Biodegradability study of egeria densa biomass using acid and basic pre-treatments for use in bioprocessing of energy products

Abstract

Egeria densa is a submerged aquatic plant species, with a high capacity for colonization and growth. Its proliferation has caused serious problems in hydroelectricity generation, due to biomass accumulation in turbine containment grids. Bioprocessing of macrophytes may be an alternative for using this biomass to produce bioenergetic products such as biofuels. The cell wall of macrophytes is a lignocellulosic material with a complex lignin-hemicellulose-cellulose network, which may require pretreatment to provide the fermentable sugars as substrate prior further processing. This work aims to evaluate a physicochemical pretreatment of E. densa, with the objective of making its structure suitable for bioprocessing. Full factorial 23 analysis was performed for different concentrations of the reagents and reaction times. The variable responses were delignification, total carbohydrate yield and crystallinity grade. Results showed greater efficiency for alkaline hydrolysis, but both processes were viable for removing amorphous compounds and for increasing bundling of cellulose molecules