Rajeev Kumar, Dartmouth College, Hinman Box-8000, Cummings Hall, Thayer School Of Engineering, Hanover, NH 03755, Bruce Dale, Michigan State University, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Room 3247 Engineering Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226, Richard T. Elander, NREL, 1617 Cole Blvd, Golden, CO 80401, Mark T. Holtzapple, Texas A&M University, Dept. Chemical Engineering, College Station, TX 77843-3122, Michael Ladisch, LORRE, Purdue University, 500 Central Drive, Potter Building, W. Lafayette, IN 47907, Y. Y. Lee, Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, Colin Mitchinson, Genencor International, Palo Alto, CA 94304, John N. Saddler, The University of British Columbia, 2004 - 2424 Main Mall, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, and Charles E. Wyman, Chemical and Enviornmental Engineering, University of California at Riverside, College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology, 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507.
Enzymatic digestion data is related to substrate features for solids prepared by leading pretreatment technologies of ammonia fiber expansion, ammonia recycle percolation, controlled pH, dilute acid, lime, and sulfur dioxide pretreatments to gain new insight into mechanisms that account for differences in performance of different pretreatments and feedstocks as part of the cooperative CAFI project. Controlled sources of corn stover, an agricultural residue, and poplar, a woody biomass, are used to gain insight into changes in performance for these two distinct types of cellulosic biomass. Enzymatic hydrolysis is conducted according to standard experimental protocols on the solids from each pretreatment using single lots of commercial and advanced cellulase enzymes provided by Genencor International. The impact of using combinations of different enzyme activities (e.g., hemicellulase) and additives (e.g., non enzymatic proteins, surfactants) on total protein demands is being developed as well. Key features hypothesized to influence solids digestibility are measured and related to hydrolysis performance to account for how different pretreatment technologies, substrates, and enzyme activities interact and gain new insight into key mechanisms that control performance.