Autohydrolysis Pretreatment and Delignification of Silver Fir Wood to Obtain Fermentable Sugars for Bioethanol Production

Fir wood biomass, non-pretreated and pretreated by autohydrolysis under selective conditions followed by chlorite delignification, was used as a substrate for enzymatic hydrolysis. The influence of solid loading on the enzymatic hydrolysis yield was studied. Compared with non-pretreated wood, autohydrolysis pretreatments at all temperatures tested enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis yields. A total of 33.0 g sugars can be generated from 100 g silver fir wood. The results show that elimination of hemicellulose by autohydrolysis pretreatment and lignin by delignification, before enzymatic hydrolysis, enhances enzymatic overall process yield.