Rheological properties of corn stover slurries during fermentation by Clostridium thermocellum

Background Milling during fermentation, termed cotreatment, has recently been proposed as an alternative to thermochemical pretreatment as a means to increase the accessibility of lignocellulosic biomass to biological attack. A central premise of this approach is that partial solubilization of biomass changes the slurry’s physical properties such that milling becomes more impactful and more feasible. A key uncertainty is the energy required to mill partially fermented biomass. To inform both of these issues, we report rheological characterization of small-particle, corn stover slurries undergoing fermentation by Clostridium thermocellum.