Model-Based Fed-Batch for High-Solids Enzymatic Cellulose Hydrolysis

Co-production of high-concentration fermentable sugar and lignin-based bio-adhesive from corncob residue via an enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis

Xylose plants (produce xylose from corncob through dilute acid treatment) generate a large amount of corncob residue (CCR), most of which are burned and lacked of valorization. Herein, to address this issue, CCR was directly used as starting material for high-solid loading enzymatic hydrolysis via a simple strategy by combining PFI homogenization (for sufficient mixing) with batch-feeding. A maximum glucose concentration of 187.1 g/L was achieved after the saccharification with a solid loading of 25 wt% and enzyme dosage of 10 FPU/g-CCR. Furthermore, the residue of enzymatic hydrolysis (REH) was directly used as a bio-adhesive for plywood production with both high dry (1.7 MPa) and wet (1.1 MPa) surface bonding strength (higher than the standard (0.7 MPa)), and the excellent adhesion was due to the interfacial crosslinking between the REH adhesive (containing lignin, free glucose, and nanosized fibers) and cell wall of woods. Compared with traditional reported adhesives, the REH bio-adhesive has advantages of formaldehyde-free, good moisture resistance, green process, relatively low cost and easy realization. This study presents a simple and effective strategy for better utilization of CCR, which also provides beneficial reference for the valorization of other kinds of lignocellulosic biomass.

Enhancing enzymatic saccharification yields of cellulose at high solid loadings by combining different LPMO activities

BACKGROUND

The polysaccharides in lignocellulosic biomass hold potential for production of biofuels and biochemicals. However, achieving efficient conversion of this resource into fermentable sugars faces challenges, especially when operating at industrially relevant high solid loadings. While it is clear that combining classical hydrolytic enzymes and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) is necessary to achieve high saccharification yields, exactly how these enzymes synergize at high solid loadings remains unclear.

RESULTS

An LPMO-poor cellulase cocktail, Celluclast 1.5 L, was spiked with one or both of two fungal LPMOs from Thermothielavioides terrestris and Thermoascus aurantiacus, TtAA9E and TaAA9A, respectively, to assess their impact on cellulose saccharification efficiency at high dry matter loading, using Avicel and steam-exploded wheat straw as substrates. The results demonstrate that LPMOs can mitigate the reduction in saccharification efficiency associated with high dry matter contents. The positive effect of LPMO inclusion depends on the type of feedstock and the type of LPMO and increases with the increasing dry matter content and reaction time. Furthermore, our results show that chelating free copper, which may leak out of the active site of inactivated LPMOs during saccharification, with EDTA prevents side reactions with in situ generated H2O2 and the reductant (ascorbic acid).

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that sustaining LPMO activity is vital for efficient cellulose solubilization at high substrate loadings. LPMO cleavage of cellulose at high dry matter loadings results in new chain ends and thus increased water accessibility leading to decrystallization of the substrate, all factors making the substrate more accessible to cellulase action. Additionally, this work highlights the importance of preventing LPMO inactivation and its potential detrimental impact on all enzymes in the reaction.

Structural Modifications and Strategies for Native Starch for Applications in Advanced Drug Delivery

Pharmaceutical excipients are compounds or substances other than API which are added to a dosage form, these excipients basically act as carriers, binders, bulk forming agents, colorants, and flavouring agents, and few excipients are even used to enhance the activity of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and various more properties. However, despite of these properties, there are problems with the synthetic excipients such as the possibility of causing toxicity, inflammation, autoimmune responses, lack of intrinsic bioactivity and biocompatibility, expensive procedures for synthesis, and water solubility. However, starch as an excipient can overcome all these problems in one go. It is inexpensive, there is no toxicity or immune response, and it is biocompatible in nature. It is very less used as an excipient because of its high digestibility and swelling index, high glycemic index, paste clarity, film-forming property, crystalline properties, etc. All these properties of starch can be altered by a few modification processes such as physical modification, genetic modification, and chemical modification, which can be used to reduce its digestibility and glycemic index of starch, improve its film-forming properties, and increase its paste clarity. Changes in some of the molecular bonds which improve its properties such as binding, crystalline structure, and retrogradation make starch perfect to be used as a pharmaceutical excipient. This research work provides the structural modifications of native starch which can be applicable in advanced drug delivery. The major contributions of the paper are advances in the modification of native starch molecules such as physically, chemically, enzymatically, and genetically traditional crop modification to yield a novel molecule with significant potential for use in the pharmaceutical industry for targeted drug delivery systems.

Metaproteomics reveals enzymatic strategies deployed by anaerobic microbiomes to maintain lignocellulose deconstruction at high solids

Economically viable production of cellulosic biofuels requires operation at high solids loadings—on the order of 15 wt%. To this end we characterize Nature’s ability to deconstruct and utilize mid-season switchgrass at increasing solid loadings using an anaerobic methanogenic microbiome. This community exhibits undiminished fractional carbohydrate solubilization at loadings ranging from 30 g/L to 150 g/L. Metaproteomic interrogation reveals marked increases in the abundance of specific carbohydrate-active enzyme classes. Significant enrichment of auxiliary activity family 6 enzymes at higher solids suggests a role for Fenton chemistry. Stress-response proteins accompanying these reactions are similarly upregulated at higher solids, as are β-glucosidases, xylosidases, carbohydrate-debranching, and pectin-acting enzymes—all of which indicate that removal of deconstruction inhibitors is important for observed undiminished solubilization. Our work provides insights into the mechanisms by which natural microbiomes effectively deconstruct and utilize lignocellulose at high solids loadings, informing the future development of defined cultures for efficient bioconversion.

High Concentration of Fermentable Sugars Prepared from Steam Exploded Lignocellulose in Periodic Peristalsis Integrated Fed-Batch Enzymatic Hydrolysis

High concentrations of fermentable sugars are a demand for economical bioethanol production. A single process strategy cannot comprehensively solve the limiting factors in high-solid enzymatic hydrolysis. The multiple intensification strategies in this study achieved the goal of preparing high-concentration fermentable sugars of corn stalk with high solid loading and low enzyme loading. First, steam explosion pretreatment enhanced the hydrophilicity of substrates and enzymatic accessibility. Second, periodic peristalsis was used to improve the mass transfer efficiency and short the liquefaction time. Additionally, fed-batch feeding and enzyme reduced the enzyme loading. Ultimately, the intensification strategies above showed that the highest fermentable sugar content was 313.8 g/L with a solids loading as much as 50% (w/w) and enzyme loading as low as 12.5 FPU/g DM. Thus, these multiple intensification strategies were promising in the high-solid enzymatic hydrolysis of steam-exploded lignocellulose.

Novel system design for high solid lignocellulosic biomass conversion

A novel system (Oregon State University High Solids Reactor; OSU-HSR) was designed and constructed for enzymatic hydrolysis at ultrahigh solids content (40%) by promoting better mixing using low energy consumption in a horizontal reactor with a new impeller design and a controllable feeding unit. System performance was evaluated using separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) methodologies. Using the dilute acid pretreated wheat straw as the substrate in the OSU-HSR system, the highest glucose (219.7 g/L) and ethanol (127.1 g/L) concentrations were achieved with the use of the SHF method while the highest ethanol concentration using SSF method was 134.5 g/L. The SSF method increased the return on investment to 12.21% with an estimated global warming potential of 54.5 g CO₂ eq/MJ Ethanol. The OSU-HSR successfully provided effective mixing and different fed-batch schemes, and can be used for efficient biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into bio-chemicals and biofuels.

New strategy for liquefying corn stover pellets

The movement of solid material into and between unit operations within a biorefinery is a bottleneck in reaching design capacity, with formation of biomass slurries needed to introduce feedstock. Corn stover slurries have been achieved from dilute acid, pretreated materials resulting in slurry concentrations of up to about 150 g/L, above which flowability is compromised. We report a new strategy to liquefy corn stover at higher solids concentration (300 g/L) by initially cooking it with the enzyme mimetic maleic acid at 40 mM and 150 °C. This is followed by 6 h of enzymatic modification at 1 FPU (2.2 mg protein)/g solids, resulting in a yield stress of 171 Pa after 6 h and 58 Pa in 48 h compared to 6806 Pa for untreated stover. Mimetic treatment of corn stover pellets minimizes the inhibitory effect of xylo-oligomers on hydrolytic enzymes. This strategy allows for the delivery of solid lignocellulosic slurry into a pretreatment reactor by pumping, improving operability of a biorefinery.

Structural and Catalytic Characterization of TsBGL, a β-Glucosidase From Thermofilum sp. ex4484_79

Beta-glucosidase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the glycosidic bonds of cellobiose, resulting in the production of glucose, which is an important step for the effective utilization of cellulose. In the present study, a thermostable β-glucosidase was isolated and purified from the Thermoprotei Thermofilum sp. ex4484_79 and subjected to enzymatic and structural characterization. The purified β-glucosidase (TsBGL) exhibited maximum activity at 90°C and pH 5.0 and displayed maximum specific activity of 139.2μmol/min/mg_zne against p-nitrophenyl β-D-glucopyranoside (pNPGlc) and 24.3μmol/min/mg_zen against cellobiose. Furthermore, TsBGL exhibited a relatively high thermostability, retaining 84 and 47% of its activity after incubation at 85°C for 1.5h and 90°C for 1.5h, respectively. The crystal structure of TsBGL was resolved at a resolution of 2.14Å, which revealed a classical (α/β)₈-barrel catalytic domain. A structural comparison of TsBGL with other homologous proteins revealed that its catalytic sites included Glu210 and Glu414. We provide the molecular structure of TsBGL and the possibility of improving its characteristics for potential applications in industries.

Emerging trends in high-solids enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic feedstocks for developing an efficient and industrially deployable sugar platform

For the techno-commercial success of any lignocellulosic biorefinery, the cost-effective production of fermentable sugars for the manufacturing of bio-based products is indispensable. High-solids enzymatic saccharification (HSES) is a straightforward approach to develop an industrially deployable sugar platform. Economic incentives such as reduced capital and operational expenditure along with environmental benefits in the form of reduced effluent discharge makes this strategy more lucrative for exploitation. However, HSES suffers from the drawback of non-linear and disproportionate sugar yields with increased substrate loadings. To overcome this bottleneck, researchers tend to perform HSES at high enzyme loadings. Nonetheless, the production costs of cellulases are one of the key contributors that impair the entire process economics. This review highlights the relentless efforts made globally to attain a high-titer of sugars and their fermentation products by performing efficient HSES at low cellulase loadings. In this context, technical innovations such as advancements in new pretreatment strategies, next-generation cellulase cocktails, additives, accessory enzymes, novel reactor concepts and enzyme recycling studies are especially showcased. This review further covers new insights, learnings and prospects in the area of lignocellulosic bioprocessing.

A high solids field-to-fuel research pipeline to identify interactions between feedstocks and biofuel production

BACKGROUND

Environmental factors, such as weather extremes, have the potential to cause adverse effects on plant biomass quality and quantity. Beyond adversely affecting feedstock yield and composition, which have been extensively studied, environmental factors can have detrimental effects on saccharification and fermentation processes in biofuel production. Only a few studies have evaluated the effect of these factors on biomass deconstruction into biofuel and resulting fuel yields. This field-to-fuel evaluation of various feedstocks requires rigorous coordination of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation experiments. A large number of biomass samples, often in limited quantity, are needed to thoroughly understand the effect of environmental conditions on biofuel production. This requires greater processing and analytical throughput of industrially relevant, high solids loading hydrolysates for fermentation, and led to the need for a laboratory-scale high solids experimentation platform.

RESULTS

A field-to-fuel platform was developed to provide sufficient volumes of high solids loading enzymatic hydrolysate for fermentation. AFEX pretreatment was conducted in custom pretreatment reactors, followed by high solids enzymatic hydrolysis. To accommodate enzymatic hydrolysis of multiple samples, roller bottles were used to overcome the bottlenecks of mixing and reduced sugar yields at high solids loading, while allowing greater sample throughput than possible in bioreactors. The roller bottle method provided 42-47% greater liquefaction compared to the batch shake flask method for the same solids loading. In fermentation experiments, hydrolysates from roller bottles were fermented more rapidly, with greater xylose consumption, but lower final ethanol yields and CO₂ production than hydrolysates generated with shake flasks. The entire platform was tested and was able to replicate patterns of fermentation inhibition previously observed for experiments conducted in larger-scale reactors and bioreactors, showing divergent fermentation patterns for drought and normal year switchgrass hydrolysates.

CONCLUSION

A pipeline of small-scale AFEX pretreatment and roller bottle enzymatic hydrolysis was able to provide adequate quantities of hydrolysate for respirometer fermentation experiments and was able to overcome hydrolysis bottlenecks at high solids loading by obtaining greater liquefaction compared to batch shake flask hydrolysis. Thus, the roller bottle method can be effectively utilized to compare divergent feedstocks and diverse process conditions.

Poly-γ-glutamic acid production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation using corn straw and its fertilizer synergistic effect evaluation

Agricultural wastes rich in lignocellulosic biomass have been used in the production of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) through separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF), but this process is complicated and generates a lot of wastes. In order to find a simpler and greener way to produce γ-PGA using agricultural wastes, this study attempted to establish simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with citric acid-pretreated corn straw. The possibility of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens JX-6 using corn straw as substrate to synthesize γ-PGA was validated, and the results showed that increasing the proportion of glucose in the substrate could improve the γ-PGA yield. Based on these preliminary results, the corn straw was pretreated using citric acid. Then, the liquid fraction (xylan-rich) was used for cultivation of seed culture, and the solid fraction (glucan-rich) was used as the substrate for SSF. In a 10-L fermenter, the maximum cumulative γ-PGA concentration in batch and fed-batch SSF were 5.08 ± 0.78 g/L and 10.78 ± 0.32 g/L, respectively. Moreover, the product from SSF without γ-PGA extraction was used as a fertilizer synergist, increasing the yield of pepper by 13.46% (P < 0.05). Our study greatly simplified the production steps of γ-PGA, and each step achieved zero emission as far as possible. The SSF process for γ-PGA production provided a simple and green way for lignocellulose biorefinery and sustainable cultivation in agriculture.

Increased mixing intensity is not necessary for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis at high solid loading

To enhance the cellulose hydrolysis at high solid loadings, an increased mixing intensity is generally required for the high solid loading hydrolysis, while it leads to higher energy consumption. In this study, the impact of mixing intensity on cellulose conversion during hydrolysis at different solid loadings were systematically studied. It was found that the increased mixing intensity is not necessary for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis. For cellulose hydrolysis at higher solid loadings, a lower mixing intensity is needed for a higher cellulose conversion. Although the increased mixing intensity promoted enzyme adsorption, it strengthened product inhibition and caused severer enzyme deactivation. Besides, mixing at the initial stage of cellulose hydrolysis was more crucial, while continuous mixing throughout the hydrolysis was not required for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis. Based on the mechanism study, a combined mixing strategy was developed to achieve efficient cellulose hydrolysis with about two-third reduction in energy consumption.

Efficient high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis of corncobs by an acidic pretreatment and a fed-batch feeding mode

Corncob is an abundant and renewable resource that could be enzymatically hydrolyzed to fermentable sugar. A major impediment in corncob utilization is the low hydrolysis efficiency at high-solids content. This study attempted different pretreatment methods and fed-batch modes to achieve a 25% solids content hydrolysis with high yields. Natural corncobs were compared with acid-treated and acid-alkali-treated corncobs in terms of kinetics parameters, conversion rate and glucose titer. By feeding in batches, a "low amount and high frequency" mode (10%-3%-3%-3%-3%-3%, every 5 h) was confirmed to be optimal for a 25% high-solids hydrolysis system with a cellulase loading of 12 mg/g (7.3 FPU/g), resulted with an 84.4% glucose yield at 96 h. Our results demonstrated that combination of both optimized pretreatment method and fed-batch mode were a favored process model for high-solids hydrolysis of lignocellulose, boosting cellulose hydrolysis efficiency and sugar yields on an industrial scale.

Potential for reduced water consumption in biorefining of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol and biogas

Increasing ethanol demand and public concerns about environmental protection promote the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol. Compared to that of starch- and sugar-based bioethanol production, the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol is water-intensive. A large amount of water is consumed during pretreatment, detoxification, saccharification, and fermentation. Water is a limited resource, and very high water consumption limits the industrial production of lignocellulosic bioethanol and decreases its environmental feasibility. In this review, we focused on the potential for reducing water consumption during the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol by performing pretreatment and fermentation at high solid loading, omitting water washing after pretreatment, and recycling wastewater by integrating bioethanol production and anaerobic digestion. In addition, the feasibility of these approaches and their research progress were discussed. This comprehensive review is expected to draw attention to water competition between bioethanol production and human use.

High solids loading biorefinery for the production of cellulosic sugars from bioenergy sorghum

A novel process applying high solids loading in chemical-free pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was developed to produce sugars from bioenergy sorghum. Hydrothermal pretreatment with 50% solids loading was performed in a pilot scale continuous reactor followed by disc refining. Sugars were extracted from the enzymatic hydrolysis at 10% to 50% solids content using fed-batch operations. Three surfactants (Tween 80, PEG 4000, and PEG 6000) were evaluated to increase sugar yields. Hydrolysis using 2% PEG 4000 had the highest sugar yields. Glucose concentrations of 105, 130, and 147 g/L were obtained from the reaction at 30%, 40%, and 50% solids content, respectively. The maximum sugar concentration of the hydrolysate, including glucose and xylose, obtained was 232 g/L. Additionally, the glucose recovery (73.14%) was increased compared to that of the batch reaction (52.74%) by using two-stage enzymatic hydrolysis combined with fed-batch operation at 50% w/v solids content.

Digital Twins for Bioprocess Control Strategy Development and Realisation

New innovative Digital Twins can represent complex bioprocesses, including the biological, physico-chemical, and chemical reaction kinetics, as well as the mechanical and physical characteristics of the reactors and the involved peripherals. Digital Twins are an ideal tool for the rapid and cost-effective development, realisation and optimisation of control and automation strategies. They may be utilised for the development and implementation of conventional controllers (e.g. temperature, dissolved oxygen, etc.), as well as for advanced control strategies (e.g. control of substrate or metabolite concentrations, multivariable controls), and the development of complete bioprocess control. This chapter describes the requirements Digital Twins must fulfil to be used for bioprocess control strategy development, and implementation and gives an overview of research projects where Digital Twins or "early-stage" Digital Twins were used in this context. Furthermore, applications of Digital Twins for the academic education of future control and bioprocess engineers as well as for the training of future bioreactor operators will be described. Finally, a case study is presented, in which an "early-stage" Digital Twin was applied for the development of control strategies of the fed-batch cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Development, realisation and optimisation of control strategies utilising Digital Twins.

Modelling of enzyme kinetics: cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis case

Enzymes as industrial biocatalysts offer numerous advantages over traditional chemical processes resulting on improvements in process economy and environmental sustainability. Because enzymes are extensively used in different industrial areas, the enzyme kinetics is an important factor for industry as it is able to estimate the extent of substrate conversion under known conditions and evaluate reactor performance. Furthermore, kinetic modelling is useful in the analysis, prediction, and optimization of an enzymatic process. Thus, kinetic modelling is a powerful tool for biochemical reaction engineering. In addition to the aforementioned, in the industrial technology, modelling together with simulation play a key role because they help to understand how a system behaves under specific conditions, and thus they allow saving on costs and lead times. Enzymatic conversion of renewable cellulosic biomass into biofuels is at the heart of advanced bioethanol production. In the production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose to fermentable sugars accounts for a large portion (∼30%) of the total production costs. Therefore, a thorough understanding of enzymatic hydrolysis is necessary to create a robust model which helps designing optimal conditions and economical system. Nevertheless, it is a challenging task because cellulose is a highly complex substrate and its enzymatic hydrolysis is heterogeneous in nature, and thus the whole process of cellulose conversion to glucose involves more steps than classical enzyme kinetics. This chapter describes the bases of enzyme kinetic modelling, focussing on Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and presents the models classification based on the fundamental approach and methodology used. Furthermore, the modelling of cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis is described, also reviewing some model examples developed for cellulose hydrolysis over the years. Finally, the application of enzyme kinetics modelling in food, pharmaceutical and bioethanol industry is presented.

Conversion of Exhausted Sugar Beet Pulp into Fermentable Sugars from a Biorefinery Approach

In this study, the production of a hydrolysate rich in fermentable sugars, which could be used as a generic microbial culture medium, was carried out by using exhausted sugar beet pulp pellets (ESBPPs) as raw material. For this purpose, the hydrolysis was performed through the direct addition of the fermented ESBPPs obtained by fungal solid-state fermentation (SSF) as an enzyme source. By directly using this fermented solid, the stages for enzyme extraction and purification were avoided. The effects of temperature, fermented to fresh solid ratio, supplementation of fermented ESBPP with commercial cellulase, and the use of high-solid fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis were studied to obtain the maximum reducing sugar (RS) concentration and productivity. The highest RS concentration and productivity, 127.3 g·L⁻¹ and 24.3 g·L⁻¹·h⁻¹ respectively, were obtained at 50 °C and with an initial supplementation of 2.17 U of Celluclast^® per gram of dried solid in fed-batch mode. This process was carried out with a liquid to solid ratio of 4.3 mL·g⁻¹ solid, by adding 15 g of fermented solid and 13.75 g of fresh solid at the beginning of the hydrolysis, and then the same amount of fresh solid 3 times every 2.5 h. By this procedure, ESBPP can be used to produce a generic microbial feedstock, which contains a high concentration of monosaccharides.

High Ethanol Concentration (77 g/L) of Industrial Hemp Biomass Achieved Through Optimizing the Relationship between Ethanol Yield/Concentration and Solid Loading

In this study, the relationships between ethanol yield/concentration and solid loading (6-21%) were investigated to enhance ethanol titer and avoid a random choice of solid loading for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). Alkali-pretreated hemp biomass was used for SSF in four scenarios including Case I: 30 filter paper unit (FPU)-cellulase and 140 fungal xylanase unit (FXU)-hemicellulase/g-solid; Case II: 40 FPU-cellulase and 140 FXU-hemicellulase/g-solid; Case III: 30 FPU-cellulase and 140 FXU-hemicellulase/g-solid with 1% Tween80; and Case IV: 30 FPU-cellulase and 140 FXU-hemicellulase/g-solid with particle size reduction (<0.2 mm). Results showed that bioethanol yield and concentration had a negative linear (R ² = 0.76-0.93) and quadratic (R ² = 0.96-0.99) correlation with solid loading (6-21%), respectively. As compared to Case I and previous studies, an enhancement in ethanol yield and concentration through increasing cellulase dose (Case II) and adding Tween 80 (Case III) was overestimated, whereas particle size reduction (Case IV) extended the "solid effect", evidenced by the highest ethanol concentration (77 g/L) achieved from SSF at the focus point of a quadratic model. An interpretation of the relationship between ethanol yield/concentration and solid loading not only avoids a blind selection of solid loading for SSF but also reduces extra enzymes and water consumption.

Perspectives and new directions for bioprocess optimization using Zymomonas mobilis in the ethanol production

Zymomonas mobilis is an ethanologenic microbe that has a demonstrated potential for use in lignocellulosic biorefineries for bioethanol production. Z. mobilis exhibits a number of desirable characteristics for use as an ethanologenic microbe, with capabilities for metabolic engineering and bioprocess modification. Many advanced genetic tools, including mutation techniques, screening methods and genome editing have been successively performed to improve various Z. mobilis strains as potential consolidated ethanologenic microbes. Many bioprocess strategies have also been applied to this organism for bioethanol production. Z. mobilis biofilm reactors have been modified with various benefits, including high bacterial populations, less fermentation times, high productivity, high cell stability, resistance to the high concentration of substrates and toxicity, and higher product recovery. We suggest that Z. mobilis biofilm reactors could be used in bioethanol production using lignocellulosic substrates under batch, continuous and repeated batch processes.

Performance targets defined by retro-techno-economic analysis for the use of soybean protein as saccharification additive in an integrated biorefinery

The use of additives in the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass can have positive effects, decreasing the unproductive adsorption of cellulases on lignin and reducing the loss of enzyme activity. Soybean protein stands out as a potential lignin-blocking additive, but the economic impact of its use has not previously been investigated. Here, a systematic evaluation was performed of the process conditions, together with a techno-economic analysis, for the use of soybean protein in the saccharification of hydrothermally pretreated sugarcane bagasse in the context of an integrated 1G-2G ethanol biorefinery. Statistical experimental design methodology was firstly applied as a tool to select the process variable solids loading at 15% (w/w) and soybean protein concentration at 12% (w/w), followed by determination of enzyme dosage at 10 FPU/g and hydrolysis time of 24 h. The saccharification of sugarcane bagasse under these conditions enabled an increase of 26% in the amount of glucose released, compared to the control without additive. The retro-techno-economic analysis (RTEA) technique showed that to make the biorefinery economically feasible, some performance targets should be reached experimentally such as increasing biomass conversion to ideally 80% and reducing enzyme loading to 5.6 FPU/g in the presence of low-cost soybean protein.

An overview on bioethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstocks

Lignocellulosic ethanol has been proposed as a green alternative to fossil fuels for many decades. However, commercialization of lignocellulosic ethanol faces major hurdles including pretreatment, efficient sugar release and fermentation. Several processes were developed to overcome these challenges e.g. simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). This review highlights the various ethanol production processes with their advantages and shortcomings. Recent technologies such as singlepot biorefineries, combined bioprocessing, and bioenergy systems with carbon capture are promising. However, these technologies have a lower technology readiness level (TRL), implying that additional efforts are necessary before being evaluated for commercial availability. Solving energy needs is not only a technological solution and interlinkage of various factors needs to be assessed beyond technology development.

Fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis of alkaline organosolv-pretreated corn stover facilitating high concentrations and yields of fermentable sugars for microbial lipid production

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulosic biomass has been commonly regarded as a potential feedstock for the production of biofuels and biochemicals. High sugar yields and the complete bioconversion of all the lignocellulosic sugars into valuable products are attractive for the utilization of lignocelluloses. It is essential to pretreat and hydrolyze lignocelluloses at high solids loadings during industrial processes, which is more economical and environmentally friendly as capital cost, energy consumption, and water usage can be reduced. However, oligosaccharides are inevitably released during the high solids loading enzymatic hydrolysis and they are more recalcitrant than monosaccharides for microorganisms.

RESULTS

A fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover pretreated by the sodium hydroxide-methanol solution (SMs) at high solids loading was demonstrated to reach the high concentrations and yields of fermentable sugars. Glucose, xylose, cello-oligosaccharides, and xylo-oligosaccharides achieved 146.7 g/L, 58.7 g/L, 15.6 g/L, and 24.7 g/L, respectively, when the fed-batch hydrolysis was started at 12% (w/v) solids loading, and 7% fresh substrate and a standardized blend of cellulase, β-glucosidase, and hemicellulase were fed consecutively at 3, 6, 24, and 48 h to achieve a final solids loading of 40% (w/v). The total conversion of glucan and xylan reached 89.5% and 88.5%, respectively, when the oligosaccharides were taken into account. Then, a fed-batch culture on the hydrolysates was investigated for lipid production by Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosum. Biomass, lipid content, and lipid yield were 50.7 g/L, 61.7%, and 0.18 g/g, respectively. The overall consumptions of cello-oligosaccharides and xylo-oligosaccharides reached 74.1% and 68.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

High sugars concentrations and yields were achieved when the enzyme blend was supplemented simultaneously with the substrate at each time point of feeding during the fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis. Oligosaccharides were co-utilized with monosaccharides during the fed-batch culture of C. oleaginosum. These results provide a promising strategy to hydrolyze alkaline organosolv-pretreated corn stover into fermentable sugars with high concentrations and yields for microbial lipid production.

Constraints and advances in high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass: a critical review

The industrial production of sugar syrups from lignocellulosic materials requires the conduction of the enzymatic hydrolysis step at high-solids loadings (i.e., with over 15% solids [w/w] in the reaction mixture). Such conditions result in sugar syrups with increased concentrations and in improvements in both capital and operational costs, making the process more economically feasible. However, this approach still poses several technical hindrances that impact the process efficiency, known as the "high-solids effect" (i.e., the decrease in glucan conversion yields as solids load increases). The purpose of this review was to present the findings on the main limitations and advances in high-solids enzymatic hydrolysis in an updated and comprehensive manner. The causes for the rheological limitations at the onset of the high-solids operation as well as those influencing the "high-solids effect" will be discussed. The subject of water constraint, which results in a highly viscous system and impairs mixing, and by extension, mass and heat transfer, will be analyzed under the perspective of the limitations imposed to the action of the cellulolytic enzymes. The "high-solids effect" will be further discussed vis-à-vis enzymes end-product inhibition and the inhibitory effect of compounds formed during the biomass pretreatment as well as the enzymes' unproductive adsorption to lignin. This review also presents the scientific and technological advances being introduced to lessen high-solids hydrolysis hindrances, such as the development of more efficient enzyme formulations, biomass and enzyme feeding strategies, reactor and impeller designs as well as process strategies to alleviate the end-product inhibition. We surveyed the academic literature in the form of scientific papers as well as patents to showcase the efforts on technological development and industrial implementation of the use of lignocellulosic materials as renewable feedstocks. Using a critical approach, we expect that this review will aid in the identification of areas with higher demand for scientific and technological efforts.

High-solids enzymatic hydrolysis of ball-milled corn stover with reduced slurry viscosity and improved sugar yields

BACKGROUND

High-solids enzymatic hydrolysis has attracted increasing attentions for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass with its advantages of high product concentration, water saving, and low energy and capital costs. However, the increase of solids content would worsen the rheological properties, resulting in heat/mass transfer limitation and higher mixing energy. To address these issues, ball milling was applied to corn stover prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, and the rheological behaviors and digestibility of ball-milled corn stover under high-solids loading were investigated.

RESULTS

Ball milling significantly modified the physicochemical properties of corn stover. The apparent viscosity of slurries at 30% solid loading decreased by a factor of 500 after milling for 60 min, and the yield stress was less than 10 Pa. The dramatic decrease of viscosity and yield stress enabled the hydrolysis process to be conducted in shake flask, and remained good mixing. Meanwhile, the estimated energy consumption for mixing during saccharification decreased by 400-fold compared to the untreated one. The resultant hydrolysate using 10 FPU g^-1 solids was determined to contain 130.5 g L^-1 fermentable sugar, and no fermentation inhibitors were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed ball milling pretreatment improved rheological behavior and sugar yield of high-solids corn stover slurry. Ball milling enables high-solids slurry to maintain low viscosity and yield stress while obtaining a non-toxic high-concentration fermentable syrup, which is undoubtedly of great significance for inter-unit processing, mixing and downstream process. In addition, the energy input for ball milling could be balanced by the reduced mixing energy. Our study indicates ball milling a promising pretreatment process for industrial bioethanol production.

Techno-Economic Implications of Fed-Batch Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis has the potential to improve the overall process of converting cellulosic biomass into ethanol. This paper utilizes a process simulation approach to identify and quantify techno-economic differences between batch and fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis in cellulosic ethanol production. The entire process of converting corn stover into ethanol was simulated using SuperPro Designer simulation software. The analysis was conducted for a plant capacity of 2000 metric tons of dry biomass per day. A literature review was used to identify baseline parameters for the process. The sensitivity of the ethanol production cost to changes in sugar conversion efficiency, plant capacity, biomass cost, power cost, labor cost, and enzyme cost was evaluated using the process simulation. For the base scenario, the ethanol unit production cost was approximately $0.10/gallon lower for fed-batch hydrolysis. The greatest differences were seen in facilities costs, labor costs, and capital costs. Using a fed-batch operation decreased facilities costs by 41%, labor costs by 21%, and capital costs by 15%. The sensitivity analysis found that cost of biomass had the greatest effect on ethanol production cost, and in general, the results support the proposition that fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis does improve the techno-economics of cellulosic ethanol production.

Sequential chemical and enzymatic pretreatment of palm empty fruit bunches for Candida pelliculosa bioethanol production

Second-generation bioethanol production process was developed using pretreated empty fruit bunches (EFB). Consecutive acid/alkali EFB pretreatment was performed, first with HCl and then with NaOH with final washing steps for phenolic compounds elimination. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that EFB chemical treatments indeed attacked the cellulose fibers and removed the silica from surface pores. The optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis of EFB's cellulosic fraction was performed with 0.5%-4% v/v of Cellic® CTec2/Novozymes, different EFB concentrations (5%-15%, w/v), and hydrolysis time (6-72 H). Optimization essays were carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks and also in a 1 L stirred tank reactor. After enzymatic hydrolysis, a hydrolysate with 66 g/L of glucose was achieved with 2.2% (v/v) Cellic® CTec2, 15% (m/v) acid/alkaline pretreated EFB after 39 H of hydrolysis. A gain of 11.2% was then obtained in the 1 L stirred tank promoted by the agitation (72.2 g/L glucose). The hydrolysate was employed in bioethanol production by a new isolate Candida pelliculosa CCT 7734 in a separate hydrolysis and fermentation process reaching 16.6 and 23.0 g/L of bioethanol through batch and fed-batch operation, respectively. An integrated biorefinery process was developed for EFB processing chain.

A New Multiple-Dilution-Assays Method for Determining Glucose Yield from Enzymatic Saccharification of Biomass at High-Solids Loadings

Background:

Determination of the accurate mass of glucose generated from high-solids biomass saccharification is vital but problematic due to the uncertainty of liquid volume and slurry density.

Methods:

Herein, a new multiple-dilution-assays method was established to deduce the accurate glucose mass from the hydrolyzing biomass slurry.

Results:

This method was applicable for slurries of pretreated corn stover with a solids consistency up to 30 wt%, showing a high accuracy and good reproducibility. Dryness did not interfere with the accuracy. Ethanol at a high level, e.g. 10%, caused only a small negative error (<2%). This method can be used in either single- or fed-batch high-solids biomass saccharification, allowing to quantify the maldistribution of glucose in the slurry.

Conclusion:

The significant advantage of the present method was that only one single variable, glucose concentration, was to be determined, rendering it unnecessary to wash the insoluble or to measure the changing liquid density.

Fuzzy-Enhanced Modeling of Lignocellulosic Biomass Enzymatic Saccharification

The enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass incorporates many physico-chemical phenomena, in a heterogeneous and complex media. In order to make the modeling task feasible, many simplifications must be assumed. Hence, different simplified models, such as Michaelis-Menten and Langmuir-based ones, have been used to describe batch processes. However, these simple models have difficulties in predicting fed-batch operations with different feeding policies. To overcome this problem and avoid an increase in the complexity of the model by incorporating other phenomenological terms, a Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy approach has been proposed, which manages a consortium of different simple models for this process. Pretreated sugar cane bagasse was used as biomass in this case study. The fuzzy rule combines two Michaelis-Menten-based models, each responsible for describing the reaction path for a distinct range of solids concentrations in the reactor. The fuzzy model improved fitting and increased prediction in a validation data set.

High-solids hydrolysis of corn stover to achieve high sugar yield and concentration through high xylan recovery from magnesium oxide-ethanol pretreatment

MgO-ethanol pretreatment was studied to boost sugar conversions and concentrations during enzymatic hydrolysis. Although corn stover pretreated by MgO and 50% ethanol had the highest glucan and xylan recoveries (89 and 71%), excessive xylan/glucan ratio (54.8%) hinders the access of enzyme to internal cellulose and hemicellulose and only 57% glucan and 46% xylan conversions and 43 g/L sugars were obtained after hydrolysis (10%-solids loading and 2 mL enzyme/g treated biomass). Corn stover pretreated by MgO and 30% ethanol had a moderate xylan/glucan ratio (39.1%), achieving higher glucan and xylan conversions (58 and 48%) and sugar concentrations (70 g/L) after hydrolysis (16%-solids loading and 1 mL enzyme/g treated biomass). A 16%-solids loading largely avoids the poor mixing issue caused by excessive high-solids loading. The addition of Tween 80 effectively eased the binding of lignin with enzyme, boosting glucan and xylan conversions to 67 and 68% and sugar concentrations to 89 g/L.

An integrated strategy for the effective production of bristle protein hydrolysate by the keratinolytic filamentous bacterium Amycolatopsis keratiniphila D2

In a conventional microorganism-mediated biological process for degradation of keratinous waste material the production of keratin-specific proteases (i.e., keratinases) and the hydrolysis of keratin-rich residual biomass both take place during the same stage of the bioprocess and, as a consequence, occur simultaneously under suboptimal conditions. In the present study the keratinolytic actinomycete Amycolatopsis keratiniphila D2 was successfully employed to biodegrade thermally pretreated porcine bristles at high solids loading (16% w/v) via a novel cultivation methodology. Indeed, the two-stage submerged fermentation process developed in this work enabled to efficiently recover, in a single unit operation, about 73% of the protein material contained in the keratinous biowaste structure, resulting in an overall accumulation of 89.3 g·L^-1 protein-rich hydrolysate and a productivity of 427 mg crude soluble proteins per litre per hour. The obtained protein hydrolysate powder displayed a 2.2-fold increase in its in vitro pepsin digestibility (95%) with respect to the non-hydrolysed pretreated substrate (43%). In addition, the chromatogram obtained by size-exclusion chromatography analysis of the final product indicated that, among the identified fractions, those consisting of small peptides and free amino acids were the most abundantly present inside the analysed sample. Given these facts it is possible to conclude that the soluble proteins, peptides and free amino acids recovered through the newly designed two-stage bioextraction process could represent a viable alternative source of protein in animal feed formulation.

A novel method for real-time estimation of insoluble solids and glucose concentrations during enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass

The study describes a novel method using instantaneous mixing torque and rotational speed to estimate insoluble solids and glucose concentrations during enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass. This method is cost-effective for real-time monitoring and control of enzymatic hydrolysis and potentially scalable. The model was developed using biomass slurries at three solids loading (20, 30 and 45%) at various rotational speeds from 50 to 400 rpm. The results showed a significant drop in mixing torque at 12 h with high solids loading. Maximum glucose concentration (205 g/l) during hydrolysis was achieved at 45% solids loading. Insoluble solids and glucose concentration as a function of torque and rotational speeds were modeled using a modified Herschell-Bulkley model. The model describes the experimental observations with high fidelity (R² = 0.84) and can be used for real time monitoring of many multiphase reaction systems as enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and dry grind corn ethanol processes.

Enhancing the Thermostability of Highly Active and Glucose-Tolerant β-Glucosidase Ks5A7 by Directed Evolution for Good Performance of Three Properties

A high-performance β-glucosidase for efficient cellulose hydrolysis needs to excel in thermostability, catalytic efficiency, and resistance to glucose inhibition. However, it is challenging to achieve superb properties in all three aspects in a single enzyme. In this study, a hyperactive and glucose-tolerant β-glucosidase Ks5A7 was employed as the starting point. Four rounds of random mutagenesis were then performed, giving rise to a thermostable mutant 4R1 with five amino acid substitutions. The half-life of 4R1 at 50 °C is 8640-fold that of Ks5A7 (144 h vs 1 min). Meanwhile, 4R1 had a higher specific activity (374.26 vs 243.18 units·mg^-1) than the wild type with a similar glucose tolerance. When supplemented to Celluclast 1.5L, the mutant significantly enhanced the hydrolysis of pretreated sugar cane bagasse, improving the released glucose concentration by 44%. With excellent performance in thermostability, activity, and glucose tolerance, 4R1 will serve as an exceptional catalyst for industrial applications.

Enhancement of corn stover conversion to carboxylates by extrusion and biotic triggers in solid-state fermentation

Solid-state fermentation is a potential technology for developing lignocellulosic biomass-based biorefineries. This work dealt with solid-state fermentation for carboxylates production from corn stover, as building blocks for a lignocellulosic feedstock-based biorefinery. The effect of extrusion pretreatment, together with the action of a microbial consortia and hydrolytic enzymes as biotic triggers, was investigated on corn stover conversion, microbial metabolic pathways, and populations. The extrusion caused changes in the physical and morphological characteristics, without altering the biochemical composition of the corn stover. Extrusion also led to remarkable differences in the composition of the indigenous microbial population of the substrate. Consequently, it affected the structure of community developed after fermentation and the substrate conversion yield, which increased by 118% (from 23 ± 4 gCOD/kgVSi obtained with raw substrate to 51 ± 1 gCOD/kgVSi with extruded corn stover) with regard to self-fermentation experiments. The use of activated sludge as inoculum further increased the total substrate conversion into carboxylates, up to 60 ± 2 gCOD/kgVSi, and shaped the microbial communities (mainly composed of bacteria from the Clostridia and Bacteroidia classes) with subsequent homogenization of the fermentation pathways. The addition of hydrolytic enzymes into the reactors further increased the corn stover conversion, leading to a maximum yield of 142 ± 1 gCOD/kgVSi. Thus, extrusion pretreatment combined with the use of an inoculum and enzyme addition increased by 506% corn stover conversion into carboxylates. Beside biomass pretreatment, the results of this study indicated that biotic factor greatly impacted solid-state fermentation by shaping the microbial communities and related metabolic pathways.

Lignocellulosic bioethanol production: prospects of emerging membrane technologies to improve the process – a critical review

To meet the worldwide rapid growth of industrialization and population, the demand for the production of bioethanol as an alternative green biofuel is gaining significant prominence. The bioethanol production process is still considered one of the largest energy-consuming processes and is challenging due to the limited effectiveness of conventional pretreatment processes, saccharification processes, and extreme use of electricity in common fermentation and purification processes. Thus, it became necessary to improve the bioethanol production process through reduced energy requirements. Membrane-based separation technologies have already gained attention due to their reduced energy requirements, investment in lower labor costs, lower space requirements, and wide flexibility in operations. For the selective conversion of biomasses to bioethanol, membrane bioreactors are specifically well suited. Advanced membrane-integrated processes can effectively contribute to different stages of bioethanol production processes, including enzymatic saccharification, concentrating feed solutions for fermentation, improving pretreatment processes, and finally purification processes. Advanced membrane-integrated simultaneous saccharification, filtration, and fermentation strategies consisting of ultrafiltration-based enzyme recycle system with nanofiltration-based high-density cell recycle fermentation system or the combination of high-density cell recycle fermentation system with membrane pervaporation or distillation can definitely contribute to the development of the most efficient and economically sustainable second-generation bioethanol production process.

Ethanol production from mixtures of sugarcane bagasse and Dioscorea composita extracted residue with high solid loading

Various mixing ratios of alkali pretreated sugarcane bagasse and starch-rich waste Dioscorea composita hemls extracted residue (DER) were evaluated via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with 12% (w/w) solid loading, and the mixture ratio of 1:1 achieved the highest ethanol concentration and yield. When the solid loading was increased from 12% to 32%, the ethanol concentration was increased to 72.04 g/L, whereas the ethanol yield was reduced from 84.40% to 73.71%. With batch feeding and the addition of 0.1% (w/v) Tween 80, the final ethanol concentration and yield of SSF at 34% loading were 82.83 g/L and 77.22%, respectively. Due to the integration with existing starch-based ethanol industry, the co-fermentation is expected to be a competitive alternative form for cellulosic ethanol production.

Conversion of lignocellulosic agave residues into liquid biofuels using an AFEX™-based biorefinery

BACKGROUND

Agave-based alcoholic beverage companies generate thousands of tons of solid residues per year in Mexico. These agave residues might be used for biofuel production due to their abundance and favorable sustainability characteristics. In this work, agave leaf and bagasse residues from species Agave tequilana and Agave salmiana were subjected to pretreatment using the ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) process. The pretreatment conditions were optimized using a response surface design methodology. We also identified commercial enzyme mixtures that maximize sugar yields for AFEX-pretreated agave bagasse and leaf matter, at ~ 6% glucan (w/w) loading enzymatic hydrolysis. Finally, the pretreated agave hydrolysates (at a total solids loading of ~ 20%) were used for ethanol fermentation using the glucose- and xylose-consuming strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST), to determine ethanol yields at industrially relevant conditions.

RESULTS

Low-severity AFEX pretreatment conditions are required (100-120 °C) to enable efficient enzymatic deconstruction of the agave cell wall. These studies showed that AFEX-pretreated A. tequilana bagasse, A. tequilana leaf fiber, and A. salmiana bagasse gave ~ 85% sugar conversion during enzyme hydrolysis and over 90% metabolic yields of ethanol during fermentation without any washing step or nutrient supplementation. On the other hand, although lignocellulosic A. salmiana leaf gave high sugar conversions, the hydrolysate could not be fermented at high solids loadings, apparently due to the presence of natural inhibitory compounds.

CONCLUSIONS

These results show that AFEX-pretreated agave residues can be effectively hydrolyzed at high solids loading using an optimized commercial enzyme cocktail (at 25 mg protein/g glucan) producing > 85% sugar conversions and over 40 g/L bioethanol titers. These results show that AFEX technology has considerable potential to convert lignocellulosic agave residues to bio-based fuels and chemicals in a biorefinery.

Engineering the GH1 β-glucosidase from Humicola insolens: Insights on the stimulation of activity by glucose and xylose

The activity of the GH1 β-glucosidase from Humicola insolens (Bglhi) against p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (pNP-Glc) and cellobiose is enhanced 2-fold by glucose and/or xylose. Kinetic and transglycosylation data showed that hydrolysis is preferred in the absence of monosaccharides. Stimulation involves allosteric interactions, increased transglycosylation and competition of the substrate and monosaccharides for the -1 glycone and the +1/+2 aglycone binding sites. Protein directed evolution has been used to generate 6 mutants of Bglhi with altered stimulation patterns. All mutants contain one of three substitutions (N235S, D237V or H307Y) clustered around the +1/+2 aglycone binding sites. Two mutants with the H307Y substitution preferentially followed the transglycosylation route in the absence of xylose or glucose. The strong stimulation of their pNP-glucosidase and cellobiase activities was accompanied by increased transglycosylation and higher monosaccharide tolerance. The D237V mutation favoured hydrolysis over transglycosylation and the pNP-glucosidase activity, but not the cellobiase activity, was stimulated by xylose. The substitution N235S abolished the preference for hydrolysis or transglycosylation; the cellobiase, but not the pNP-glucosidase activity of the mutants was strongly inhibited by xylose. Both the D237V and N235S mutations lowered tolerance to the monosaccharides. These results provide evidence that the fine modulation of the activity of Bglhi and mutants by glucose and/or xylose is regulated by the relative affinities of the glycone and aglycone binding sites for the substrate and the free monosaccharides.