Effects of electrolyzed water pretreatment on hydrolysis of corn stove and switchgrass

Pretreatment is a key step in fuel-ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. In order to evaluate the effect of electrolyzed water pretreatment method on enzymatic hydrolysis, corn stover were pretreated at three temperatures (165, 180, and 195°C) and three times (10, 20, and 30 min), respectively; and switchgrass were also pretreated at three temperatures (170, 185, and 200°C) and three times (5, 15, and 25 min), respectively. The hydrolysis results indicated that the cellulose digestibility yields of corn stover and switchgrass are 83% and 67% separately, both of which are comparable to the results of other pretreatment methods. Besides, without any strong chemical involved, in electrolyzed water pretreatment, xylose degradation is obvious only at high pretreatment temperature (195°C and 200°C), but not at lower temperature. HPLC test indicates that there are few inhibitors produced in electrolyzed water pretreatment process.