Adsorption In Zeolites for Detoxification of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Ethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass is an alternate energy source to conventional fossil fuel. However, toxic inhibitors produced from hydrolysis of biomass decrease ethanol yield during fermentation. Several methods have been used to pretreat these inhibitors and enhance ethanol productivity. In this work, the use of zeolites for the pretreatment of hydrolyzate in order to remove inhibitors like 5-Hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde (HMF) and furfural by preferential adsorption from aqueous solution is demonstrated. Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) is used to calculate adsorption isotherm for mixtures using single component adsorption data. The predictions are compared with the experimental adsorption isotherms for aqueous mixtures of HMF, furfural and xylose. Finally, desorption of the industrially valuable HMF from the zeolites after the adsorption process is demonstrated.