Impact of pretreatments and enzymatic hydrolysis on agricultural residue ash suitability for concrete

• Utilization of bioethanol byproduct as SCMs for concrete was investigated.
• Sodium hydroxide pretreatments negatively affected byproducts properties for SCM production.
• Sulfuric acid pretreatments improved the byproducts properties for SCM production.

This study investigated the effects of the lignocellulosic ethanol production process on the potential use of the byproduct for supplementary cementitious material (SCM) production. Results showed that biomass pretreatment with sodium hydroxide could reduce the reactivity of byproduct ash in concrete because the sodium hydroxide dissolves much of the silica out of the biomass reducing the amount of reactive silica in the biomass ash. Sulfuric acid pretreatment was found to be an effective pretreatment method because it enhanced the byproduct properties for SCMs production. Therefore, if sulfuric acid pretreatment is used in lignocellulosic ethanol production, the byproduct could be used to produce reactive SCMs.