Use of mechanical refining to improve the production of low-cost sugars from lignocellulosic biomass

Junyeong Park, Brandon Jones, Bonwook Koo, Xiaowen Chen, Melvin Tucker, Ju Hyun Yu, Thomas Pschorn, Richard Venditti, Sunkyu Park

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mechanical refining is widely used in the pulp and paper industry to enhance the end-use properties of products by creating external fibrillation and internal delamination. This technology can be directly applied to biochemical conversion processes. By implementing mechanical refining technology, biomass recalcitrance to enzyme hydrolysis can be overcome and carbohydrate conversion can be enhanced with commercially attractive levels of enzymes. In addition, chemical and thermal pretreatment severity can be reduced to achieve the same level of carbohydrate conversion, which reduces pretreatment cost and results in lower concentrations of inhibitors. Refining is versatile and a commercially proven technology that can be operated at process flows of ~1500 dry tons per day of biomass. This paper reviews the utilization of mechanical refining in the pulp and paper industry and summarizes the recent development in applications for biochemical conversion, which potentially make an overall biorefinery process more economically viable.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)59-67
Number of pages9
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume199
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Keywords

  • Biomass conversion
  • Enzymatic hydrolysis
  • Mechanical refining

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