Bioethanol offers a sustainable solution for transition from fossil-based fuels to renewable alternatives. The one produced from agricultural and forest residues, which is called lignocellulosic bioethanol, shows less conflicts with the food supply compared to the one made from food crops. Since the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulosic material, the process of pretreatment and hydrolysis should be done prior to fermentation. However, toxic compounds that inhibit fermentation were also produced during the process, which reduce the productivity of bioethanol. Here we show that the technique of atmospheric cold plasma contributed to the degradation of those inhibitory compounds. In this study, sugarcane bagasse was chosen as lignocellulosic material and was pretreated and hydrolyzed by H2SO4 before fermentation. After the process, inhibitory compounds such as formic acid, acetic acid, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were detected in the sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate at the concentration of 1.3, 2.5, 1.5, 0.5 g/L, respectively. The effect of inhibitors degradation by atmospheric cold plasma showed that at 120W treatment for 25 minutes could decreased formic acid, acetic acid, HMF and furfural by 19.6, 2.0, 57.4, 100%, respectively. Our results demonstrate that atmospheric cold plasma could effectively degrade the inhibitors within hydrolysate, therefore enhance the productivity of bioethanol. We anticipate the great potential of the technique in the field of renewable energy.

Detoxification of sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate by atmospheric cold plasma to enhance bioethanol production

2019 Fall National Meeting

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