Optimization of Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Miscanthus Sinesis for Bioethanol Production

Miscanthus is one of the promising bioenergy plants, consisting of 42% cellulose and 25% hemicellulose. To use Miscanthus for bioenergy production pretreatment method should be determined and optimized. In this study, the factors for dilute acid pretreatment of Miscanthus were optimized by response surface method (RSM). Optimization experiments were performed within the scope of 133~168 oC, 0.63~2.4% sulfuric acid, and 1.34 ~19 min of reaction time. The optimal conditions were determined as 152 oC, 1% sulfuric acid, and 12 min reaction time. The predicted xylose yield at the optimal conditions and experimental yield were 89% and 91%, respectively. Acid¬pretreated Miscanthus was more efficiently hydrolyzed with a commercial cellulase than untreated NREL/TP¬510¬42618. The hydrolysate analysis was 60 one. Conversion rate was approximately 70%.
Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 1685-1688