A CLEANER CONVERSION OF URBAN WASTE BIOMASS FOR SECOND GENERATION ETHANOL PRODUCTION

The effect of an acid oxidative digestion on delignification of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was investigated. The pre-treatment process is a key stage to disrupt the recalcitrant structure of glucose containing polymers from edible and non-edible components usually present in MSW [1]. Classical dilute acid pre-treatments require high temperatures and the residual lignin from the MSW lignocellulosic portion still hinders the glucose productivity [2]. Delignification of MSW facilitates the generation of fermentable sugars usable for bioethanol production (i.e., saccharification). For this purpose, a low temperature acid-oxidative delignification is proposed. This work reports the amount of glucose evolving from MSW by enzymatic saccharification of a representative sample pre-treated with a mixture of equal volumes of hydrogen peroxide (30%w/w) and glacial acetic acid (PoxAc) at temperatures between 70 and 90 °C, during 30 to 90 minutes. It is worth mentioning that the process is clean since non-toxic renewable solvent is used, and the oxidant decomposes into harmless products.
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