Delignification of miscanthus using ethylenediamine (EDA) with or without ammonia and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars

Pretreatment of miscanthus is essential for efficient enzymatic production of cellulosic ethanol. This study reports a possible pretreatment method for miscanthus using aqueous ethylenediamine (EDA) for 30 min at 180 °C with or without ammonia. The mass ratio of miscanthus to EDA was varied from 1:3, 1:1, and 1:0.5, keeping the mass ratio of miscanthus to liquid (EDA + Water) constant at 1:8. The ammonia-to-miscanthus ratio was 1:0.25. After pretreatment with a ratio of 1:3 miscanthus to EDA, about 75 % of the lignin was removed from the raw miscanthus with 90 % retention of cellulose and 50 % of hemicellulose in the recovered solid. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the recovered solid miscanthus gave 63 % glucose and 62 % xylose conversion after 72 h. EDA provides an effective pretreatment for miscanthus, achieving good delignification and enhanced sugar yield by enzyme hydrolysis. Results using aqueous EDA with or without ammonia are much better than those using hot water and compare favorably with those using aqueous ammonia. The delignification efficiency of EDA pretreatment is high compared to that for hot-water pretreatment and is nearly as efficient as that obtained for aqueous-ammonia pretreatment.