Pilot-scale demonstration of SPORL for bioconversion of lodgepole pine to bioethanol and lignosulfonate

The process sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) has been the focus of this study. Pilot-scale (50 kg) pretreatment of wood chips of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon) killed by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) were conducted at 165 degrees C with a dilute sulfite solution of pH 2 for bioconversion to ethanol and lignosulfonate (LS). The pretreatment duration was optimized in laboratory bench scale experiments with a certain severity based on a combined hydrolysis factor (CHF). The sodium bisulfite loading was 8% and the liquor to wood ratio 3. The pretreated solids were disk milled together with the spent liquid and the resultant slurry with a 25% solids content was directly (without detoxification) submitted to a simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with Saccharomyces cerevisiae YRH400 at cellulase loading of 35 ml kg(-1) of untreated wood. At solids loading of 20%, the alcohol yield was 288 l t(-1) wood (with a final concentration of 52.2 g l(-1)), which corresponds to a 72.0% theoretical yield based on total glucan, mannan, and xylan. The LS from SPORL was highly sulfonated and its molecular weight was lower than that of a purified commercial softwood LS, and therefore it has a high potential as a directly marketable co-product.