Solid acid catalysts pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of macroalgae cellulosic residue for the production of bioethanol

The aim of this study is to investigate the technical feasibility of converting macroalgae cellulosic residue (MCR) into bioethanol. An attempt was made to present a novel, environmental friendly and economical pretreatment process that enhances enzymatic conversion of MCR to sugars using Dowex (TM) Dr-G8 as catalyst. The optimum yield of glucose reached 99.8% under the optimal condition for solid acid pretreatment (10%, w/v biomass loading, 4%, w/v catalyst loading, 30 min, 120 °C) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis (45 FPU/g of cellulase, 52 CBU/g of β-glucosidase, 50 °C, pH 4.8, 30 h). The yield of sugar obtained was found more superior than conventional pretreatment process using H2SO4 and NaOH. Biomass loading for the subsequent simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the pretreated MCR was then optimized, giving an optimum bioethanol yield of 81.5%. The catalyst was separated and reused for six times, with only a slight drop in glucose yield.