 ± 0.04%. The yield of ethanol concentration of 96% was obtained using separated saccharification and fermentation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.303-307
• /
• 2013

This study compares the efficacy of soaking and percolation pretreatments with alkaline solutions for lignocellulosic biomass. Various biomass such as rice straw and barley were pretreated by soaking processes in various alkaline solutions including sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, aqueous ammonia and sodium carbonate. The enzymatic digestibility of rice straw and barley that had been pretreated by soaking in aqueous ammonia was over 80%. Eucalyptus residue, Larix leptolepis and Pinus rigida exhibited relatively low enzymatic digestibility. Nevertheless, the enzymatic digestibility of pretreated eucalyptus residue was increased by five times compared to that of the initial biomass. And, the enzymatic digestibility of the percolation pretreated eucalyptus residue was increased 12 times.