Research progress on hydrothermal dissolution and hydrolysis of lignocellulose and lignocellulosic waste

Abstract

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic waste has attracted considerable attention because of its feasibility and the generation of valuable products. Previous studies have shown that pretreatment and hydrolysis are key processes for lignocellulose conversion. Hydrothermal process is a promising technique because of its efficiency to break down the lignocellulosic structures and produce fermentable hexoses. Most studies in this field have therefore focused on understanding these processes or optimizing the parameters, but commonly reported low yields of fermentable hexoses. The inability to produce high yields of fermentable hexoses is mainly attributed to inadequate information on the conversion mechanisms of lignocellulose, particularly the reaction rules of dissolution, which is a limiting step in the entire conversion process. This paper critically reviewed the progress done in the research and development of the hydrothermal dissolution and hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Principles, processes, and related studies on separate dissolution and asynchronous hydrolysis of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose are presented. Potential research prospects are also suggested.

Keywords

lignocellulosic waste / hydrothermal conversion / separate dissolution / asynchronous hydrolysis / mechanism

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51208039) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 201104096). The authors would like to express sincere thanks to Mr. Luis Miguel for help in language correction.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg