Supercritical carbon dioxide pretreatment of corn stover and switchgrass for lignocellulosic ethanol production

Supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2), a green solvent suitable for a mobile lignocellulosic biomass processor, was used to pretreat corn stover and switchgrass at various temperatures and pressures. The CO2 pressure was released as quickly as possible by opening a quick release valve during the pretreatment. The biomass was hydrolyzed after pretreatment using cellulase combined with β-glucosidase. The hydrolysate was analyzed for the amount of glucose released. Glucose yields from corn stover samples pretreated with SC-CO2 were higher than the untreated sample’s 12% glucose yield (12 g/100 g dry biomass) and the highest glucose yield of 30% was achieved with SC-CO2 pretreatment at 3500 psi and 150 °C for 60 min. The pretreatment method showed very limited improvement (14% vs. 12%) in glucose yield for switchgrass. X-ray diffraction results indicated no change in crystallinity of the SC-CO2 treated corn stover when compared to the untreated, while SEM images showed an increase in surface area.

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► Supercritical CO2 pretreatment on corn stover yields 30% glucose after hydrolysis.
► Supercritical CO2 pretreatment is ineffective for switchgrass.
► 3500 psi, 150 °C and 1 h are recommended for supercritical CO2 pretreatment.
► Biomass should be pre-wetted and swollen before supercritical CO2 pretreatment.