AN EXPERIMENTAL ENSILAGING PROCEDURE AND CHEMICAL PRETREATMENT OF SWEET SORGHUM STALKS FOR ENHANCING BIOFUELS PRODUCTION

摘要

Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench var. Keller) is a tropical lignocellulosic grass, grown primarily in semiarid and dry parts of the world, which is considered to have a large potential for liquid biofuels (e.g. ethanol) and biogas production. Sweet sorghum biomass is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, while its fraction of soluble sugars is rich in glucose and sucrose. Fermentable soluble sugars are the primary source for the production of bioethanol and biogas. However lignocellulosic content is usually left unexploited. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic material aims at altering or removing structural and compositional impediments to hydrolysis in order to facilitate subsequent enzymatic or microbial hydrolysis. Simultaneous degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose results into augmentation of available fermentable sugars.