TY - JOUR
T1 - Ensiling as biological pretreatment of grass (Festulolium Hykor)
T2 - The effect of composition, dry matter, and inocula on cellulose convertibility
AU - Ambye-Jensen, Morten
AU - Johansen, Katja S.
AU - Didion, Thomas
AU - Kádár, Zsofiá
AU - Schmidt, Jens E.
AU - Meyer, Anne S.
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - Grass biomass is a prospective type of lignocellulosic biomass for bioenergy and fuel production, but the low dry matter in grass at harvest calls for new pretreatment strategies for cellulosic conversion. In this study, ensiling was tested as a biological pretreatment method of the high yielding grass variety Festulolium Hykor. The biomass was harvested in four cuts over a growing season. Three important factors of ensiling: biomass composition, dry matter (DM) at ensiling, and inoculation of lactic acid bacteria, were assessed in relation to subsequent enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis. The organic acid profile after ensiling was dependant on the composition of the grass and the DM, rather than on the inocula. High levels of organic acids, notably lactic acid, produced during ensiling improved enzymatic cellulose convertibility in the grass biomass. Ensiling of less mature grass gave higher convertibility. Low DM at ensiling (<25%) resulted in the highest cellulose convertibilities, which ranged from 32 to 70% of the available cellulose in the four cuts after ensiling. The study confirms that ensiling can enhance cellulose convertibility of green biomass, and provides new insight to ensiling as a biological pretreatment method for green biomass conversion.
AB - Grass biomass is a prospective type of lignocellulosic biomass for bioenergy and fuel production, but the low dry matter in grass at harvest calls for new pretreatment strategies for cellulosic conversion. In this study, ensiling was tested as a biological pretreatment method of the high yielding grass variety Festulolium Hykor. The biomass was harvested in four cuts over a growing season. Three important factors of ensiling: biomass composition, dry matter (DM) at ensiling, and inoculation of lactic acid bacteria, were assessed in relation to subsequent enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis. The organic acid profile after ensiling was dependant on the composition of the grass and the DM, rather than on the inocula. High levels of organic acids, notably lactic acid, produced during ensiling improved enzymatic cellulose convertibility in the grass biomass. Ensiling of less mature grass gave higher convertibility. Low DM at ensiling (<25%) resulted in the highest cellulose convertibilities, which ranged from 32 to 70% of the available cellulose in the four cuts after ensiling. The study confirms that ensiling can enhance cellulose convertibility of green biomass, and provides new insight to ensiling as a biological pretreatment method for green biomass conversion.
KW - Biomass characterisation
KW - Cellulose convertibility
KW - Ensiling
KW - Enzymatic hydrolysis
KW - Grass
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84888847264&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.08.015
DO - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.08.015
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84888847264
SN - 0961-9534
VL - 58
SP - 303
EP - 312
JO - Biomass and Bioenergy
JF - Biomass and Bioenergy
ER -