Chemical Pretreatment Service

Chemical pretreatment is a common pretreatment method in the production of bioenergy, which can effectively treat lignin in biomass materials, thereby increasing the digestibility of biomass materials. Lifeasible provides various technical support services related to chemical pretreatment technology, including technical consulting, project design, and program optimization services. We guarantee services with high quality and efficiency, and our experts are always committed to solving the various technical challenges in chemical pretreatment processes.

Chemical pretreatment is an effective way to treat lignin in biomass materials. The main purpose of chemical pretreatment is to increase the solubility of biomass materials, which is conducive to the progress of the enzymatic saccharification reaction. Lifeasible offers a wide range of chemical pretreatment, including acid pretreatment, alkali pretreatment, ozonolysis pretreatment, ionic liquids pretreatment, and organosolv pretreatment.

Acid pretreatment

Acid pretreatment is a commonly used chemical pretreatment method, which uses an acid catalyst to break down long cellulose and hemicellulose into sugar monomers, thereby increasing the digestibility of biomass materials. Acid pretreatment can be divided into concentrated acid pretreatment and dilute acid pretreatment. Concentrated acid pretreatment is performed at low temperature, but because of its corrosiveness and toxicity, the requirement for the reactor is high, while dilute acid pretreatment has a higher requirement for temperature.

Alkali pretreatment

Alkali pretreatment is also a commonly used chemical pretreatment method. Alkali pretreatment utilizes the saponification reaction to break the molecular bond between hemicellulose and lignin, thereby increases the digestibility of biomass materials. Alkali reagents commonly used in pretreatment include sodium hydroxide and hydroxides of potassium, calcium, and ammonium. Alkali pretreatment requires lower temperature and pressure, and the reaction conditions are milder than acid pretreatment, but the reaction time is longer.

Ozonolysis pretreatment

Ozonolysis pretreatment uses ozone to destroy the aromatic ring structure in lignin, thereby increasing the digestibility of biomass materials and improving the accessibility of enzymes. Ozone preferentially reacts with lignin compared with sugar, which is beneficial to increase the conversion rate of biomass materials. Ozonolysis reaction conditions are mild, and almost no inhibitory by-products are generated during this pretreatment process.

Ionic liquids pretreatment

Ionic liquids refer to liquids consisting of salt and with a melting point below a certain temperature. Ionic liquids consist of anions and cations, while without the presence of electrically neutral molecules. Ionic liquids pretreatment can effectively reduce the lignin content and the crystallinity of cellulose, and then effectively improve the conversion rate of biomass materials and the output of bioenergy.

Organosolv pretreatment

Organosolv pretreatment uses organic solvents, such as methanol, ethanol, acetone, and organic acids to increase the solubility of organic matter in biomass materials, promote enzymatic saccharification and increase bioenergy yield. Organosolv pretreatment is generally performed at 150-250 °C. During the pretreatment process, catalysts can be added to increase sugar yield, but it is also accompanied by the production of inhibitory compounds.

Each type of chemical pretreatment requires different reaction conditions. Many parameters that affect the conversion rate of biomaterials and the output of bioenergy need to be optimized. In addition, chemical pretreatment process also involves the recovery of organic solvents and the production of inhibitory compounds. Therefore, for the chemical pretreatment process, the project design and process optimization are particularly important.

Lifeasible provides chemical pretreatment technical consulting, project design and program optimization services. Our experts can not only help you solve technical problems in the pretreatment process, but also help you optimize the scheme and various reaction parameters of the pretreatment process. If you have difficulties in the chemical pretreatment process of biomass materials, Lifeasible is a good choice. Please feel free to contact us.