BCRL Publications

Overview to Ammonia Pretreatments for Lignocellulosic Biorefineries

Abstract:

Development of environmentally sustainable and economically viable technologies for plant cell wall deconstruction to fermentable sugars has been impeded due to native plant cell wall recalcitrance to thermochemical and biological based processing. Lower severity alkaline based pretreatments processes like Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) can overcome
several limitations of traditional pretreatment approaches (e.g., acidic pretreatments) to producing cellulosic biofuels and biochemicals. Here, we give an overview of chemical reactions taking place during alkaline pretreatments including reactions
between ammonia and polysaccharides/lignin (e.g., ammonolysis, hydrolysis and maillardtype reactions). AFEX based
pretreatments enhance enzymatic digestibility and fermentability of lignocellulosic biomass through various chemical and ultra-structural modifications within the cell wall. An improved mechanistic understanding of the AFEX process has led to develiop
novel alkaline pretreatments that are briefly discussed in this review.

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