Characterization of pilot-scale dilute acid pretreatment performance using deacetylated corn stover

Abstract

This study effectively characterized a range of pretreatment reaction conditions using deacetylated corn stover at low acid loadings and identified an optimum reaction condition was selected and used in a series of integrated pilot scale cellulosic ethanol production campaigns. Additionally, several issues exist to be considered in future pretreatment experiments in continuous reactor systems, including the formation of char within the reactor, as well as practical issues with feeding herbaceous feedstock into pressurized systems.