Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of peat and pine sawdust for bio-ethanol production / by Wei Shi.

Abstract

This thesis includes three parts: 1.) effect of hydrogen peroxide on delignification of peat; 2.) pre-treatment of pine sawdust using various methods, including organosolv extraction, ultrasonic treatment, and sodium hydroxide treatment; and 3.) enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-treated pine sawdust for glucose production. The delignification efficiency (DE), pre-treatment efficiency (PE), and glucose yield, total sugar yield, and total weight loss were systematically quantified under different conditions. Effects of pretreatments on peat and pine sawdust structure were characterized using various analytical tools, such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV spectrometer.