Extraction of hemicelluloses from wood in a pulp biorefinery, and subsequent fermentation into ethanol

• Hemicellulosic ethanol from softwood hemicelluloses in a pulp mill.
• Comparison of acid hydrolysis and autohydrolysis to extract hemicelluloses.
• Effects of the extraction process conditions on inhibitors concentrations.
• Effects of inhibitors on fermentation.

This study deals with the production of ethanol and paper pulp in a kraft pulp mill. The use of an acid hydrolysis or a two-step treatment composed of an autohydrolysis followed by a secondary acid hydrolysis was studied. Acid hydrolysis allowed the extraction of higher quantities of sugars but led also to higher degradations of these sugars into inhibitors of fermentation. The direct fermentation of a hydrolysate resulting from an acid hydrolysis gave excellent yields after 24 h. However, the fermentation of hydrolysates after their concentration proved to be impossible. The study of the impact of the inhibitors on the fermentations showed that organic acids, and more specifically formic acid and acetic acid were greatly involved in the inhibition.