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Lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and biochemicals: A comprehensive review with a focus on ethanol organosolv pretreatment technology
Author(s) -
Zhou Ziyuan,
Lei Fuhou,
Li Pengfei,
Jiang Jianxin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.26788
Subject(s) - organosolv , cellulosic ethanol , lignocellulosic biomass , enzymatic hydrolysis , biofuel , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , biomass (ecology) , cellulose , ethanol fuel , microbiology and biotechnology , ethanol , hydrolysis , organic chemistry , agronomy , engineering , biology
Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the potential feedstocks to produce second‐generation cellulosic ethanol and biochemicals. To enhance the enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass for efficient enzymatic saccharification, a variety of pretreatment methods have been studied. Among these, organosolv pretreatment using ethanol is a promising pretreatment method owing to its inherent advantages, such as low solvent cost, lack of toxicity, the ability to retain most cellulose fraction in substrates for enzymatic hydrolysis, coproduction of high‐purity lignin and hemicellulosic sugars, easy solvent recovery, and reuse. In this review, the research progress regarding different types of ethanol organosolv pretreatment processes has been summarized in terms of methods, substrate properties, reaction mechanisms, delignification kinetic as well as the impact of pretreatment methods on the enzymatic digestibility. Attempts are also made to provide insights into the complete utilization of lignocellulosic biomass to achieve high potential revenues. Though some ethanol organosolv processes have been studied or are being developed towards commercialization, ethanol organosolv pretreatment is still facing some challenges. Finally, the direction for future work is given to develop a proper ethanol organosolv pretreatment for commercialization.