Biomass biorefinery for biopolymers isolation, fermentable sugars, and briquettes production

Abstract

This study aimed to extract xylan by hydrogen peroxide in an alkaline medium, recover lignin, and evaluate the use of the pretreated material in the production of glucose via enzymatic hydrolysis. The formation of briquettes using different anatomical fractions of sugarcane (bagasse, epidermis-free stem, external fraction containing epidermis, and bagasse with the addition of lignin) was also evaluated. After xylan extraction with a yield of 62.71%, 33.6 2% of lignin was recovered by acid precipitation. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material resulted in 71.10% of glucose. The briquettes made from the epidermis-free stem and external fraction showed better results in terms of ash, volatiles, and fixed carbon contents. Sugarcane bagasse generated briquettes with an energy density of 23,544.9 MJ/m3, and an external fraction of 25,711.8 MJ/m3. For the volumetric expansion, the briquettes made from bagasse and bagasse with the addition of lignin (recovered from xylan solubilization) presented less volumetric variation. The briquettes made from the external fraction with and without heating showed durability of over 97%.