Effect of Oxalic Acid Pretreatment on Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) for Ethanol Production

바이오에탄올 생산에 적합한 백합나무(Liriodendron tulipifera)의 oxalic acid 전처리 효과 탐색

In this study, we investigated the potential of producing bioethanol from Liriodendron tulipifera by using oxalic acid pretreatment. Amounts of fermentable sugars, mostly xylose and glucose, in the liquid fraction (hydrolysate) was $40.22g/{\ell}$ after the biomass was pretreated with 0.037 g/g of oxalic acid for 20 minutes at $160^{\circ}C$. Production amounts of ethanol was $8.6g/{\ell}$ from the 72 hours of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) on solid fraction of the pretreated sample. At the same condition, when the reaction time increased to 40 minutes, $32.66g/{\ell}$ of fermentable sugars in the hydrolysate and $9.5g/{\ell}$ of ethanol was produced from the process of pretreatment and SSF. As a result of analyzing the fermentation inhibitors, such as acetic acid, 5-HMF, furfural and total phenolic compounds, as the reaction time increased, the amount of the fermentation inhibitors in the hydrolysate increased. Production of the fermentation inhibitors was more affected by initial concentration of oxalic acid rather than reaction time. $3.39{\sim}5.78g/{\ell}$ of acetic acid was produced by pretreatment with 0.013 g/g of oxalic acid, and the amount of furfural produced by decomposition of xylose was 2~3 times higher than the amount of 5-HMF produced by decomposition of glucose. All the hydrolysates contained more than $5g/{\ell}$ of total phenols considered as the degradation product of lignin. Therefore, by analyzing the amount of fermentable sugars and fermentation inhibitors in the hydrolysate, and producing ethanol from SSF of solid fraction of the pretreated sample, the biomass pretreated with 0.037 g/g of oxalic acid for 20 minutes at $160^{\circ}C$ can be expected to produce the most ethanol.

본 연구에서는 국내 조림 수종인 백합나무를 바이오에탄올 생산용 자원으로 이용하고자 oxalic acid 전처리 방법을 도입하여 가능성을 타진하였다. $160^{\circ}C$에서 0.037 g/g oxalic acid로 20분 전처리하였을 때 $40.22g/{\ell}$의 발효가능한 당을 생산하였으며, 처리된 고형 바이오매스를 이용하여 동시당화발효를 수행한 결과 72시간 후 $8.6g/{\ell}$의 에탄올을 생산하였다. 같은 조건에서 반응시간을 증가시켜 40분 처리하였을 때 $32.66g/{\ell}$의 발효가능한 당을 생산하였고 동시당화발효로 72시간 후 $9.5g/{\ell}$의 에탄올을 생산하였다. 가수분해산물을 분석한 결과, 같은 조건에서 반응시간이 증가함에 따라 acetic acid, 5-HMF, furfural, total phenols와 같은 발효저해물질이 증가하였다. 이와 같은 발효저해물질은 반응시간보다는 초기 oxalic acid 첨가량에 영향을 받았다. Acetic acid 생산량은 저농도(0.013 g/g)의 oxalic acid를 사용하였을 때 $3.39{\sim}5.78g/{\ell}$로 나타났으며 xylose 분해산물인 furfural은 glucose의 분해산물인 5-HMF보다 2~3배 많게 가수분해산물에 존재하였다. 리그닌 분해산물로 예측되는 total phenols는 모든 조건에서 $5g/{\ell}$ 이상이 검출되었다. 가수분해산물과 동시당화발효로부터 에탄올 생산량을 분석한 결과 0.037 g/g oxalic acid로 20분 전처리한 가수분해산물과 고형 바이오매스로부터 가장 높은 에탄올 생산을 예측할 수 있다.