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An economically viable ionic liquid for the fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass.
- Source :
- Green Chemistry; 7/7/2017, Vol. 19 Issue 13, p3078-3102, 25p
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Cost-effective fractionation (pretreatment) of lignocellulosic biomass is necessary to enable its large-scale use as a source of liquid fuels, bio-based materials and bio-derived chemicals. While a number of ionic liquids (ILs) have proven capable of highly effective pretreatment, their high cost presents a barrier to commercial viability. In this study, we investigate in detail the application of the low-cost (ca. $1 kg<superscript>−1</superscript>) ionic liquid triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate for the fractionation of the grass Miscanthus x giganteus into a cellulose rich pulp, a lignin and a distillate. We found that up to 85% of the lignin and up to 100% of the hemicellulose were solubilized into the IL solution. The hemicellulose dissolved mainly in monomeric form, and pentoses were partially converted into furfural. Up to 77% of the glucose contained in the biomass could be released by enzymatic saccharification of the pulp. The IL was successfully recovered and reused four times. A 99% IL recovery was achieved each time. Effective lignin removal and high saccharification yields were maintained during recycling, representing the first demonstration that repeated IL use is feasible due to the self-cleaning properties of the non-distillable solvent. We further demonstrate that furfural and acetic acid can be separated quantitatively from the non-volatile IL by simple distillation, providing an easily recoverable, valuable co-product stream, while IL degradation products were not detected. We further include detailed mass balances for glucose, hemicellulose and lignin, and a preliminary techno-economic estimate for the fractionation process. This is the first demonstration of an efficient and repeated lignocellulose fractionation with a truly low-cost IL, and opens a path to an economically viable IL-based pretreatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- IONIC liquids
LIGNOCELLULOSE
BIOMASS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14639262
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 13
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Green Chemistry
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 123893401
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c7gc00705a