Sequential high gravity ethanol fermentation and anaerobic digestion of steam explosion and organosolv pretreated corn stover

•Steam explosion and organosolv pretreatment were applied on corn stover (CS).•The effect of H2SO4-catalyzed steam explosion on CS digestibility was investigated.•CS was liquefacted/saccharified with a free-fall mixer at high-solids content.•Maximum ethanol concentration and yield was ca. 76 g/L and 78.3%, respectively.•Biomethane production was conducted from ethanol fermentation residues.

The present work investigates the suitability of pretreated corn stover (CS) to serve as feedstock for high gravity (HG) ethanol production at solids-content of 24 wt%. Steam explosion, with and without the addition of H2SO4, and organosolv pretreated CS samples underwent a liquefaction/saccharification step followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Maximum ethanol concentration of ca. 76 g/L (78.3% ethanol yield) was obtained from steam exploded CS (SECS) with 0.2% H2SO4. Organosolv pretreated CS (OCS) also resulted in high ethanol concentration of ca. 65 g/L (62.3% ethanol yield). Moreover, methane production through anaerobic digestion (AD) was conducted from fermentation residues and resulted in maximum methane yields of ca. 120 and 69 mL/g volatile solids (VS) for SECS and OCS samples, respectively. The results indicated that the implementation of a liquefaction/saccharification step before SSF employing a liquefaction reactor seemed to handle HG conditions adequately.