Impact of dilute acid pretreatment on the structure of bagasse for bioethanol production

Wei Hsin Chen, Yi Jian Tu, Herng Kuang Sheen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

106 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dilute acid pretreatment is a commonly used pretreatment method in the course of producing bioethanol from lignocellulosics and the structure variation of the lignocellulosics is highly related to the pretreatment process. To understand the impact of dilute acid pretreatment on the structure of bagasse, four different pretreatment conditions by varying heating time are considered where the bagasse and the pretreated materials are examined using a variety of analysis methods. The obtained results indicate that the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is able to provide a useful insight into the recognition of lignocellulosic structure. Specifically, the peak of the TGA of the pretreated materials moves toward the low temperature region, revealing that the lignocellulosic structure is loosened. However, the characteristic of crystal structure of cellulose remains in the pretreated materials. Increasing heating time enhances the pretreatment procedure; as a result, the average particle size of the investigated materials increases with heating time. This swelling behavior may be attributed to the enlarged holes inside the particles in that the surface area decreases with increasing heating time. In addition, when the heating time is increased to a certain extent (e.g. 15 min), some fragments are found at the surface and they tend to peel off from the surface. It follows that the dilute acid pretreatments have a significant effect on the bagasse structure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)265-274
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Energy Research
Volume34
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010 Mar 1

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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