Periodic peristalsis enhancing the high solids enzymatic hydrolysis performance of steam exploded corn stover biomass

Enzymatic hydrolysis beyond 15% solid loading offers many advantages such as increased sugar and ethanol concentrations and decreased capital cost. However, difficult mixing and handling limited its industrialized application. A novel intensification method, periodic peristalsis, had been exploited to improve the high solids enzymatic hydrolysis performance of steam exploded corn stover (SECS). The optimal steam explosion conditions were 200 °C and 8 min, under which glucan and xylan recovery was 94.3% and 64.8%, respectively. Glucan and xylan conversions in periodic peristalsis enzymatic hydrolysis (PPEH) were 28.0-38.5% and 25.0-36.0% higher than those in static state enzymatic hydrolysis with solid loading increasing from 1% to 30%, respectively, while they were 1.0-11.2% and 3.0-9.2% higher than those in incubator shaker enzymatic hydrolysis (ISEH). Glucan and xylan conversion in PPEH at 21% solid loading reached 71.2% and 70.3%, respectively. Periodic peristalsis also facilitated fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis of which SECS was added completely before transition point. Results presented that PPEH shortened the transition point time from solid state to slurry state, decreased the viscosity of hydrolysis mixture, and reduced the denaturation effect of enzymes compared with ISEH, and hence improve the high solids enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency.