• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.448-452
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• 2016

This study is for the effective pretreatment and saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass for a transport fuel receiving attention. The waste water during the pretreatment of biomass is major factor for determining the price of biofuel. Therefore, we conducted high concentration of organosolv pretreatment for decline waste water and reusing the solvent. We confirmed effect of organosolv pretreatment by components analysis and enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass. The corn stover was used for and 99.5 wt% of ethanol as a organosolv pretreatment. The pretreatment condition was varied 130 to $190^{\circ}C$ during the designated reaction times and the effect of pretreatment was investigated by enzymatic hydrolysis. The highest glucose conversion was more than 68% the pretreatment condition of $190^{\circ}C$ for 70 min or more. The solid remaining was more than 70% and almost of cellulose and hemicellulose were survived.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1384-1389
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• 2023

This work aimed to evaluate the feasibility of biohydrogen production from Barley Straw and Miscanthus. The primary obstacle in plant biomass decomposition is the recalcitrance of the biomass itself. Plant cell walls consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, which make the plant robust to decomposition. However, the hyperthermophilic bacterium, Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, can efficiently utilize lignocellulosic feedstocks (Barley Straw and Miscanthus) for energy production, and C. bescii can now be metabolically engineered or isolated to produce more hydrogen and other biochemicals. In the present study, two strains, C. bescii JWCB001 (wild-type) and JWCB018 (ΔpyrFA Δldh ΔcbeI), were tested for their ability to increase hydrogen production from Barley Straw and Miscanthus. The JWCB018 resulted in a redirection of carbon and electron (carried by NADH) flow from lactate production to acetate and hydrogen production. JWCB018 produced ~54% and 63% more acetate and hydrogen from Barley Straw, respectively than its wild-type counterpart, JWCB001. Also, 25% more hydrogen from Miscanthus was obtained by the JWCB018 strain with 33% more acetate relative to JWCB001. It was supported that the engineered C. bescii, such as the JWCB018, can be a parental strain to get more hydrogen and other biochemicals from various biomass.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2017

Microbes in forest are very important due to not only to enhance soil fertility but also maintain a healthy ecosystem by supplying the energy available to living organisms by producing various kinds of enzymes related to degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. In order to isolate a lignocellulosic biomass degrading bacterial strain from the Jurassic park located in Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, We used the Luria-Bertani-Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) agar trypan blue method containing 0.4 % carboxymethyl cellulose and 0.01 % trypan blue. As a result, we isolated a bacterial strain showing both activity on the CMC and xylan. To identify the isolated strain, 16S rRNA sequencing and API kit analysis were used. The isolated strain turned out to belong to Bacillus species and then named Bacillus sp. GJY. In the CMC zymogram analysis, it showed that one active band of about 28kDa in size is present. Xylan zymogram analysis also showed to have one active band of about 25kDa in size. The optimal growth temperature of Bacillus sp. GJY was $37^{\circ}C$. The maximal activities of CMCase and xylanase were 12 hour after incubation. The optimal pH and temperature for CMCase were 5.0 and $40^{\circ}C$, respectively, whereas the optimal pH and temperature for xylanase was 4.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. Both activities for CMCase and xylanase showed to be thermally stable at 40and $50^{\circ}C$, while both activities rapidly decreased at over $60^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2009

Because of high contents of cellulose (~37 wt%) and hemicellulose (~17%), rice straw seems to be a potential lignocellulosic biomass for production of bioethanol. In this study, Ammonia Recycled Percolation (ARP) pretreatment of rice straw was extensively investigated. In particular, the experimental study included the effects of temperature, reaction time and concentration of ammonia on compositions and enzymatic digestibility of the resulting solid residues; the ranges of pretreatment conditions were, in turn, $150{\sim}190^{\circ}C$, 10~90 min and 0~20 wt%. Through ARP pretreatment, the lignin content was reduced by as high as ~84% while 20~80% of the hemicellulose was also solubilized. The solid residue resulted from the pretreatment with 15 wt% aqueous ammonia solution at $170^{\circ}C$ for 90 mim showed as high as ~90% of digestibility with 15FPU/g of glucan enzyme loading. Supplement of xylanese to cellulase led to a notable enhancement of digestibility, indicating a discernable inhibitory role of hemicellulose. Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) and Simultaneous Saccharification and Co-Fermentation (SSCF) were performed to obtain ethanol productions of 13.8 g/L (corresponding to 81% yield) and 15 g/L (corresponding to 89% yield), respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1403-1409
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• 2017

In this study, the xylitol dehydrogenase (XYL2) gene was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a host cell for ease of use in the degradation of lignocellulosic biomass (xylose). To select suitable expression systems for the S.XYL2 gene from S. cerevisiae and the P.XYL2 gene from Pichia stipitis, $pGMF{\alpha}-S.XYL2$, $pGMF{\alpha}-P.XYL2$, $pAMF{\alpha}-S.XYL2$ and $pAMF{\alpha}-P.XYL2$ plasmids with the GAL10 promoter and ADH1 promoter, respectively, were constructed. The mating factor ${\alpha}$ ($MF{\alpha}$) signal sequence was also connected to each promoter to allow secretion. Each plasmid was transformed into S. cerevisiae $SEY2102{\Delta}trp1$ strain and the xylitol dehydrogenase activity was investigated. The GAL10 promoter proved more suitable than the ADH1 promoter for expression of the XYL2 gene, and the xylitol dehydrogenase activity from P. stipitis was twice that from S. cerevisiae. The xylitol dehydrogenase showed $NAD^+$-dependent activity and about 77% of the recombinant xylitol dehydrogenase was secreted into the periplasmic space of the $SEY2102{\Delta}trp1/pGMF{\alpha}-P.XYL2$ strain. The xylitol dehydrogenase activity was increased by up to 41% when a glucose/xylose mixture was supplied as a carbon source, rather than glucose alone. The expression system and culture conditions optimized in this study resulted in large amounts of xylitol dehydrogenase using S. cerevisiae as the host strain, indicating the potential of this expression system for use in bioethanol production and industrial applications.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.672-677
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• 2014

Torrefaction is a thermal treatment process to pre-treat biomass at temperature of $200{\sim}300^{\circ}C$ under an inert atmosphere. It was known that torrefaction process strongly depended on the decomposition temperature of the lignocellulosic constituents in biomass. In this work, the torrefaction characteristics of baggase has been studied. This study focuses on the relation between the energy yields, heating values, gas emission, volatile and ash constituents with torrefaction temperatures and times. The activation energies of baggase torrefaction has been studied by using TGA (Thermogravimetric Analyzer). From this work, it was seen that ash constituents and heating values were increased with torrefaction temperature, while volatile constituents and energy yields decreased. It was also found that carbon monoxide containing oxygen were decomposed at a lower temperature than those of hydrocarbon compounds, $C_xH_y$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2020

The bio-oil produced from the fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass contains a high amount of oxygenates, causing variation in the properties of bio-oil, such as instability, high acidity, and low heating value, reducing the quality of the bio-oil. Consequently, an upgrading process should be recommended ensuring that these bio-oils are widely used as fuel sources. Catalytic fast pyrolysis has attracted a great deal of attention as a promising method for producing upgraded bio-oil from biomass feedstock. In this study, the fast pyrolysis of tulip tree was performed in a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor under different reaction temperatures, with and without catalysts, to investigate the effects of pyrolysis temperature and catalysts on product yield and bio-oil quality. The system used silica sand, ferric oxides (Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄), and H-ZSM-5 as the fluidized-bed material and nitrogen as the fluidizing medium. The liquid yield reached the highest value of 49.96 wt% at 450 ℃, using Fe₂O₃ catalyst, compared to 48.45 wt% for H-ZSM-5, 47.57 wt% for Fe₃O₄ and 49.03 wt% with sand. Catalysts rejected oxygen mostly as water and produced a lower amount of CO and CO₂, but a higher amount of H₂ and hydrocarbon gases. The catalytic fast pyrolysis showed a high ratio of H₂/CO than sand as a bed material.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

As an attempt to replacing petroleum-based chemicals with bio-based ones, synthesis of furfural from biomass-derived xylose attracts much attention in recent days. Conventionally, furfural from xylose has been produced via the utilization of highly corrosive, toxic, and environmentally unfriendly mineral acids such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid. In this study, microwave-assisted biphasic reaction process in the presence of novel bio-based heterogeneous acid catalysts was developed for the eco-benign and effective synthesis of furfural from xylose. The microwave was irradiated for reaction acceleration and a biphasic system consisting of $H_2O$ : MIBK (1 : 2) was designed for continuous extraction of furfural into the organic phase in order to reduce the undesired side products formed by decomposition/condensation/oligomerization in the acidic aqueous phase. Moreover, sulfonated amorphous carbonaceous materials were prepared from wood powder, the most abundant lignocellulosic biomass. The prepared catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, XPS, BET, elemental analysis and they were used as bio-based heterogeneous acid catalysts for the dehydration of xylose into furfural more effectively. For further optimization, the effect of temperature, reaction time, water/organic solvent ratio, and substrate/catalyst ratio on the xylose conversion and furfural yield were investigated and 100% conversion of xylose and 74% yield of furfural was achieved within 5 h at $180^{\circ}C$. The bio-based heterogeneous acid catalysts could be used three times without any significant loss of activity. This greener protocol provides highly selective conversion of xylose to furfural as well as facile isolation of product and bio-based heterogeneous acid catalysts can alternate the environmentally-burdened mineral acids.

• Mycobiology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.184-194
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• 2015

A compressive description of tropical milky white mushroom (Calocybe indica P&C var. APK2) is provided in this review. This mushroom variety was first identified in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and can be cultivated on a wide variety of substrates, at a high temperature range ($30{\sim}38^{\circ}C$). However, no commercial cultivation was made until 1998. Krishnamoorthy 1997 rediscovered the fungus from Tamil Nadu, India and standardized the commercial production techniques for the first time in the world. This edible mushroom has a long shelf life (5~7 days) compared to other commercially available counterparts. A comprehensive and critical review on physiological and nutritional requirements viz., pH, temperature, carbon to nitrogen ratio, best carbon source, best nitrogen source, growth period, growth promoters for mycelia biomass production; substrate preparation; spawn inoculation; different supplementation and casing requirements to increase the yield of mushrooms has been outlined. Innovative and inexpensive methods developed to commercially cultivate milky white mushrooms on different lignocellulosic biomass is also described in this review. The composition profiles of milky white mushroom, its mineral contents and non-enzymatic antioxidants are provided in comparison with button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). Antioxidant assay results using methanol extract of milky white mushroom has been provided along with the information about the compounds that are responsible for flavor profile both in fresh and dry mushrooms. Milky white mushroom extracts are known to have anti-hyperglycemic effect and anti-lipid peroxidation effect. The advantage of growing at elevated temperature creates newer avenues to explore milky white mushroom cultivation economically around the world, especially, in humid tropical and sub-tropical zones. Because of its incomparable productivity and shelf life to any other cultivated mushrooms in the world, milky white mushroom could play an important role in satisfying the growing market demands for edible mushrooms in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.30-36
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• 1994

Steam explosion process is one of the most efficient, pretreatment method for the utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. The carbxymethyl-cellulose(CMC) was prepared with steam exploded wood(EXW), pine(Pinus densiflora) and oak(Quercus mongolica), by standard method using isopropyl alcohol and monochloroacetic acid. The range of water solubility of carboxymethylated pine exploded wood was 45.2~66.8 % and those of oak was 60.7~84.7 %. The degree of substitution(D.S) of carboxymethylated pine exploded wood was 0.11~0.33 and oak exploded wood was 0.48~0.76. The color of carboxymethylated pine and oak exploded wood was brown-black. When carboxymethylated EXW was purified by sulfuric acid, the yield of carboxymethylated wood was lower than non-treated one. However, the color was still brown-black although after delignification. In carboxymethylated EXM prepared after delignification, the water solubility and degree of substitution(D.S) of pine were 81.4~95.9 % and 0.71~0.79, and those of oak were 76.2~89.5 % and 0.79~1.05. The values were higher than non-treated. The degree of substitution of purified carboxymethylated wood prepared with delignified EXM, pine and oak were 0.50~0.71 and 0.70~0.88. The color of carboxymethylated wood was white. In carboxymethylated wood preparde after delignification of EXM, swelling ratio and water retention value of pine were 95.9~96.5 and 580.0~751.2, those of oak were 76.2~89.5 and 124.3~307.6.