Characterization of a Forest Products Wastewater Stream for Producing Fermentable Sugars

The forest products industry (FPI) generates large quantities of wastewater containing suspended and dissolved organic solids. A large portion of these solids can be carbohydrates derived from the cellulose and hemicelluloses fractions of the wood feedstock processed in FPI facilities. Rather than processing these aqueous waste streams using conventional wastewater treatment, it is feasible to convert complex carbohydrate molecules into fermentable sugars using chemical and biochemical catalysts. In this research we describe a research program whose goal is to characterize the waste stream with respect to the solids, and then identify optimum hydrolysis conditions for maximum yields of monomer and oligomer sugars and minimum production of possible fermentation inhibitors. Discussions are included of the applicability for this approach to produce biofuels from forest products industry facilities in the U.S.