Microwaves Combined With Pressure as a Pretreatment Method for Delignification of Plant Materials in Cellulosic Ethanol Production

摘要

Second generation biofuels are driving many aspects of research nowadays. The use of lignocellulosic biomass and especially grasses such as Miscanthus has an advantage when compared to the use of food crops or animal feedstocks. In this study we evaluated a pretreatment based on microwave irradiation at high pressure (200 psi) in two microwave reactor systems. The tests showed that this pretreatment successfully delignifies the Miscanthus straw, and therefore makes the cellulose available for the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis process.