The 6th International Conference on Biomass Energy (ICBE2018)

418 / 2018-07-30 20:41:34

Importance of porous characteristics of steam-exploded biomass in biorefinery

Plenary track > I.Others

Complex physicochemical¬ structure of lignocellulosic biomass exposed biomass recalcitrance and seepage recalcitrance in aspect of biomass physiology and process engineering of biomass refinery system. Physical properties of biomass are featured by porous characteristics, including pore size and surface area. This review summarizes porous characteristics of lignocllulosic biomass and its roles in bio-refinery system. Pore size affects enzyme transfer in tunnel of the biomass while surface area affects its accessibility to enzymes. Water is one of the most important conponents in biomass coversion system and has strong interactions with solid matrix, which reflected by water distribution in nuclear magnetic resonance carves. Water constriant casued by porous characteristics of the biomass weakens mass transfer thus affecting its conversion performace. In order to break recalcitrance and seepage recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass so as to get sound substrate with desired characteristics, steam explosion, the popular pretreatment strategy of improving lignocellulosic biomass conversion and utilization, is also discussed for its great potential in future industrialization of biomass refinery. Steam explosion pretreatment expoded more degradable sites by remove hemicellulose. The enlarged surface area and pores caused by mechanical tearing also contribute better conversion performance. With this review, the authors hope to provide new insights into bio-refinery from perspective of biomass porous characteristics.