Dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis of tropical region biomass

Although ethanol can be produced from a wide range of biomass materials, biomass, from the tropical region, like mango (skin or bagasse) is a crop residue readily available today as a non-conventional crop for the saccharification process that has had little attention. It has the benefits to be found in large quantities and in an industrial level is completely separated into its components with a free access for acid or enzymatic hydrolysis. These agro-industrial waste as well as other materials like sugarcane bagasse and pine wood are abundant enough, and in virtue of their high carbohydrate content hold tremendous potential for large-scale bioethanol production. The objective of this work is to develop a comparative analysis using dilute acid hydrolysis process between mango (skin and bagasse), sugarcane bagasse, and pine wood. The biomass was subjected to pretreatments like alkaline hydrolysis using calcium sulfate and sodium hydroxide, water immersion, and water autoclaved at 121 degrees C. Experimental results showed that the maximum percentages of sugar recovery were for sugarcane bagasse-56.62%, pine wood-82.36%, mango skin-97.37%, and mango bagasse-202.91%. From the tested biomass materials, only mango bagasse has a considerable fraction of already digestible sugar that does not undergo a pretreatment + hydrolysis process. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3663878]